Bridget Burkhardt

Dear South Burlington and Williston, 

I am honored to serve the residents of southeast South Burlington and southwest Williston as your representative in the Vermont General Assembly. As we are eight weeks into the second session of the legislative biennium, I wanted to provide a brief update on our work and let you know where to find more information on the topics that interest you. 

In case you need a refresher, the Vermont General Assembly consists of 150 representatives and 30 senators who are elected to two-year terms. In the House, we are each assigned to one committee where we work on legislation prior to a vote by the whole body. Our work includes reviewing data and reports, discussing the potential impact of proposed legislation, and taking testimony from experts, advocates, community members, the Joint Fiscal Office, state agencies and departments, and others. I serve on the House Ways and Means Committee, which crafts legislation related to taxes, fees, and other issues that impact the revenues of the state. 

Ways and Means 

The Ways and Means Committee is working to finalize the annual “yield” bill that determines education property taxes. We continue to review different possible scenarios while we await school budget votes that will confirm the amount of funding we need to raise. These are unstable times, and property taxes will likely remain challenging while we continue to work through education transformation. We are committed to doing everything we can to stabilize and lower Vermonters’ property tax bills this year while maintaining essential public services and quality public education opportunities for our children. 

Last year, lawmakers expanded Vermont’s Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. If your income is below a certain threshold and you do not have children, you may be eligible for up to $400 more per year in refunds when you file your taxes. If you have children under seven, you may be eligible for up to $1,000 more per child. You may also be eligible for a credit on your property taxes when you file your homestead declaration. Vermont has volunteer tax preparers all over the state who are ready to help you file your taxes for little or no cost. Go to TaxCreditsVT.org for more information about Vermont’s tax credits and how to file for them. 

Education 

House Education Committee has heard testimony from Vermont Superintendents, principals, and many other education stakeholders as the committee continues to work on Act 73. They are also considering the important work of the Commission on the Future of Public Education and the hours of public input provided to the Redistricting Task Force. In addition to debating new school district boundaries, the committee is also considering the use of cooperative shared service areas to achieve cost savings and enough scale for all districts to provide the services our public school students need. 

Many factors are part of the redistricting debate including whether the new district structure will include a combination of supervisory unions and school districts, or be all one or the other. Each model has its own merits and drawbacks, but the goals of Act 73 are clear: fewer districts, minimum class sizes, and a streamlined educational system that benefits our students and slows the growth of education spending and the rise in property taxes we all pay.

Health Care

The Health Care Committee continues its work to find ways to reduce the cost and maximize access to quality health care in Vermont. Based on laws passed in the last legislative session, the system is projected to see a $230,000,000 reduction in costs in the current fiscal year. The savings come mostly from a reduction in what hospitals can charge for drugs prescribed in an out-patient setting. This change alone was estimated to keep the increase in health insurance costs to our public education system to single digits this year versus the double-digit increases that had become the norm in recent years.

The committee continues to take testimony on cost drivers and potential savings in health care, including the implementation of referenced-based pricing. They are working to save money for Vermont seniors who are on Medicare and who utilize out-patient services from critical access hospitals. Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the Department of Financial Regulation, The Green Mountain Care Board, the Vermont hospitals (including UVM), and the Health Care Advocate are actively collaborating to reduce the cost of health care and lower insurance premiums for Vermonters.

Housing

The General and Housing Committee is working to find ways to build more housing, especially affordable housing, in Vermont and to increase access to rental housing. Two key pieces of legislation the committee has developed are H.757 and H.772.

H.757, addresses inconsistencies and misconceptions regarding manufactured homes (formerly known as “mobile homes”) and resident-owned manufactured home cooperatives. Among other changes, the bill recognizes manufactured homes as permanent structures rather than movable personal property. The bill improves affordability and financing by eliminating the sales tax at the time of purchase and establishes a consistent process for issuing a quitclaim deed, enabling the homes to be treated as real estate. These changes make manufactured homes more attractive to lenders, allowing more reasonable interest rates and loan terms that lower borrowing costs for buyers.

H.772 works to find an equitable balance between landlord and tenant rights relating to leases and eviction procedures. This bill creates a process for good-cause evictions, shortens the eviction process when it is the only course of action, makes certain records confidential, creates a pilot program for positive rental-payment credit reporting, and authorizes technical assistance for landlord-tenant conflicts through the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity.

Appropriations

The Appropriations Committee recently finished its work on the annual, mid-year Budget Adjustment Act (BAA) in which the current year’s budget is updated to better reflect updated income and expenditures. The BAA also allows the legislature to respond to emergent needs that arise between the passage of the current fiscal year and next year’s budgets. The most significant adjustment this year is the use of $5 million of state funds to protect the state’s reserve of Section 8 vouchers from further erosion, given anticipated program underfunding. The state dollars are coming from funds set aside in the 2026 budget for the purpose of responding to disruptions to Federal funding. These funds will ensure that Vermonters remain in and have access to affordable housing.

As the House Appropriations Committee works toward drafting the FY27 state budget, the committee has been reviewing the Governor’s recommended budget, and budget requests from state agencies and departments, legislative policy committees, and Vermonters. Vermont faces a number of challenges this fiscal year. The state has seen reductions to some federal funds, and uncertainty remains for many aspects of the federal budget. There are many cost pressures on the budget, including rising healthcare costs for state employees. Also, a recent downgrade to the state’s economic forecast shows the state’s revenues are growing slower than costs are increasing. 

