Reps. Torre & White: Legislative session summary
June 22, 2025 | By Reps. Dara Torre and Candice White At 8:35 p.m. on Monday, June 16, we officially adjourned after passing H.454, the education transformation bill. Below is a summary of that bill and other important legislation from the session.
State Reps. Dara Torre, D-Moretown, and Candice White, D-Waitsfield. Legislative photos
We will host a public discussion of the session on Tuesday, June 24, at 6 p.m. at The Big Picture Theater in Waitsfield, along with Washington-1 district Reps. Theresa Wood and Tom Stevens, and Washington Sens. Ann Cummings, Andrew Perchlik and Anne Watson. Please join us, or catch the livestream or the recording afterwards at mrvtv.com.
Please stay in touch during the off-legislative season. Our email addresses and websites are: cwhite@leg.state.vt.us and candicewhite4vt.com, and dtorre@leg.state.vt.us and daratorrevt.com.
Education
The sprawling education transformation bill (H.454) tackles challenges around declining enrollment and escalating property taxes through coordinated changes meant to achieve greater scale, sustainable and predictable funding, and more equitable access to educational opportunities around the state.
The bill calls for a multi-year transformation and includes many contingencies, analyses and votes before any major change takes effect.
By 2028, Vermont would switch from voter-approved district school budgets to a “block grant”-style foundation formula, and new school districts would be in place. The new funding mechanism would be implemented slowly, with completion in 2033. The goal behind this is for every school to receive the funding its students deserve in a more understandable, affordable way.
Before the funding change can occur, the bill calls for the formation of new, larger school districts, and suggests an ideal size of 4,000 to 8,000 students per district (much bigger than current ones), though only “as practical.”
By December 2025, a special task force will deliver three district maps for legislative consideration ahead of a vote on new districts in 2026. If passed, the new district lines would become effective on July 1, 2026.
Also in the bill: class-size minimums, starting in 2026 (with flexibility and waivers); an update to Vermont’s career and technical education system and special education; establishment of new voting wards for the new districts; and in 2027, special elections for the new districts’ school board members. See the bill’s fiscal note for more details.
Health Care
H. 35 unmerges the individual and small group markets that purchase insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchange. The individual market currently receives federal subsidies to reduce premiums for Vermonters. Unfortunately, these are expected to expire at the end of the year. The small group market will have lower premiums as a result of this bill.
H. 266 started as a bill to support 340b pharmacies at Federally Qualified Health Centers and Planned Parenthood in dealing with onerous pharmacy-benefit management practices. We learned that the federal 340b program was being used by some hospitals to significantly overcharge patients and commercial insurance to support other programs, and that Vermont is the most expensive state in the country for these costs, charging approximately 600% over the average sales price to commercial insurers. H. 266 puts a cap on prices equal to 130% of the average sales price as determined by Medicare for 2026.
S. 53 requires doula services be paid for by Vermont Medicaid. Doulas support families throughout the prenatal, birthing and postnatal period, and reduce preterm births, low birth weight and postpartum depression, leading to healthier families and lower costs.
H.259 prevents workplace violence in hospitals by requiring hospitals to implement an approved security plan. From June 2023 through December 2024, six Vermont hospitals reported 89 total incidents with injury to staff.
H. 482 allows the Green Mountain Care Board authority to adjust a hospital’s reimbursement rates and to appoint a hospital observer if there appears to be a material misrepresentation of a budget submission.
S. 126: The current annual cost for the Silver family plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont on the Vermont Health Exchange is $58,000 per year, inclusive of tax credits/subsidies the federal government has provided to Vermonters since COVID. Barring action by Congress, these credits will expire on Dec. 31, 2025, and are unlikely to be extended. This is unaffordable. This bill orders the Green Mountain Care Board to use reference-based pricing to set rates; allows the board to review rates of hospital networks; and provides transparency for state agencies to set contracts between providers and payers. It creates a statewide health resource plan and forms a primary-care committee that will contribute to the development of the plan. Lastly, the bill holds the state Agency of Human Services accountable for the work and timeline required in Act 167 around hospital sustainability.
