Greetings, and happy summer!
I am pleased to share a summary of what I believe was the most important and relevant legislation from this past biennium. The following report also reflects my work on the Transportation Committee–addressing policy and revenue issues related to trains, planes, motorized vehicles, boats, bikes, and pedestrians–as well as my district mate Dara Torre’s work on the new House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee, addressing energy efficiency and large investments in the state’s digital infrastructure.
Please note we will be hosting a public meeting on Wednesday, June 24th @ 6 PM at the Big Picture Theater & Cafe in Waitsfield, where we will address the session in further detail, and hear questions/comments from constituents. All are welcome.
Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry
H.739 bans the use of paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide linked to Parkinson’s disease through wind-borne dispersion. Although paraquat is outlawed in over 70 countries, Vermont is the first state in the nation to prohibit its use. The bill was signed into law in May ’26.
H.536 requires manufacturers of baby food and infant formula to test their products for lead, mercury, and other toxic heavy metals, and to make the results of those tests readily accessible to consumers online and through package labeling. The bill was signed into law in May ’26.
H. 167 (Act 34) created the new Vermonters Feeding Vermonters grant program. The legislation builds on a program by the Vermont Foodbank that provides food-insecure Vermonters access to locally-grown food, while providing a steady market for 300 Vermont farmers.
Commerce & Economic Development
S.69 (Act 65) creates the Vermont age-appropriate design code, which requires businesses to protect minors from harm when processing their data. The act prohibits the collection and sharing of a minor’s personal data, and restricts the monitoring of a minor.
H. 385 (ACT 106) provides protections and remedies for victims of coerced debt, allowing Vermont banks to place holds on potentially coercive transactions to ensure their customers don’t get scammed.
H. 512 (Act 109) is an act relating to the regulation of the event ticketing market. The bill regulates the resale of tickets, and caps the price of a ticket being resold to 10% above the original ticket price, including taxes and fees.
Education
Act 73 of 2025 initiated major legislation to transform Vermont’s educational landscape; H955 continues this work. H.955 creates seven mandatory statewide Cooperative Education Service Areas (CESAs), intended to offer education services and support on a larger, regional scale. CESAs will be an important tool to achieve immediate efficiencies, regional-service sharing, and cost savings while the voluntary merger process happens statewide. The formation of a CESA helps supervisory unions and school districts access specialized programs and technical assistance that individual districts (esp. small and rural districts) might otherwise purchase at a higher cost. CESAs are required to offer services in the following areas: special education, business and administrative services, and union school district creation consultation and facilitation. Establishing statewide CESAs will increase statewide coherence and build capacity.
The second major element of this bill addresses school consolidation by resourcing seven facilitators—one in each CESA region—to start merger-study committees. These regional groupings will be required to work collaboratively to explore the advantages of school-district consolidation. If a committee concludes that a merger is advisable, a report goes to the Secretary of Education, the State Board, and then the school-district voters of the proposed new district (in the March 2028 Town Meeting elections). The foundation formula, which replaces our current funding mechanism, is scheduled to take effect in FY2030.
Other components of the bill include further detail on school construction aid, and a study to account for pre-K education within our education system. The bill was signed by Governor Scott on June 18th.
H930 (Act 122) is an act relating to chronic absenteeism. About 25% of Vermont students are chronically absent, causing the need for reading intervention in early years, and significantly higher drop-out rates (7x) in high school. This bill aims to address the root causes of absenteeism, outline state-level strategies, and establish clear procedures to help Vermont schools consistently address this issue.
S.227 (Act 125) relates to creating immigration protocols in schools. This law empowers school officials and their designees to protect their students by specifically defining a school’s non-public areas that require authorization to enter. S. 227 establishes an immigration resource guide for schools, maintaining that student information is protected, and that school entry by a law-enforcement official requires a judicial warrant specifically naming a student or staff member. The bill is on the govenor’s desk.
Energy & Digital Infrastructure
Vermont’s IT systems are critical to our state government, enabling Vermonters to find information and access vital services through Vermont.gov. Vermont has more than $700 million in projects scheduled over the next several years to replace some systems that date back to the 1970s.
Recent successes include: the Department of Motor Vehicles system (myDMV); the Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance system; integrated Eligibility and Enrollment—a single point-of-entry for many state-assistance programs; and one unified system for state government payroll, HR and procurement. The Agency of Digital Services’ dashboard and 2026 annual report provide a snapshot of state IT projects.
H.710 would have made it easier and more cost-effective for developers to co-locate solar facilities on the same parcel, delivering cost savings and supporting smarter land-use. Vetoed by Governor Scott on June 17th.
S.202 (Act 149) is a bill regulating the use of portable, plug-in solar panels. Also called “balcony solar,” these plug-in photovoltaic (PIPV) devices are widely used in Europe, allowing apartment residents to offset their electricity usage, especially when paired with batteries. While neither utility nor Public Utilities Commission approval is needed, the bill ensures safe usage of PIPV by requiring that stringent national safety standards (UL-approved) are met.
H.727 would have created a strong regulatory framework ensuring that data-center development benefits Vermont’s ratepayers and grid, while protecting our environment. Governor Scott vetoed H.727; a House override attempt failed on the final day of the session.
