Representative Dobrovich’s Newsletter

Week of January 20th

Dear Constituents,

A quick personal note: I was remote all week due to a family illness but attended every session, meeting, and testimony virtually and remained fully engaged throughout. Session moved steadily forward in Montpelier nonetheless. This week we saw more bills introduced, light floor action, strong Education Committee work, and the Governor’s FY2027 Budget Address. Here’s a concise recap to keep you updated. I’ll share more as things progress. Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Week in Review

58 new bills were introduced this week, bringing the biennium total to 774.
(Full bill texts: https://legislature.vermont.gov — enter the bill number.)

Floor action was light. We passed these bills to the Senate for review:

  • H.545 — Immunization recommendations
  • H.84 — Recording telehealth appointments (with consent)
  • H.534 — Community action agencies

My Introduced Bills

Five of my bills were introduced last week and referred to committee. Here are short summaries highlighting their intentions:

  • H.759 — Flat income tax (Ways and Means)
    Repeals multiple existing taxes (sales/use, education property, estate/gift, etc.) and replaces them with a flat income tax, while preserving low-income relief and requiring a detailed implementation report. Intentions: Simplifies the tax code for greater transparency and ease, promotes fairness and economic growth, attracts residents/businesses, supports rural communities, and sustains funding for key services like education and healthcare.
    https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/H.759
  • H.764 — Inpatient psychiatric bed capacity
    Exempts psychiatric unit construction/renovation from certificate-of-need rules to enable faster expansion; establishes a stakeholder working group to assess needs and plan for a 25% capacity increase by July 2028 if necessary. Intentions: Improves access to critical inpatient mental health care, reduces wait times and crises, strengthens support for Vermonters in need, and addresses shortages through collaborative, practical solutions.
    https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/H.764
  • H.765 — Qualified mental health professionals (Health Care)
    Broadens the definition of qualified mental health professional to include more licensed practitioners (physicians, APRNs, psychologists, social workers, counselors, etc.). Intentions: Increases the available mental health workforce, speeds up assessments and care delivery, reduces bottlenecks in the system, and enhances overall access to timely, high-quality mental health services across Vermont.
    https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/H.765
  • H.769 — Child welfare & independent childhood activities (Judiciary)
    Clarifies that age-appropriate unsupervised activities do not constitute neglect; refines standards for substantiating abuse/neglect reports to ensure fairness and prevent unnecessary intervention. Intentions: Protects parental rights to raise resilient, confident children; encourages healthy independence and development; reduces overreach in families; maintains strong child safety protections while fostering family autonomy.
    https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/H.769
  • H.771 — Ambulatory surgical centers & certificate of need (Health Care)
    Exempts licensed/proposed ambulatory surgical centers from certificate-of-need requirements, effective immediately upon passage. Intentions: Encourages new centers in rural/underserved areas for better local access to outpatient procedures; reduces travel burdens for patients; lowers healthcare costs through more efficient, high-quality care outside hospital settings; promotes competition and affordability.
    https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/H.771

House Education Committee

This past week (Jan 20–23) was packed with important work on Act 73, redistricting, new bills, and related topics. Key activities included:

  • Tuesday, Jan 20: Reviewed the School District Redistricting Task Force Report (Appendix E) with testimony from Rep. Rebecca Holcombe on Cooperative Education Service Agencies.
  • Wednesday, Jan 21: Introduced/walked through H.687 (exception to moratorium on new approved independent schools) and H.495 (consolidated school district boundaries using regional structures); discussed the Compact for Education and equitable budgeting; continued Act 73 discussions.
  • Thursday, Jan 22: Introduced H.681 (voter approval prior to school closure); held a virtual joint hearing on Career Technical Education (CTE) concepts with Commerce/Economic Development committees, featuring Secretary Zoie Saunders and Dept. of Labor reps; Northeast Kingdom Day testimonies from rural education leaders; joint hearing with Senate Education on Act 73 mapping/redistricting with Vermont Superintendents Association; update on Boards of Cooperative Education.
  • Friday, Jan 23: Introduced H.698 (changes to Act 73); committee discussion on Act 73; miscellaneous bill on chronic absenteeism with Agency of Education witnesses.

