The following are bills recently introduced that might be of interest to Vermont employers. Text and other information about a bill’s status are available by clicking on the linked bill number. Note that official statements of purpose might not fully reflect the purpose or effect of the bill. If “SHORT FORM” is noted, the text of the bill is still pending. If you have any questions about the bills listed below, please contact us at info@aivt.org. If you are interested in other legislation introduced during this Legislature or during past sessions, you can click here.
House Bills
H.226: This bill proposes to hire a consultant to conduct a Clean Heat is Cheaper Heat Study that would determine how to structure a Clean Heat Standard program that is cheaper than fossil fuel for heating buildings.
H.225: This bill proposes to require a climate health study be conducted to quantify how climate is affecting air quality in Vermont, its effects on the health of Vermonters, and the costs of those health problems.
H.224: This bill proposes to adopt the Public Utility Commission’s recommended thermal benefits charge, which would establish a charge on heating fuel that would be used to fund thermal energy efficiency measures. The bill would establish a cap on the amount of the thermal benefits charge that would be charged.
H.216: This bill proposes to authorize the Clean Heat Standard rules to be adopted with a price cap on the cost of clean heat credits. The price cap shall ensure that the cost of the Clean Heat Standard Program will not raise the delivered cost of fossil heating fuels more than $0.10 per gallon for the first five years.
H.211: This bill proposes to add various provisions to Vermont’s laws that protect the personal information of its residents, including requiring data brokers to provide notice of security breaches, to certify that the personal information it discloses will be used for a legitimate purpose, and to delete the personal information of consumers who make such a request through the use of an accessible deletion mechanism.
H.208: This bill proposes to provide data privacy and online surveillance protections to Vermonters.
H.205: This bill proposes to prohibit noncompete agreements that restrict the ability of franchisees from operating their businesses after separating from franchisors and of employees from competing with their former employers following the conclusion of their employment.
H.204: This bill proposes to establish an extended producer responsibility program for waste motor vehicle tires.
H.201: This bill proposes to prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s criminal history in employment and the rental or sale of housing.
H.196: This bill proposes to amend the legislative direction to the Public Utility Commission to require the energy efficiency utilities to prioritize greenhouse gas emissions reductions and equitable access for all Vermonters and Vermont businesses
H.181: This bill proposes to extend the term of the Building Energy Code Working Group, to direct the Public Service Department to establish a framework to attribute savings to building energy code compliance, to require the Department Public Service to develop methodology for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas savings annually, and to make changes to the Residential Builder Registry.
H.163: This bill proposes to include health insurance benefits in the definition of wages for workers’ compensation claims; to require carriers to pay for translation services; to allow claimants to request medical case management services; and to increase penalties for late payments of workers’ compensation benefits.
H.162: This bill proposes to repeal the statutory requirement for the Agency of Natural Resources to issue a permit for stormwater discharges from impervious surface of three or more acres in size when the stormwater discharge previously was not permitted or was permitted under the requirements of the 2002 Stormwater Management Manual.
H.161: This bill proposes to require original equipment manufacturers of certain agricultural, electronic, and forestry equipment to make available the parts, tools, and documentation necessary to repair such equipment to independent repair providers and owners of the equipment.
H.160: This bill proposes to require manufacturers of medical devices to make available to hospitals and independent service organizations, on fair and reasonable terms, the documentation, parts, and tools used to diagnose, maintain, and repair medical devices.
H.159: This bill proposes to repeal the Renewable Energy Standard.
H.157: This bill proposes to allow municipalities with permanent zoning and subdivision bylaws and an approved town plan to designate Tier 1A and Tier 1B areas in the municipality and have those areas be exempt from the requirements of 10 V.S.A. chapter 151 until December 31, 2029. The bill would also require the Agency of Natural Resources to transition the stormwater permitting process to a delegated process where professional engineers are certified by the State to perform stormwater assessments and designs and permit their own work. The State would review the certified engineer’s work periodically and may revoke certification if the work is not satisfactory.
H.155: This bill proposes to reauthorize the Standard Offer Program to award contracts for the construction of new renewable energy generation projects.
H.152: This bill proposes to allow the Secretary of Natural Resources to authorize a person to conduct a pilot or demonstration project to treat or destroy an emerging contaminant or contaminants without obtaining a permit that otherwise would be required for the project. An authorization for a pilot or demonstration project would be subject to conditions to protect human health and the environment and could not exceed a year in duration.
H.149: This bill proposes to extend equal pay protections to individuals in all protected classes.
H.135: This bill proposes to make several technical and policy changes to Vermont tax laws, including the annual link up to federal income tax laws, requiring a joint income tax return when taxpayers file jointly at the federal level, changing some definitions used for the tobacco products tax, and increasing the pay for property tax hearing officers. The bill also extends reimbursement to municipalities of State education property taxes that were abated due to flooding.