In light of these pressures, the legislature is focused on funding top priorities. Basic needs, such as food, housing, and health care are top-of-mind for many in our state. There are also long-term investments to be considered, such as road paving, bridge projects, and support for school reconstruction. Amidst these challenges, the Appropriations Committee is working to craft a fiscally responsible, balanced budget that will best serve the needs of Vermonters.

Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry

While the U.S. often lags behind other countries in regulating pesticides and chemicals, Vermont has been a leader in protecting our environment and food supply.  The House is considering several bills designed to strengthen these protections:

To help newborn babies have a healthy start, it is critical to protect them from lead and other toxic chemicals. H.536 requires regular testing of baby food for heavy metals to ensure they do not exceed FDA limits and sets up a process to make the testing results available to consumers.  Several states have already enacted similar bipartisan legislation, though Vermont would lead the way by including infant formula.

H. 739 would prohibit the use of paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide that has been linked to Parkinson’s Disease. Paraquat is banned in much of the world, including the E.U. and China, but is widely used in the U.S. (including Vermont) to suppress weed growth in orchards and other crops.  The legislature will consider a wide variety of expert testimony on the risks to human health and the impact a ban would have on Vermont agriculture as it determines how to proceed.

Agriculture has traditionally been the backbone of Vermont’s economy and culture, and farmers have historically been able to grow crops and raise livestock without being subject to the same local regulations that other businesses might need to comply with. The House is working on legislation, H.537, that would clarify when municipal governments can apply bylaws and ordinances to farmers who make their living off the land, as well as to everyday Vermonters who just want to be able to garden or raise small amounts of food. 

Commerce & Economic Development

H.211 (an update to Act 171 of 2018, the nation's first data-broker law) limits data brokers’ ability to sell Vermonters’ data by updating enforcement and penalties that can be levied on brokers. It also calls for a study to create an opt-out and deletion mechanism for consumers, similar to the California Delete Act.

H.385 prohibits coerced debt, and provides protections and remedies for its victims. Coerced debt is incurred due to deception, fraud, or manipulation by the debtor.

H.512 enhances consumer protection in the event-ticket reselling market by preventing predatory and deceptive practices, requiring ticket resellers to clearly identify themselves, capping the mark-up of resold tickets to 10% above the original ticket price (incl. taxes and fees), and prohibiting the sale of speculative tickets. 

H.205 restricts the use of non-compete agreements at the end of employment, except in certain situations where high-level employees have access to a company’s proprietary information. This bill also balances the rights of employers and employees by defining and limiting exemptions for stay-or-pay provisions in employment contracts, which could include repayment for education, sign-on bonuses, or relocation expenses.

H .674 establishes a Sister State Program for Vermont, run by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, which will enhance trade, educational opportunities and cultural exchange with chosen nations and sub-nations.

Corrections & Institutions

The Vermont Medicaid Re-entry Program will serve as a bridge between being incarcerated and returning to one’s community. This program is made possible through a Medicaid Section 1115 waiver, which allows states to bypass federal Medicaid rules to test innovative, experimental, or pilot projects that align with program goals, such as improving care or lowering costs. 1115 waivers must be budget-neutral, meaning they cannot cost the federal government more than what would have been spent without the waiver. 

Last fall, the Governor and the mayor of Burlington agreed on a fourteen-point plan to address crime in and around Burlington. Part of this plan involved temporarily dedicating additional resources (reassigning a prosecutor, bringing a judge out of retirement, setting aside courtroom 3B of the Costello Courthouse) to quickly process the relatively small number of accused offenders who are responsible for an inordinate number of outstanding cases. The Chittenden “Accountability Court” has been viewed as a tremendous success. 

H.635 is a bill that eliminates a supervisory fee imposed by the Department of Corrections.  We are correcting issues with this pre-existing law because it puts an undue burden on recently incarcerated individuals, and the majority of supervised people are in arrears on these fees, which then costs  more money to administer the fee than it actually brings in.  The bill passed unanimously out of our committee, and Ways & Means, and is coming to the House floor for a vote. 

Energy & Digital Infrastructure

Vermont’s investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy over the past decades has helped to reduce climate pollution and reliably keep our electric rates among the lowest in New England. But cost pressures from federal policy rollbacks, multi-state transmission upgrades, and growing power needs for artificial intelligence threaten affordability and climate progress. Heating and transportation still depend primarily on fossil fuels, which consume three-quarters of Vermont’s energy spending, fluctuate wildly in price, and destabilize our climate and economy. An excellent overview of Vermont’s energy picture is Energy Action Network's annual report. The key takeaway: household by household, when we invest in energy efficiency, from weatherizing homes to driving electric vehicles, we help Vermonters achieve measurable and durable savings over time. A few facts from the EAN report:

• Vermonters spend over $2 billion per year on fossil fuels. With no state regulation of fossil-fuel prices, the cost can vary wildly for consumers. From 2021 to 2022, the price of fuel jumped 38 percent.

• Electrification can bring down overall household energy costs, even if your electricity bill increases. A family that heats with propane and buys vehicle gas at the pump, for example, can save $1,600 a year on its energy bill by switching to an EV and heat pumps.