Key testimonies:

Quick CTE Highlights

Secretary Zoie Saunders' testimony proposes reimagining Career Technical Education through regional hubs with shared governance, equity-focused and performance-based funding models, and ambitious goals to boost student access to over 50% of high schoolers (from current ~25%). Positives: dramatically improved reach for rural, low-income, and underserved students via reduced barriers (e.g., transportation, hybrid options); enhanced hands-on skills, industry credentials, and work-based learning like apprenticeships; stronger student outcomes including higher graduation rates (95%+ in CTE vs. statewide average), better job placement (85%+), and 11–20% higher starting wages; potential $5–10 million annual savings through efficiencies and consolidation; broader workforce/economic benefits by aligning programs with Vermont's high-demand fields (e.g., green energy, healthcare, manufacturing) and keeping talent in-state—all closely aligned with and supporting Act 73's transformation goals for equitable, efficient education.

Quick VSA Highlights on Act 73 Mapping/Redistricting

Amy Minor's testimony from the Vermont Superintendents Association strongly supported collaborative implementation of Act 73's redistricting goals, advocating for thoughtful governance changes that promote equity and efficiency. Key points: emphasis on public mapping tools and stakeholder input to create viable districts that respect community ties while addressing cost and access; call for clear timelines and legislative action to advance maps that prioritize student outcomes with minimal disruption; recognition that success depends on superintendent and local leader involvement to balance fiscal responsibility with educational quality—all in support of Act 73.

Governor’s FY2027 Budget Address

On Tuesday, January 20, Governor Scott delivered his Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Address. The $9.4 billion proposed budget emphasized tough choices, fiscal responsibility, and the need for structural fixes—especially in education. You can read more about the address here: https://governor.vermont.gov/press-release/governor-phil-scott-delivers-fiscal-year-2027-budget-address

Here are two excerpts of his address speaking about education and its funding:

“That brings me to the Ed Fund which will require $2.56 billion. That’s up 39% in just the last five years, partially paid for by a 41% increase in property taxes. All in, including federal funding and other General Fund investments, the total cost of our education system is creeping towards $3 billion. And remember, that’s for about 80,000 kids. Now, I know we’ve been over this before, but it’s important to remember where that money comes from. This year, on top of property taxes, we’ll use: Every dime of the sales tax – $641 million. All proceeds from the lottery– $33 million. Nearly a third of the purchase and use tax – another $42 million. And a quarter of the rooms and meals tax – about $76 million. All told, we’ll send almost $800 million to the Ed Fund just this year”
“While we do the hard work to fix the structural issues in education, I propose dedicating $105 million through Budget Adjustment and the Big Bill for property tax relief. This will cut the projected increase by about half. While I’d like to do more, we need administrators and school boards to dig deep and get creative to reduce this year’s growth in spending. And, I’ll be honest, I’m worried about what I’m seeing in the news and what we saw last year when we made a similar investment. This money is to ease the burden on taxpayers, not to create space for school budgets to continue to grow. Last year we tried to buy down the entire increase, but when some districts saw that, they upped their spending. That’s not the goal and frankly, it hurts schools that struggle to pass budgets. I know many districts are doing their best, but we need everyone pulling in the same direction to lower the tax burden on Vermonters this year.”

Eyes Up: Looking Ahead

This week (January 27–30), the House Education Committee agenda is packed (Room M103 + Zoom; most livestreamed at https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/house-education). Highlights include:

  • Tuesday, Jan 27 — After floor: State Board of Education update (1:15 PM); Act 73 discussion (2:15 PM); joint FY27 budget hearing with Senate (3:30 PM, Room 11) featuring AOE witnesses on overall budget.
  • Wednesday, Jan 28 — FY27 PCB funding testimony (2:00 PM) and continued work on H.542 (terminating school PCB testing) with DEC witnesses (2:30 PM).
  • Thursday, Jan 29 — Mental Health Advocacy Day testimony (1:30 PM) from school counselors and advocates.
  • Friday, Jan 30 — After floor: Introduction and walk-through of H.640 (adding voting student members to school boards).

These build on Act 73 momentum, budget/PCB issues, mental health in schools, and student involvement.

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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