Crossover Update
Since 2020, Vermont has faced multiple crises – a deadly, disruptive global pandemic, multiple catastrophic flooding events around the state, and the rising costs of public education. Now, because of economic and political shifts affecting affordability across the board, current generations are at risk of losing opportunities available to/taken for granted by previous generations.
Despite state and federal recovery efforts, we face rising costs, stagnant wages, crushing debt, high interest rates, unfair property taxes, and increasing rents. Biden’s post-COVID economy is fragile, compounded by the Trump Administration’s mismanagement of federal funds and proposed cuts to government spending. These shifts are eroding the social safety net built since the New Deal, pushing us closer to a 21st-century Depression, nearly a century after the Great Depression.
Yet, there is still significant opportunity for change if we learn from past mistakes.
The Legislature has yet to pass its final bill before “crossover,” the mid-session point where bills are required to pass from one chamber to the other in order to pass this year. Crossover extensions had to be granted for key human services, education, and tax bills.
Climate
There have been several bills introduced that propose various rollbacks of our State’s climate policy. So far, attempts to repeal core climate legislation have not been successful.
It’s critical that Vermont maintains its current focus on climate change efforts, particularly in this moment when federal climate change policies are being overturned and defunded.
Education
The Scott Administration released a bill outlining their education transformation plan (H. 454).
The House Committee on Education passed a “strike-through amendment” of H.454 last week, which includes the House’s take on several issues with the proposed transformations to the system raised in the Governor’s proposal.
Among many other sweeping changes to our education delivery and funding system, the Scott Administration proposed to consolidate our 119 school districts into five school districts. The House chose, instead, to reconvene the Commission on the Future of Public Education in the second half of 2025, with the requirement to bring three district map proposals back to the Legislature next year.
One concern with the governance changes proposed is that these larger districts would eliminate the option for non-citizen residents to vote on school items at Town Meeting Day (which was previously made possible through our All-Resident Voting charter change).
Now H.454 is under consideration by our “money committees,” where issues like pupil weights and base foundation formula will be added into the bill. The House is expected to vote on H.454 by early next week.
Health Care
The human right to healthcare is under threat. But Vermont’s healthcare system – reliant on federal funding – is at risk. Medicaid supports 29% of residents and makes up over a quarter of the state budget, with 62% of that funding coming from federal dollars. Cuts would threaten an already strained system, with high healthcare costs driving up property taxes, rent, and business expenses.
Nearly half of privately insured Vermonters under 65 are underinsured, meaning their coverage won’t protect them from unaffordable medical bills. The General Assembly can take meaningful steps this session to reduce costs and improve care by:
Strengthening hospital budget oversight
Regulating service costs through reference-based pricing
Expanding access to primary, mental health, and substance use care
Investing in peer support and evidence-based practices’
Healthcare reform must now reckon with potential eliminations of the All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) model and other health equity initiatives.
Despite state protection of gender-affirming care and reproductive rights, local access is jeopardized by the federal funding cuts.
Meanwhile, the opioid crisis has evolved into a polysubstance epidemic. Rep. Brian Cina (Chittenden-15) was recently awarded a national opioid policy fellowship and will use it to explore solutions like motivational incentives and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (H.452).
Vermont must keep working to fulfill the promise of a universal health care system that controls costs while guaranteeing access to high-quality health care for all (H.433).
The Universal Health Care Caucus is a coalition of community members dedicated to finding a legislative path towards achieving the goal of Act 48 – an equitable, publicly-financed health care system for all Vermonters. The next meeting of the caucus is April 16, from 5:30-7 PM on Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/universal-healthcarecaucus
Housing & Human Services
The House General & Housing Committee has advanced H.479, a bill aimed at easing the housing crisis by lowering development barriers and investing in affordable housing. Tenant protections may be considered in the second half of the session. After strong support for Just Cause Eviction in Winooski on Town Meeting Day, legislation will be reintroduced to enact that charter change.
Housing is the priority human service issue this biennium.