The House passed H.527, a bill to extend a streamlined process for siting telecom facilities, primarily cell phone and radio towers. Especially in rural areas, poor cell coverage presents a safety issue for residents and travelers, an economic issue for communities, and an equity issue for folks who rely on cellphone connectivity to access services.  Determining the best locations for towers is a complex process that’s too difficult for towns and community members to engage in. This bill, now in the Senate, requires the Public Utilities Commission to recommend ways to make it easier for towns and the public to meaningfully participate in local siting decisions.

The House passed H.710, now in the Senate, which updates the rules on expansions at existing electric-generation facilities. By requiring separate infrastructure — like access roads and utility poles — Vermont law currently makes it hard to build solar arrays next to one another. This bill makes it easier to build new renewables on already-developed sites. It’s a “solar smart-growth” approach that lowers the cost of renewable power, eliminates the need for more roads and poles, and promotes better land-use decisions. 

As the race to power artificial intelligence heats up around the country, House legislators are working to ensure that any proposed data centers in Vermont are built responsibly, given their enormous power and water needs. Although there are no large data centers proposed in Vermont yet, H.727 strengthens regulation of large-load facilities by considering the environmental and cost impacts. 

Environment

The House Committee on Environment heard testimony on potential impacts of federal administration actions; the modernization of Act 250; producer responsibility for products including tires, hazardous waste, and bottles; and wildlands conservation. 

Vermont has over 1,000 dams across the state, some of which are regulated by the state and some regulated by the federal government. High-hazard dams are those that pose risk to human lives if they were to fail; this classification does not take into account the current condition of the dam, and does not mean that they are at high risk of failure. We have 77 high-hazard, state-regulated dams in Vermont. The committee passed H.778, an act relating to dam safety, that would ensure Vermont’s Division of Emergency Management provides needed support to municipalities downstream of high-hazard dams to develop emergency operations plans so that emergency responders and municipal and state officials have a coordinated communication, evacuation and response plan in the highly unlikely but very dangerous scenario of a dam failure or emergency release from a dam. 

There is a renewed effort to pass a bill to modernize Vermont’s bottle redemption system, which would create a producer responsibility organization (PRO) —a common tool for ensuring producer responsibility for the life cycle of certain products. This PRO would ensure more convenient and efficient bottle redemption options for Vermonters, including a minimum of three bottle redemption centers per county and one per municipality (over 7,000 people); modernize the equipment utilized for redemption collection and sorting; and reduce manual sorting at redemption centers. A portion of the escheats (unclaimed bottle deposits) would be utilized to fund the needed investments in equipment and technology. This bill does not expand the kinds of bottles that would be redeemable, nor does it increase the five cent deposit.

The Environment committee is considering changes to land posting laws after guidance issued by the Department of Fish & Wildlife this past fall would have required land posting on January 1st each year. This guidance was promptly rescinded, but legislative action has been requested to clarify that land can be posted at more reasonable times of year, and to address onerous issues that hinder some landowners from effectively posting their land. Currently, for land to be closed to hunting and fishing, or to allow hunting and fishing by permission only, a landowner must post signs— dated annually— every 400 feet along all property lines, and at each corner and entry point. If any sign is damaged, missing, or incorrectly dated, it may be considered to not meet the law, and thus not be off-limits. In addition, the land posting must be registered with the town clerk, annually, for a $5 fee. This can be difficult for landowners who have mobility or health limitations, as not only do the signs need to be posted or dated annually, but also monitored regularly to ensure effectiveness. H.723 addresses these challenges and reduces conflicts between landowners and hunters by eliminating dates on postings, allowing purple paint to be used in addition to signs, continuing to require annual registration with the town clerk, and recognizing posted land despite minor imperfections such as an occasional missing or damaged sign. 

Government Operations & Military Affairs

H.67 represents a collaborative effort between the legislature, the administration, and the state auditor’s office to create a panel of legislators to work in conjunction with committee chairs to regularly review legislation on the progress and effectiveness of laws passed. The evaluation tools and scope of oversight will be determined by the members of the committee, and will be set up as a two-year pilot. This is an important step to check that legislative intent and funding is being followed and implemented as originally intended.

A bill regarding Emergency Management and Disaster Relief strengthens Vermont’s disaster relief and emergency management by creating a microgrant fund for fire departments, urban search and rescue, and emergency medical services to provide ongoing training and specialty equipment. This fund will be especially important this year as Vermont manages the aftermath of the floods in the Northeast Kingdom, which were recently denied FEMA assistance. Vermont experts from the Communications working group, Enhanced 9-1-1, fire wardens, the Vermont Department of Public Safety, Vermont’s Chief Recovery Officer, and municipalities are all contributing to the development of this legislation. 

As a committee of jurisdiction, Government Operations and Military Affairs helped guide the Adjutant General election process and will continue to support the Guard through this transition. In addition, the committee is working to support members and their families through several potential pieces of legislation, including bills allowing any service member with a disabled veteran plate to park in a metered spot without charge; defining what it means to be a Gold Star family in statute to ensure access to vital benefits, maximizing access to moneys and programs for all veterans; and improving access to open state government positions for spouses of service members. 