Environment
H.723 (Act 90)) addresses barriers to posting one’s land from hunting and fishing, intended to reduce landowner-hunter conflicts. The law no longer requires dates on postings, continues to require annual registration with the town clerk, and ensures land is considered legally posted despite minor posting imperfections.
Act 181 passed in 2024 to modernize Act 250—Vermont’s land-use regulatory policy. The Act created the Land Use Review Board (LURB), a professional board to oversee Act 250; initiated a process for the development of regional future land-use maps; created the option for municipalities to request land-use regulation authority (replacing Act 250 permits in areas meeting certain criteria); and initiated a “road rule” that would trigger Act 250, and “Tier 3” areas with critical working lands/natural resources that require additional oversight. It also included Act 250 exemptions for development of housing in downtowns and villages. S.325 (Act 152) makes changes to Act 181, repealing the Road Rule and Tier 3; initiating a public process to explore how to protect working lands and critical natural resources; and creating a legislative committee to increase communication between legislators, the LURB and the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR).
S.212 creates a general permit at ANR to streamline permitting for connections to community water and wastewater systems. Signed by the Govenor on June 18th.
Healthcare
H.266 (Act 55) of 2025 addressed the 340B prescription drug program in which hospitals are limited to charging 120% of the average sales price to insurers. This legislation had the immediate effect of reducing Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) premiums, and reducing health care premium increases for school-employee health insurance from 12% to less than 7%. The bill contributed to saving our health-care system approximately $230 million.
S.126 (Act 68) of 2025 enacted reference-based pricing, requiring the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) to establish reference-based prices (maximum amounts hospitals can charge for certain services). Act 68 led to S.190, a bill that would implement the beginning of reference-based pricing for two important groups: Vermonters on the Qualified Health Care Plan Exchange (the most vulnerable group due to the elimination of federal subsidies); and school-employee health plans. Vetoed by Governor Scott on June 16th.
S. 189 (Act 146) addresses hospital closure of services, setting forth required procedures for when a hospital plans to close an essential service line. The legislation comes after several poorly-handled eliminations of hospital-related services (including primary care in Waitsfield).
H.577 (Act 132) is an act relating to Array RX –a non-profit drug-prescription savings card introduced by the State Treasurer, offering low-cost prescription drugs to those with a Vermont address. The Array RX card: is free to participants; offers generic drugs at about 20% of cost, name-brand at 80%; counts toward a member’s plan deductibles; will save Vermonters money. H-588 (Act 119) allows pharmacists to test, and then prescribe, immediately, rather than requiring the patient to see a doctor before receiving a prescription. S.197 (Act 173) establishes universal primary care.
Transportation
Funding for road and bridge maintenance statewide is increasingly challenging due to a 60% cost increase in the last five years. An annual inflation adjuster was added to the funding formula for Town Highways & Structures in the FY26 Transportation Bill (T-Bill). This year’s FY27 T-Bill further augments local funding with $3 million in one-time surplus, and creating a Local Option Municipal Transportation Special Fund–to be funded by an excess of PILOT revenues (this legislation was moved to the FY2027 Budget Bill). The T-Bill also budgets to increase the miles of state highway maintenance projects in FY 2027 to make up for a 2026 below-average paving year.
As gas tax revenues continue to decline, AOT is working to stabilize its almost $1 billion budget. The Agency eliminated 62 positions this year (of 1300+). Revenues coming in to AOT were once healthy enough to share with the Education Fund and the State Police for Highway Patrol. The State Police revenue transfer ended in the 2026 T-Bill; the Ed Fund transfer decreases in FY2027 (enacted in the Miscellaneous Tax Bill).
The FY26 T-Bill funded the planning of a mileage-based-user-fee (mbuf) that will charge EV users for road use (EVs currently pay a higher registration fee). The FY2027 T-Bill plans the mbuf launch for January 2027 with payment tied to the annual auto inspection. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) grant to install Level III electric chargers has resulted in Bradford’s station (2024), and eight more locations to be functional by year’s end.
The FY27 DMV Bill includes updates to the annual inspection manual to prioritize safety issues, and provide relief from minor maintenance requirements. mydmv.vermont.gov represents the DMV’s modernization project, replacing a 50-year old system.
Housing
S.328 is an act relating to housing and common interest communities designed to stimulate housing development through financial tools, pilot programs, and planning reforms.
H.757 is an act relating to manufactured homes and limited equity cooperatives that streamlines the process for transferring ownership of manufactured homes and ensures they are treated like other housing types under local zoning laws.
Next steps. . .
Thank you for the opportunity to represent you in the Vermont House of Representatives these past two years. 2026 is an election year, and I do plan to seek reelection this fall. I will be fundraising, knocking on doors, and reaching out to hear from constituents on issues important to their lives. I will also be offering an unpaid internship position to a high school student who lives in the community. If you would like to host a fundraiser, accompany me on a door-knocking campaigns (most fun on a bicycle!), solicit an intern, or volunteer in any way, please reach out.
Hope to see you at the Warren Fourth of July parade–or around the community–in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Candice
P.S. photo above shows Harwood Union High School boy’s hockey and golf teams–division II VT State Champions– and individual wrestler Nicky Service, VT State Champion in his weight division. The boys were recognized on the House Floor in late May for their outstanding athletic accomplishments.