H.125: This bill proposes to require the Department of Public Service to report on the economic impacts of the transition to clean energy within the State.
H.119: This bill proposes to expand the scope of the beverage container redemption system to include cider, hard kombucha, noncarbonated water, and noncarbonated soft drinks. The bill also would increase the deposit for a container from five cents to 10 cents.
H.110: This bill proposes to limit the issuance of out-of-state malt beverage consumer shipping licenses to breweries that are located in states that allow Vermont brewers to acquire consumer shipping licenses.
H.90: This bill proposes to amend the amounts of the Vermont earned income tax credit and the Vermont child tax credit and to exclude payment of these credits from tax debt setoff.
H.77: This bill proposes to create a new marginal tax bracket to generate revenue for education and transportation.
H.65: This bill proposes to prohibit Vermont from using California’s Clean Air Act waiver to set motor vehicle emission standards.
H.62: This bill proposes to change the State’s greenhouse gas reduction requirements to goals and repeal the Vermont Climate Council.
H.60: This bill proposes to prohibit discrimination in employment and public accommodations on the basis of an individual’s immunization status.
H.52: This bill proposes to change the greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements to goals.
H.37: This bill proposes to consolidate 8 the number of school districts in Vermont to align with the career and technical 9 education service regions.
H.34: This bill proposes to reorganize the leadership of workforce education and employment and training activities in Vermont.
H.33: This bill proposes to expand access to unpaid family and medical leave and provide job-protected leave from employment for reasons related to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, bereavement, and a qualifying exigency. This bill also proposes to eliminate barriers for LGBTQ+ families in accessing caregiving leave and to establish reporting requirements to track the impact of expanded access.
H.16: This bill proposes to repeal the Affordable Heat Act.
H.14: This bill proposes to prohibit the use of animals in product testing, with some exceptions.
Senate Bills
S.68: This bill proposes to repeal the Affordable Heat Act.
S.67: This bill proposes to increase the 6 minimum wage to the livable wage as established by the basic needs budget.
S.65: This bill proposes to amend the legislative direction to the Public Utility Commission to require the energy efficiency utilities to prioritize greenhouse gas emissions reductions and equitable access for all Vermonters and Vermont businesses
S.57: This bill proposes to reauthorize the Standard Offer Program to award contracts for the construction of new renewable energy generation projects.
S.48: This bill proposes to reorganize the leadership of workforce education and employment and training activities in Vermont.
S.46: This bill proposes to amend the sales tax exemption and purchase and use tax exemption for motor vehicles used for forestry operations to include under the exemptions the sale of motor trucks, motor vehicles, semi-trailers, tractors, truck cranes, truck tractors, and trailers used for forestry operations.
S.45: This bill proposes to amend the protection against nuisance suits for agricultural activities under the Vermont right-to-farm law by providing that an agricultural activity shall not be a nuisance or trespass when the activity complies with generally accepted agricultural practices. The nuisance and trespass protection for an agricultural activity would not apply whenever a nuisance or trespass violation results from the negligent operation of an agricultural activity or from a violation of the State agricultural water quality requirements. The bill would also provide that an agricultural activity shall not lose nuisance or trespass protection due to a change of ownership or a cessation of operation of not more than five years; a change of crops produced; or a change of a farming method or conversion of a farming practice or agricultural activity to another farming method, practice, or agricultural activity on a farm. The act would also provide that a person shall not bring a court action based on a claim of nuisance or trespass arising from an agricultural activity unless the person and the operator of the agricultural activity, at least once, attempt to resolve through mediation the issue or dispute that the person has concerning operation of the agricultural activity.
S.37: This bill proposes to provide that wages earned for work that would not qualify an individual to receive unemployment insurance benefits shall not be counted when determining an individual’s weekly unemployment insurance benefit amount, and to make individuals who work for an educational institution in any capacity other than an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity eligible for unemployment insurance between academic terms.
S.26: This bill proposes to prohibit the use of certain artificial dyes in competitive food and food and beverages served as part of a school district or an approved independent school’s food programs.
S.24: This bill proposes to amend requirements related to the permitting of stormwater systems in the State. The bill would extend the deadline by which owners of impervious surface subject to the three-acre impervious surface permit must complete permitting. The bill also would allow municipalities that assume full legal responsibility for a stormwater system to assess municipal impact fees on users of the stormwater system. In addition, the bill extends from July 1, 2027 to July 1, 2036 the assessment of the 0.22 percent clean water surcharge on the property transfer tax. The bill also would establish the Local Community Implementation Special Fund to provide grants to municipalities to assist in the stormwater permitting of residential subdivisions or orphan systems in the State.
S.6: This bill proposes to repeal the Commissioner of Labor’s authority to recommend a subminimum wage for individuals with a disability.