The state must respond to Vermont’s homelessness crisis. H.91 would replace the General Assistance “motel program” with a new, community-based model – Vermont Homeless Emergency Assistance and Responsive Transition to Housing Program – which will be fully implemented by July 2026. In the meantime, we continue to advocate for shelter access, especially as Governor Scott resists expanding the current program despite rising need.
Vermont is facing a housing shortage while still recovering from climate disasters and a viral pandemic. The state must take swift action to provide shelter for all until permanent housing is available. Key actions to address this crisis include:
Designating land as long-term sanctuaries for low-barrier camping, temporary shelter, and storage, supported by existing community-based services;
Declaring an emergency to temporarily suspend regulatory barriers, and asking the National Guard to assist in constructing emergency shelters and the Medical Reserves Corps to volunteer with existing service providers;
Reinvesting funds from the emergency assistance motel program into permanent housing solutions, sanctuaries, and community-based services;
Expanding access to training in self-care, restorative practices, conflict resolution, harm reduction, and the construction trades for both unhoused and housed residents; and
Continuing to engage communities in future regional planning processes to:
Create land-use maps for Vermont
Assess community strengths and needs
Explore how land use can integrate wellness, energy production, circular waste management, and agriculture within affordable housing infrastructure.
In the meantime, Progressives have partnered with grassroots housing justice organizers to focus public attention on Governor Scott’s ongoing refusal to accept the urgent need for the motel program. The program continues to serve as an imperfect but wholly necessary source of shelter during a period when Vermonters continue to experience homelessness at historic rates.
Furthermore, we must support individuals and cooperatives in planning, financing, and developing permanent affordable housing through programs offered by the Land Access and Opportunity Board and its partners. Expanding training programs, tool banks, and labor pools can build local capacity to develop and maintain affordable housing. We must prioritize housing for special needs populations, such as youth, elders, and people with disabilities.
Rep. Brian Cina’s H.445 outlines potential housing solutions, proposing a five-year state income tax surcharge to fund this work. It also calls for studying tax incentives and penalties to control rent costs and provide tenants the right of first refusal. Investments in housing, community-based services, and residential treatment for justice-involved individuals could reduce reliance on correctional facilities, lower recidivism, and improve health outcomes.
Property Taxes
One area where the large majority of the Legislature and the Governor were able to agree was that Vermonters need property tax relief while we reform our education system and property tax code. This year, relief will be granted with a one-time buydown of tax rates with our General Fund (by transferring General Fund dollars to the Education Fund).
If school districts continue to fund their budgets at a similar level as this year, property tax rates would increase again next year without another General Fund buydown of property taxes.
Meanwhile, the House Ways & Means Committee, the tax committee, is considering a variety of reforms to property tax code, including the adoption of several categories in the non-homestead rate that would allow us to tailor property tax rates to property type. For example, this would allow us to raise property taxes on second homes and lower property taxes on affordable housing. Tax code changes will likely not be implemented until 2027.
Transportation
Rep. Chloe Tomlinson serves on the House Transportation Committee, where one of her top concerns is our public transit system.
This year, Green Mountain Transit’s state funding was increased by 14% to help soften the blow of the post-Covid federal funding cliff. While this increase will not prevent all service cuts, it could prevent the most harmful ones.
Long term, the state needs a more sustainable approach to funding our transportation system – especially if the goal is to balance meeting emissions targets while improving access. One solution on the table is a Mileage-Based User Fee (MBUF) for electric vehicle drivers. Though the Trump Administration froze federal funds meant to pilot this effort, lawmakers are working to move it forward using state resources.
What’s Next
As we head into the final stretch of the session, Progressive legislators will continue pushing for bold, people-first policies that meet the moment – from protecting renters and public education to funding climate action, housing, and transit. We’ll keep fighting to make sure working Vermonters have a seat at the table. Stay tuned, stay involved, and thank you for being in this with us.
In Solidarity,
Progressive Statehouse Caucus