Housing
S.127 addresses housing and housing development by: allocating money for lower- and middle-income Vermonters to access financing for house purchases and rentals; offers grants for landlords to bring units up to code; offers support to Vermonters living in mobile homes; protects our labor force by protecting our immigrant population from housing discrimination; creates the Community and Housing Infrastructure Program, a tax increment financing program for municipalities and private developers to finance housing infrastructure projects in both rural and urban regions. H.91, which establishes a comprehensive homelessness assistance and housing transition program, was vetoed by the governor.
Balanced budget
In the $9.1 billion FY26 state budget bill (H.493), we allocated nearly $150 million to housing initiatives, including disability, low-to-moderate income, recovery and short-term stabilization housing for Vermonters who are temporarily incapacitated by mental health or substance use, and emergency housing. We also enhanced support for vital health and human service needs. Funding was increased for primary care at rural health centers and federally qualified health centers.
Childcare centers received a 5% boost for infant and toddler care, and social service agencies saw a 2% rate increase. Over $1 million was directed to food and nutrition programs, and an additional $1.3 million will support substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery. To address workload challenges and improve public safety, $1.3 million was allocated to states attorneys and sheriffs, along with $450,000 for urban search and rescue efforts.
We also passed the transportation bill (H.488) and the capital bill (H.494). Rep. White worked on the transportation bill in her committee, funding things like park and rides, bike and pedestrian projects, public transit, rail and town highway aid. The two-year capital bill invests in state-owned buildings, correctional facilities, historic sites and historic preservation, and the Vermont Veterans Home.
In the event of reductions in federal funding, the legislature has planned a response process while we're not in session with nearly $100 million in contingency funding on tap if needed to offset funding shortfalls in federal grant programs like food assistance and Medicaid.
Protecting youth
S.69 (also known as the Kids’ Code) requires social-media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, to prioritize children’s safety and privacy in their design and operation. This includes mandates such as configuring default privacy settings to the highest level of protection for minors, providing simple tools for account deletion, providing minors with increased control over who they connect with online, and better transparency about data collection and algorithms.
H.480, a miscellaneous education bill, requires all public and approved independent schools to adopt a policy, by the 2026-2027 school year, that would keep student smartphones and other personal devices (like Apple watches) out of classrooms during the school day, “from bell to bell.” Harwood’s positive experience with its recent ban was influential in advancing this statewide.
Tax and debt relief
To help stabilize property taxes, $77.2 million was transferred to the Education Fund for a one-year adjustment. S.51 provides expanded tax credits to low-income households without children, households with children, seniors, retired military and military survivors, and veterans. The exemption for Social Security income increased by $5,000 when the adjusted gross income for tax filers is $55,000 for individuals, and $70,000 for joint filers. Led by Treasurer Mike Pieciak, we passed S.27, a bill that will provide up to $100 million in medical debt relief for middle- and working-class Vermonters, while removing medical debt from credit scores. The bill passed on a unanimous bipartisan vote and requires no new taxes or fees.
Climate and energy
Rep. Torre worked on S.50 in her committee, a bill that increases the size of backyard solar projects that qualify for expedited registration from the Public Utility Commission. We increased the maximum size of ground-mounted solar that’s eligible for simpler registration to 25 kW from 15 kW given new technology over the last 10 years that produces more energy in the same footprint. Another solar win is the Solar for All program, with funding secured by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Vermont will receive $62.5 million to help low- and moderate-income homeowners and renters participate in the benefits of solar power. Meanwhile, the Vermont Climate Action Plan has been updated; see the latest plan on July 1 online at climatechange.vermont.gov.
State Reps. Dara Torre, D-Moretown, and Candice White, D-Waitsfield, represent the Washington-2 legislative district, which covers Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren. Torre is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure. White is a member of the House Transportation Committee.