Human Services

The Vermont House of Representatives passed H.545, a bill that authorizes the Vermont Department of Health to recommend immunization schedules that may vary from those reported by the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Vermont Commissioner of Health will receive recommendations from the Vermont Immunization Advisory Council. Immunizations are a personal and family matter, and this bill does nothing to alter that. It doesn’t require anyone to be vaccinated—or not vaccinated. It does allow the state of Vermont to create those schedules on its own, rather than relying solely on the federal government. Additionally, with this legislation, Vermonters will continue to have access to immunizations on the recommended schedule at no cost. The committee continues to monitor and respond carefully to changes in federal policy, always keeping in mind the health and safety of Vermonters.

Thanks to the Legislature’s leadership in passing Act 76, Vermont’s landmark 2023 child care law, our state is already seeing real results from its historic investment in affordable, accessible child care. About 10,000 families now receive support, roughly 50% more than before Act 76, and enrollment has grown by nearly 5,000 children. For example, a family of four at 275% of the federal poverty level is saving an average of $2,275 per month on child care costs. Vermont is also making progress on access: new analyses show the gap between supply and demand has shrunk, including an estimated gain of 1,992 full-time, full-year spaces since 2024. At the same time, the early childhood workforce is growing, up 8.5% from 2022 to 2024 to 8,190 educators, with a 22.4% increase in verified college degrees. While more work remains, especially for infant and toddler capacity and continued workforce supports, the latest monitoring and workforce reports show this long-term investment is delivering meaningful benefits for children, families, and Vermont’s economy.

Link to Child Care Editorial By Rep. Wood and Rep. Garofano 

Judiciary

The House passed H.541, an act relating to interference with voters and election officials, which was drafted in coordination with the Vermont Secretary of State to protect the integrity of our elections and the safety of election workers and volunteers. The bill creates a new criminal statute aimed at targeting those who would interfere with voters, election officials, or the electoral process in Vermont. In these uncertain times, we must take proactive steps to protect our institutions of democracy.

The House Judiciary committee passed H.578, a bill relating to penalties and procedures for animal cruelty offenses. The law and infrastructure related to animal cruelty and the seizure of animals who have been abused is antiquated and under-supported in Vermont. This bill aims to update the criminal statute to expand the scope of what is considered animal cruelty and develop criminal penalties that better address the harms being done to animals in our state. The bill also reworks the civil animal forfeiture laws to expedite and streamline the process to better protect at-risk animals and alleviate some of the financial burden taken on by shelters and volunteers who step in to help the state protect abused animals. 

H.566 is a bill that relates to a larger effort to shift from expunging to sealing eligible criminal records in Vermont. Last year, the legislature passed expansive legislation that updated the sealing and expungement laws, and moved most eligible criminal convictions to be sealable, not expungeable. H.566 targets a subset of criminal records that went to diversion post-charge, i.e. moved out of the formal court process to a restorative alternative some point after arraignment. It is still important that the records of those cases going to diversion are not destroyed in the expungement process—H.566 ensures those records are sealable and not lost.

In current practice, the public's ability to access publicly available criminal-case records is limited to either going to the court house where the records are stored and copying the records, or emailing a court clerk to have a specific record emailed to them. This process is even required of the news media. It’s an antiquated system that impacts the ability of the public and the media to understand what is happening in our criminal justice system. H.572 will provide a way for the Vermont public to access criminal case records online. This change will help with transparency in our court processes and help to address misconceptions in the criminal justice system by allowing individuals to more readily access the facts of any given criminal proceeding. This bill is anticipated to pass later in the session.

A recent Vermont Supreme Court case involving two young Vermont women who were filmed in a changing room without their consent illustrated gaps in Vermont's voyeurism statute. H.626 updates our voyeurism laws to better reflect the realities of how image-based abuse plays out in the digital era. The bill also creates a criminal statute prohibiting sexual extortion (sextortion), a form of image-based abuse often committed through social media and disproportionately affecting young Vermonters. Both provisions provide increased accountability and a clearer pathway for victims to seek justice. 

Transportation

As the House Committee on Transportation reviews the annual Transportation Bill, it remains focused on the declining revenue coming into the Agency of Transportation (AOT) due to slowing gas-tax revenues and soft purchase-and-use fees. As Vermont continues its commitment to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions through electric vehicle (EV) adoption, gas-tax revenues decline. Electric vehicles pay an additional registration fee (currently funding installation of EV charging stations), but the mileage-based user fee (proposed to charge EVs a fee commensurate with the gas tax) is still in development. Federal and state EV purchase incentives, which boosted car sales, were halted last year. The situation is further compounded by a 60% increase in construction costs since 2020, directly impacting the cost of road maintenance.  At current transportation funding levels, the Agency projects that roughly 60 percent of state roads will be in poor condition by 2030.

Amidst challenging finances, AOT plans to increase the miles of state highway maintenance projects in 2027 by maximizing available federal funds (to make up for a below-average paving year in 2026). Legislative action last session ensured that funds for town roads and structures increase— at a minimum—at the rate of inflation. However, these funds are insufficient to meet the needs of municipalities, and are already committed through 2035, meaning no new projects can be added to the list. And while AOT funds for local projects like sidewalks and bike lanes have brought great economic and social benefits to towns, funds for these projects remain severely limited. The committee continues to explore ways to shore up revenue and reduce costs while continuing to meet the state’s climate and resiliency goals.

