Representative Dobrovich’s Newsletter

Weeks of January 6th and January 13th

Dear Constituents,

The House came back into session on January 6, launching the second year of the biennium at full speed. New bills started rolling in right away, committees got busy, and education reform under Act 73 quickly took center stage. These opening two weeks have been packed with activity, and I'm happy to share this combined update so you stay in the loop. I’ll keep you posted with more updates as the work in the Legislature unfolds. Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Weeks in Review

Over these two weeks, a substantial number of new bills were introduced and committed to their committees of jurisdiction: 115 in the first week (bringing the biennium total to 637), followed by 79 more in the second week (pushing the total to 716).

(You can read the full text of any bill by going to the Vermont General Assembly website at https://legislature.vermont.gov and entering the bill number in the search bar.)

The work on the House Floor was relatively light overall but included passage of two key bills:

  • H.649 — This bill proposes to prohibit certain loans and investments made by a risk retention group; restructure report and statement requirements applicable to a risk retention group; and require a certification statement from each protected cell within a sponsored captive insurance company.
  • S.60 — This bill proposes to establish the Farm Security Special Fund to provide financial assistance to farms that experienced qualifying losses due to weather conditions.

I will be submitting a few bills of my own soon and still have a couple “on the wall” from last session that I’m hoping will move forward. Once my new submissions receive official bill numbers, I’ll share them in a future update.

House Education Committee

We hit the ground running in the Education Committee, taking testimony, recapping Act 73 (the landmark education transformation law from 2025), and diving into related work. As of now, there is no definitive path forward yet, but it’s extremely apparent that there are many opinions among legislators—and the Governor remains strongly committed to advancing Act 73.

On Wednesday, January 7, Governor Scott delivered his 2026 State of the State address to a joint session, with the entire focus on moving education transformation forward.
Read the full remarks here: https://governor.vermont.gov/press-release/governor-phil-scott-delivers-2026-state-state-address (or view coverage via YouTube or other sources for the January 7 delivery).

An excerpt from the speech:

“The Legislature must prioritize drawing new district lines, and it should be the first order of business for the committees of jurisdiction. Without this governance change, we won’t give kids the better education Act 73 was designed to provide… I will not sign a budget or an education bill or tax bill that deviates from Act 73 or fails to fix what’s broken.”

We began receiving testimony on H.542, an act relating to terminating PCB testing requirements for schools in Vermont. We also continued our deep dive into Act 73. On Thursday (in the second week), legislative counsel joined the committee for a refresher on Act 73, covering statutory timelines and the contingencies required for full implementation.

On that Thursday, we joined the Senate Education Committee for a joint hearing featuring testimony from Secretary of Education Zoie Saunders and the Director of the Vermont Center for Geographic Information. They presented the mapping tools created for the Redistricting Task Force and walked us through sample district maps developed by the Agency of Education. I was really impressed by the tools themselves—the built-in layers and how they’re designed to follow the exact guidelines the Task Force was required to use make map development much more straightforward and thoughtful.

The public can explore these mapping tools anytime, and I've linked them below along with an example district map from the Agency of Education that incorporates many of Act 73's guidelines. (Just a reminder: the AOE isn't officially supporting or recommending any particular map yet.)

All in all, these opening weeks make it clear: this session is going to be a big one for Vermont education, especially as we work to get new district lines drawn and fully implement Act 73.

Eyes Up: Looking Ahead

This week (January 20–23, 2026), the House Education Committee has a packed agenda in Room M103 and via Zoom (all meetings livestreamed unless noted at https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/house-education). Key highlights include:

  • Tuesday, January 20: At 2:30 PM, review of the School District Redistricting Task Force Report: Appendix E, with invited testimony from Jay Badams, a member of the Task Force. This ties directly into the governance changes needed for Act 73 implementation.
  • Wednesday, January 21: Introduction and walk-through of new bills, including H.687 (exception to the moratorium on approval of new approved independent schools) and H.495 (consideration of consolidated school district boundaries using existing regional structures). Also on the docket: discussion of the Compact for Education and equitable budgeting testimony.
  • Thursday, January 22: Update on Boards of Cooperative Education, with testimony from Jill Graham (Vermont Learning Collaborative) and Sherry Sousa (Mountain Views Supervisory Union).
  • Friday, January 23: Committee discussion on Act 73 of 2025 at 10:00 AM; miscellaneous bill on chronic absenteeism with Agency of Education witnesses; FY27 budget considerations for PCB funding; and continued work on H.542 (terminating PCB testing in schools) with witnesses from the Department of Environmental Conservation.

These items build on the momentum from the opening weeks, with heavy emphasis on redistricting, Act 73 progress, school boundaries, and environmental/health issues in schools. I’ll be closely engaged in these discussions and will report back on outcomes.

For the full agenda details (including times, witnesses, and updates), check here: https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/agenda/2026/2945

Stay Engaged

For more detailed information about all things happening in the legislature, please refer to the official Vermont General Assembly website. Here are some helpful links:

I will continue my strong effort to provide important and timely updates on a weekly basis, however, there may be occasional weeks when an update isn’t possible due to workload or scheduling, but I’ll do my best to keep you informed on a regular basis.

Your input is invaluable. Please feel free to reach out with your questions, concerns, or suggestions. Together, we can work towards a better future for our community and state.

Warm regards,
Joshua Dobrovich
jdobrovich@leg.state.vt.us

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