As the second half of the biennium begins this week, Vermont legislators are outlining their priorities for the session.
Gov. Phil Scott delivered his State of the State address Wednesday, and although his focus was education reform, he teased his upcoming budget address and said it would set clear priorities.
“This year’s spending package has required difficult decisions, but it sets clear priorities and it will be funded without new taxes. My team has prepared thoughtful proposals in the areas of housing, energy, healthcare, and public safety. These issues are incredibly important to our future and we’ll address each of them with purpose.”
House Democrats gathered in the Cedar Creek Room of the Statehouse earlier this week to outline their priorities. Assistant Majority Leader of External Communications Representative Mary-Katherine Stone said since the first half of the biennium adjourned, Democratic lawmakers have been working with Vermonters to determine their needs, while tracking how federal decisions affect Vermont.
“House Democrats continue to focus on issues that are impacting Vermonters most acutely in their daily lives: housing, health care, public education and the overall cost and complexity of living in the state. They are at the core of our work.”
House Majority Leader Democrat Lori Houghton highlighted 2025 work that included passing a tax relief bill, addressing the housing and homelessness crisis, working to reduce the cost of health care in the state and passing Act 73 the education transformation bill. She said the 2026 session will build on that progress.
“Our priorities remain the same because the challenges remain the same. We will continue our work on housing and homelessness. We will continue pushing for health care affordability and access. We will continue our work on education transformation keeping both education quality and cost stabilization at the forefront of our decisions. We also remain mindful of a changing federal landscape. We are paying close attention to actions that are impacting Vermonters.”
Legislators must address a predicted 11.9% hike in property taxes, which follows a double-digit increase last year. Gov. Scott, during his State of the State address, said he would reluctantly request the house and senate approve a second buy-down to buffer the increase. Houghton said everything is on the table to find reductions
“We appreciate the governor's suggestion that we do a buy down. An expected 12% increase in property taxes, almost half of that if not half of that, is due to the buy down that we did last year. So we have to keep that in mind. We also have to keep in mind the fact that our revenue is declining and we have some serious federal impacts. Our plan is to look at it in the budget and look at it with everything else that's on the table, with more information that we'll have at that time.”
Houghton was asked if she anticipates any action to address the state’s 2030 carbon emissions reduction goals in the Vermont Global Warming Solutions Act.
“We are committed to the work that we've done on climate. We are holding fast to that work especially as the Trump administration is dismantling, you know, climate action that has happened across the country. And so we will keep moving forward with our work.”
Democrats and Republicans generally agree that education reform must be the priority this session. But the Vermont Progressive Party is calling for the enabling legislation, Act 73, to be repealed. The party says it “is fundamentally flawed” and would “end local control of public education, force school redistricting and closures .... while providing no property tax relief.”