Dear South Burlington and Williston, 

Thank you for allowing me to represent you in Montpelier. We are now eight weeks into the new biennium. After spending several weeks getting 50 new members of the House (including me!) up to speed, the pace of work has increased dramatically in the last few weeks. Your legislature remains committed to the priorities we laid out at the beginning of the session: 

• Education - improving quality and equity while designing a more sustainable funding system 

• Health Care - increasing access and affordability 

• Housing - growing our affordable housing stock and making sure all Vermonters have access to permanent housing

• Tax Relief - slowing the growth in property taxes and building a more sustainable and equitable tax system 

These priorities were set to help us build a Vermont where everyone can thrive. We are working toward a Vermont where: 

• Every child, regardless of zipcode, has access to the educational and support services they need to become active, engaged, and contributing members of our communities. 

• Everyone has access to the high-quality, affordable health care they need to stay healthy and productive.

• There is enough housing for our existing community members and the new community members we need to attract to keep our economy thriving and to provide the services we need. 

• Taxes are predictable, manageable, and equitable.

To date, the major piece of legislation that has passed from the House to the Senate is the Budget Adjustment Act. The BAA, as it is known, reviews the revenues and expenses of the state at the midpoint of the fiscal year and redirects certain funds for the remainder of the fiscal year (which ends on June 30) based on changes that have happened since the budget was passed last spring. The House version of the BAA was very close to the original proposal from the Governor’s team, with some small changes. The Senate made additional small changes last week and passed its own version. The two bodies will now have a “committee of conference” to iron out the differences between the two versions before both bodies vote on the final bill that will go back to the Governor. We hope to pass the BAA to the Governor within a week or so after town meeting break. 

EDUCATION: Designing Governance, Delivery, and Funding Systems for the Future

In Vermont, the right to a public education is enshrined in our state constitution. Public schools are one of the few places in our society where children of all backgrounds and experiences come together to learn from each other and grow side by side. Vermont’s education system, which has been a point of pride for our state throughout its history, faces many challenges including disparities in resources between school districts, declining student enrollment, aging infrastructure, increasing needs for special education services, and growing needs for mental health supports and other social services. Your legislature is dedicated to building an education system that meets the needs of today’s students and sets them on a path for success in their adult lives by providing them with high-quality education and support services funded in a way that is sustainable for our communities.

In the spirit of collaboration, the legislature has spent the last several weeks reviewing the Governor’s education proposal as it was rolled out piece by piece. This has taken time because the proposal is light on details, and details matter for our children, our communities, and our taxpayers. The administration has proposed massive changes in the way we fund, govern, and deliver education, and we owe it to our children and our taxpayers to take the time to get this right.

The governor’s proposal would replace our current education funding system with one based on a foundation formula. Instead of voting for local school budgets and requiring the state to adjust property tax rates each year to generate enough revenue to fund the budgets, the governor’s plan would assign a base funding amount to each student. Students living in low-income households, English language learners, those attending small schools, and those attending schools in sparsely populated areas would receive additional “weights” in a school’s pupil count. A school district would receive an education payment equal to the base funding amount multiplied by its weighted number of students. The state would set a uniform statewide homestead and non-homestead property tax rate to raise funds to make the education payments. Districts could choose to operate within the base funding amount or they could ask their voters to approve a small amount of additional funding by raising local property taxes.

The framework of a foundation formula has some advantages over our current system. There could be more predictability for taxpayers about their tax rates, and the system could ensure that schools are funded more equitably than in our current system. However, the details of the design of the foundation formula are critical. If we get them wrong some schools could end up with too little funding and be forced to make large cuts to important programs while others could have more funding than they can put to use efficiently.

After weeks of testimony, it has become clear that the governor’s proposed foundation formula is based on a hypothetical school system that does not reflect Vermont’s current reality. There are significant gaps in his proposal regarding funding for things like nutrition, special education, transportation, school renovations and more. The proposed formula assumes class and school sizes that do not exist in most parts of the state and would take years to replicate. At the same time, it is not clear how the governor’s proposal would save taxpayers money. 

As we review the Governor’s plan, the House has been taking an “all committee” approach to education reform. House Ways & Means is working to develop an education funding system that is fair, sustainable, and flexible enough to adapt to future changes in our education governance and delivery systems. House Education is crafting thoughtful legislation about optimal class sizes, school governance, special education service delivery, strengthening the State Board of Education, and fully staffing the Agency of Education to support the major reforms proposed. House Commerce & Economic Development is reviewing our career technical education system to determine how it could be structured more effectively to prepare our students to be part of the workforce Vermont needs for the future. House Agriculture has taken extensive testimony regarding the Governor’s proposal to end the Universal School Meals program and is advocating that the program be maintained. House Health Care is working on slowing the growth in health care premiums for all Vermonters, which would help lower the increase in education spending, since a significant portion of spending relates to employee benefits. The careful work we are doing will take time, which we are willing to invest so that we do not break the system as we try to improve it.

