Dear Constituents –

The Vermont General Assembly resumed session on June 16 and proceeded to follow through on several bills that were left in various stages of progress in both the Senate and the House. A long day ensued, and the following bills were taken up, passed, and sent to the Governor: H.474 (miscellaneous changes to election law); H.454 (transforming Vermont’s education governance, quality, and finance systems); H.480 (miscellaneous amendments to education law); and S.51 (Vermont income tax exclusions and tax credits).

H.474 is important to me because it contains a mandatory audit of multi-town Representative and Senatorial districts that I promised in January to identify and remedy the causes of erroneous votes in the November Bennington-1 district election.

While H.454, the Education Transformation Bill, has left the chambers and awaits the Governor’s signature, it is far from complete.  There will be two task force/working groups meeting throughout the summer and Fall to draw district maps and to prepare the stage for the Gov Ops committees to set up voting wards for school board elections. Pre-K, Career and Technical Centers, and Special Education, as well as property tax valuation, needs more work to flesh out the fine points. Many more details determining operation of districts and the daily workings of school districts will be honed and decisions made next session as we inch towards full implementation of the law in FY’29. In the meantime, there are a multitude of guardrails that have to be observed and several benchmarks that need to be met, on a strict timeline, for the law to continue to advance.

S.51 is a bill that I am particularly grateful for; it contains valuable tax credits for Vermonters, including a graduated tax-relief structure for military retirees, survivors of loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice as a result of their military service, and military  veterans. This language represents a compromise on the allowable income ceiling but adds in the new benefit for low-income veterans. Those of us in the Statehouse who understand the roadblocks that this bill has faced over two decades are relieved and thankful for the passage of these measures.

H.480 was the last bill on the calendar to be passed at 8pm, and it contained much-awaited priorities: policy enabling cellphone- and social media-free schools; implementing cardiac response plans in schools; allowing for language in a student’s Personalized Learning Plan to include the choice of military-related options for educational and career planning; and permanently extending a pilot program expanding the Vermont National Guard Tuition Benefit Plan for higher education. Again, some of these pieces were years in the making, and it is rewarding to see them finally put into statute.

Although the 2025 session ran longer than any of us wanted it to, the resulting legislation represents much hard work and compromise that I am honored to have been a part of, marked by all parties and Independents reaching across the aisle to build the bills that would be able to pass muster in a legislature that was the most politically balanced that we have seen in years. I am proud to represent my constituents in a state where everyone makes an effort to work together for the greater good; something that is not being seen on the national level.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve. I am available throughout the off-season at [email protected].

Stay well,

Rep Lisa A Hango, Franklin-5