HEALTH CARE: Increasing Access and Affordability

The House Committee on Health Care has taken extensive testimony and received updates from across Vermont’s Healthcare system: private and public organizations, hospitals, advocates, consumers, rate payers and insurers. These testimonies have illuminated that Vermont’s system of care is at a fragile point. We are facing major workforce shortages, provider financial strain, access issues and increasing demand for more acute services. Without swift and meaningful intervention, key parts of our system will fracture, limiting access to quality care for all Vermonters.

In response, the committee is exploring short, medium and long-term strategies to alleviate pressures and bring sustainability. Our discussions and policy action has focused on legislation (H.35, H.96) that immediately streamlines regulatory oversight, promotes accountability and financial stability. Committee members are considering mid term reform efforts that encourage innovation and ensure Vermont’s healthcare system, and residents, remain solvent and more affordable and accessible in the years ahead.

One key reform priority is H-96, a bill aimed at increasing the monetary thresholds for a Certificate of Need (CON). Current requirements often prompt the CON process, which can be expensive, stifle competition and delay the expansion of services, acquisition of new equipment, or investment in critical infrastructure. By adjusting monetary thresholds, H-96 seeks to balance oversight with efficiency and improve access.

As we move forward in the session we will be working on legislation that focuses on a long term strategy to address cost, insurer stability, affordability and access.  Vermonters deserve to receive the care they need, in the appropriate setting, at the right time, for a price they can afford. 

HOUSING: Meeting the Needs of Current and Future Vermonters

The General and Housing Committee is working across multiple committees to fight a housing crisis that underpins Vermont’s severe workforce shortage and alarming rate of homelessness. The Committee is working on two fronts: deregulation for building homes in urban and village centers and leveraging our state dollars into creative and time-tested financing of homes for lower and middle-income Vermonters. On the permitting front, we are building upon 2024’s legislation, streamlining local zoning and state permitting processes in designated regions and for pre-approved home designs, to speed up building and lower construction costs. In terms of investments, we are developing innovative financing tools to overcome municipalities’ challenges of developing housing infrastructure like water and sewer and working on rehabilitation and weatherization of our rentals and our farm worker housing. We are also working on leveraging credit to help first-generation home buyers afford down payments and lower mortgage costs, enabling members of our workforce to break generational poverty and fully participate in our state economy.

Importantly, we are committed to ensuring that Vermont’s housing strategies address the needs of all Vermonters, from working families to seniors. This includes providing affordable, accessible housing options for our workforce to ensure that they have stable housing while contributing to the state's economic growth. Additionally, we are prioritizing housing solutions for seniors, many of whom need safe, affordable homes with the necessary services and supports to age in place. Finally, to help our most vulnerable populations meet immediate needs, we are discussing funding programs that provide housing and home services for Vermonters with disabilities and for our seniors.

With these immediate and longer-term goals in mind, the House Committee on General and Housing is presenting its budget recommendations to the Appropriations Committee, and writing its omnibus Housing Bill based on joint hearings with its partner committee in the Senate, having taken testimony from stakeholders around the state, and folding in language from the Governor’s housing proposal.

TAX RELIEF: Creating a Fairer and More Sustainable Tax System

The committee on which I serve, Ways & Means, has been looking at several proposals that would make our tax system more affordable for low- and middle-income households, fairer to all taxpayers, and better structured to support education and other state responsibilities into the future. Legislation that we have been working on so far includes:

• A bill to establish a statewide system of property reappraisals that will update the state’s grand list on a more consistent and frequent basis, which is critical for a fair and equitable statewide education tax.

• Legislation that would divide the non-homestead property grand list into more categories so that different types of property within the non-homestead category could be taxed more fairly. For example, second homes could be taxed at a different rate than affordable rentals.

• Consideration of adjustments to the income and property value limits in the Property Tax Credit program that have been in statute since 1997.

• Equitable ways to use one-time surplus funds in the General Fund to “buy down” statewide property taxes for FY2026.

• Proposals to increase tax relief for low-income households by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and increasing the age limit for the Child Tax Credit. 

The committee has also spent significant time digging into the details of the Governor’s education funding proposals. We expect to devote additional time after the break creating a funding proposal that reflects the current structure of our school system and is flexible enough to adapt as reforms are implemented in the future.

I look forward to providing additional updates on Front Porch Forum, articles in The Other Paper and The Williston Observer, and drop in “office hours” on Saturdays (when my boys’ soccer schedule permits!). Please don’t hesitate to reach out any time at bburkhardt@leg.state.vt.us if you have questions, concerns, or input. 

House Ways and Means Committee Focused on Education Funding Reform

We are one month into the legislative session, and the House is hard at work on a number of issues that are critical to the future of our state. I am delighted to be serving on the House Committee on Ways and Means. For those of you who always wondered, the Committee on Appropriations is tasked with refining and approving budgets for state agencies and other organizations that are funded by the state.  Ways and Means is the committee that works on changes to the structure of taxes and fees that raise the revenue to fund those budgets.

Ways and Means will spend the vast majority of the next two years focused on education funding reform. As other articles have already mentioned, the administration’s education reform proposal includes changes to governance, funding, and education quality standards. We have seen a broad overview of the total proposal, and details about each segment are being shared each week.

The proposal for funding reform centers around a change from our current system to a foundation formula. In the most simplified terms, our current system uses sales and use taxes, a portion of rooms and meals taxes, lottery proceeds, and property taxes to generate revenue for the Education Fund. School districts around the state develop budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. Once the budgets are passed by voters in those districts, the state uses the Education Fund to fund the portion of the budgets not covered by federal or other types of funding. Property tax rates are set at a level to provide enough revenue, given estimated proceeds from the other sources of funding, for the Education Fund to meet the obligations under all of those passed budgets.  

The administration is proposing a switch to a new version of an old concept – a foundation formula in which every district receives a base amount of funding per pupil plus additional funding based on weights applied to students experiencing poverty, English language learners, and attendees of small schools and schools in sparsely populated areas. Vermont once used a foundation formula that was ruled unconstitutional by the Vermont Supreme Court in the 1997 case Brigham et al vs. State of Vermont. The court found that the system allowed towns with more property wealth to raise more education funding and provide more opportunities to their students than towns with smaller tax bases. The new proposed formula would be designed to work within the requirements of the Brigham decision. 

On Friday we received the first details of the proposed base per-pupil funding amount. The administration proposes a base amount of $13,200 per pupil plus weights for the categories mentioned above. As an example, an economically disadvantaged student, who would carry an additional weight of 0.75, would generate a total payment to his or her district of $23,100 ($13,200 plus 0.75*13,200 = $23,100). Special education would continue to be funded by categorical grants based on the number of students needing services in a district. Career and Technical Education (CTE) would be funded by per-pupil payments of $25,000 made to new Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) that would allocate those resources amongst the CTE centers. The administration proposes that the changes to the funding formula take effect for the fiscal 2028 budget.

The administration’s funding formula proposal can be found on the Ways and Means committee page on the General Assembly website under Documents and Handouts for January 31 under the testimony from the Secretary of Education. The proposal contains many more details, but there are still many questions yet to be answered. How would revenue be raised to fund the education system? What would be the impact on property taxes? Will towns or districts be allowed to raise additional funds above those provided through the foundation formula, and if so, how does that fit with the Brigham decision? We will ask these and many more questions as we continue to hear testimony from the administration over the coming weeks and months. Next week we expect to hear more about the governance portion of the administration’s proposal.

In the short term, the Governor has proposed a $77 million one-time transfer from the General Fund to the Education fund for the coming fiscal year to bring down the statewide average increase in property taxes for next year to 0%. If the Legislature approves this proposal and based on the proposed school district budget, South Burlington residents would still likely see an increase in our taxes, but it would be much lower than the original projections. The challenge with a one-time transfer is that it delays the problem by a year and creates a potential funding gap as next year’s budgets are being developed.

In addition to education funding, the committee has spent the past few weeks reviewing the Budget Adjustment Act, learning about best and current practices for different types of taxes and fees, and hearing testimony on bills that would have an impact on taxes and fees. The Budget Adjustment Act (BAA) is an annual bill that is typically passed early in the legislative session. The bill makes changes to the budget that was passed for the current fiscal year (which ends on June 30) based on changes to revenue and expenditures through the first several months of the fiscal year. This year’s BAA is expected to come to the floor for a vote this week.

Please feel free to reach out any time with questions or concerns at bburkhardt@leg.state.vt.us.

Thank you to the South Burlington and Williston communities for your support during my campaign for election to the Vermont House as the representative for Chittenden-8. I am eagerly anticipating the start of the new biennium on January 8 and look forward to serving both communities as one of your representatives. 

While all legislators vote on bills across a wide range of issues, much of a legislator’s work is done in the committee to which they are assigned where they hear testimony and help shape bills that are moved through the legislative process. New legislators only receive their committee assignments during the first week of the session, so I’ve been feeling like a kid who can see her present under the Christmas tree but cannot open it until January. In the meantime, I’ve been working to learn as much as I can about a range of issues so I can try to get a head start on the steep learning curve that awaits no matter which committee I am assigned.

As a former school board member, education and education funding are particular areas of interest for me. Act H.887, passed in May 2024, created the Commission for the Future of Public Education in Vermont. The Commission is tasked with producing a vision for the future of public education in Vermont along with recommendations for restructuring our education funding system. The Commission produced a preliminary report in mid-December and must provide final recommendations in December 2025. I have been following the Commission’s meetings, which are open to the public and available to join online, since they began in July and have learned a lot from hearing the testimony of a range of witnesses who work with different parts of our education system. In addition, a group of legislators and legislators-elect have been meeting virtually for the last several weeks to study ideas brainstormed by the Commission for possible changes to the education funding system. None of these ideas are full policy recommendations but are meant to help inform the debate about the restructuring of our education financing system that will be a high priority in the upcoming legislative session. Recordings of the Commission’s meetings and materials related to them are available on the Agency of Education website along with reports like the updated State Education Profile that the Agency produced in November.

Much like the education system, Vermont’s healthcare system is complex and facing extreme challenges regarding access and affordability. The rising cost of healthcare, which is obviously challenging for patients, is also driving increases in property taxes as premiums paid for employee benefits by Vermont’s school districts have increased by double digit percentages in the last several years. As a state we need to build a healthcare system that can provide the services needed by our aging population without unsustainable increases in costs. I’ve attended both in-person and online meetings with executives from the UVM Health Network as they attempt to explain the cuts to services they are enacting across the state. I have also watched a meeting of the Health Reform Oversight Committee, a joint committee of the House and Senate that oversees the state’s healthcare reform efforts. The meeting is available for the public to watch on YouTube. I would also encourage anyone who wants to follow the debate about our healthcare system to read a report by consultants Oliver Wyman that was produced in September and is available on the Green Mountain Care Board website. 

Throughout the series of meetings I have attended or watched over the past several months, there has been a recurring theme that affects nearly every other challenge we are facing as a state – a lack of affordable housing. We cannot recruit enough staff for our hospitals, nor attorneys to work in our State’s Attorney’s office, nor skilled employees for our businesses because people who want to move to Vermont cannot find housing. In addition, approximately 3,500 Vermonters do not have permanent housing, and many of them can no longer access the motel voucher program. Without permanent housing it is difficult for these community members to maintain jobs or access to services like healthcare or education for their children. In November I spent a day at an annual conference put on by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency to try to deepen my understanding of housing issues. I also had the opportunity to attend an annual luncheon put on by the Champlain Housing Trust and a legislative breakfast at Allard Square. The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission hosted a breakfast for legislators in December, and much of the discussion focused on housing. While I am unlikely to be assigned to the Committee on General and Housing because Representative Krasnow is already representing our interests so well on that committee, nearly every committee’s work touches housing and housing affordability in some way. 

In addition to the meetings on specific issues and introductory meetings with many state agencies and non-profits, I’ve had the chance to connect with many members of the communities both during and after the campaign. I look forward to bringing your voices to Montpelier to help shape solutions to the challenges we face and need input from as many of you as possible. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at bburkhardt@leg.state.vt.us, and join all five of your South Burlington representatives at our monthly legislative forum on Monday, January 27 at the South Burlington Public Library. 

My name is Bridget Burkhardt, and I am running as a Democrat to represent Chittenden-8 in the Vermont House of Representatives.

My family and I moved to South Burlington in 2010 and have been grateful for this wonderful community for the past 14 years. After the first chapter of my finance career, which included roles in investment banking, private equity, and community development finance, followed by several years as a stay-at-home mom, I was inspired to try to give something back to our community by running for the South Burlington School Board. My South Burlington neighbors elected me to three terms on the board, and I served from 2016-2022, eventually becoming chair of the board. In 2022 I stepped down from the board and returned to the private sector to work as a portfolio manager for a community development private equity fund where I have supported and advised our portfolio companies in the healthcare and addiction treatment sectors.

During my years on the school board, I saw firsthand how decisions in Montpelier impact our local communities and had a window into a broad range of challenges faced by Vermonters. The board’s work focused directly on educational issues – the need for improved learning outcomes across a broader range of students, our students’ rapidly growing needs for mental health, special education, and social services, the impact of growing diversity in our schools, and aging school infrastructure, to name just a few. However, as board members we also saw how a lack of affordable housing, the opioid crisis, food insecurity, domestic violence, discrimination, and many broader issues affect our children.

Some of the issues that drove me to run for the legislature include:

Education – As a district we tried to meet our children’s expanding needs while facing growing costs, particularly rapidly rising healthcare premiums, and the need to keep taxes under control. This work was complicated by a complex and changing school funding formula that made it difficult to create budgets and communicate about the impact of them effectively with voters. We need to reshape the way we fund education in Vermont to provide more predictability for districts and taxpayers. Without dictating curriculum from the state level, we need to find ways that we can support improved learning outcomes for children from all backgrounds. We must find a way to fund the necessary improvements to and, in some cases, replacement of our aging school facilities.

Affordable Housing – We need to ensure that all Vermonters have access to safe, stable, affordable housing. We need to make sure that our seniors can age in place if they choose to do so and that our children have a path to homeownership as they reach adulthood. We must make sure that there is enough housing that prospective employees of our growing businesses who want to move to Vermont can find a place to live. We need creative solutions that will allow us to increase the availability of housing while minimizing the potential negative impact of housing development on our environment.

Environment – We need to improve Vermont’s resilience in the face of climate change. We need to continue to devote resources to cleaning up our waterways that are impaired by pollution and invasive species. We need to preserve forests and agricultural land for future generations. 

Economic Development – We should support innovative companies and entrepreneurs that can bring jobs to Vermont and allow our children to chart a future for themselves here. We need to support public education and technical programs that will ensure these businesses have the skilled workforce they need to grow. We need thoughtful regulation that can provide incentives to the types of businesses that can thrive in Vermont while respecting and preserving our environment and the qualities that make Vermont unique.

To be an effective legislator, I believe one needs to be able to process a large amount of information about a wide range of topics in order to understand the challenges facing constituents and assess the potential impact of proposed solutions. A good legislator should also be able to combine empathy for people from a range of backgrounds with an understanding of data and financial information to help set priorities and make tough decisions about how to allocate limited resources. Most of all, I think a great legislator must be willing to solicit a wide range of viewpoints from constituents and use that information to help guide their work. I believe that my school board service and my private sector finance work experience have given me a strong foundation and the tools to be an effective legislator on behalf of the residents of southeast South Burlington and southwest Williston. I hope to connect with as many of you as possible over the next few months to hear your concerns, gather your input, and earn your vote.

Please reach out to me at burkhardtforvt@gmail.com with your questions and priorities for the legislature.