The 2024 election went about as well as it could have for the Republican Party. And nowhere in the nation did Republicans pick up more seats in a state legislature than in the little blue state of Vermont.
Now, Vermonters will learn what they’ll do with those seats.
Vermont’s new legislative session kicks off Wednesday with a chastened Democratic majority and some big questions about school spending and property taxes.
The early days of the session will feature leadership elections in the House and the Senate, as well as announcements about which members will be granted seats on key policy committees.
Now that Democrats lost their supermajorities and their ability to override Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s vetoes, the road to any major legislative policy this year is going to require bipartisan consensus. Here are some of the key issues to watch.
Issues to watch
Education spending and taxes
Voter uproar over property taxes was a major theme in the 2024 election, and Gov. Phil Scott is ready to diagnose what he sees as the problem. The governor wants to substantially overhaul governance of public schools, overhaul school funding and increase pre-kindergarten, afterschool and tech education. Expect to hear the broad strokes of the governor’s plan in his inaugural address, and more details later in the month at his budget address.
More: How does Vermont pay for schools? A video explainer and glossary of terms
Health care
A landmark report in September proposed major changes to the configuration of Vermont’s hospitals to avoid financial ruin, and meanwhile, the University of Vermont Health Network is cutting back on some services.
Hospital regulation is in the hands of the independent Green Mountain Care Board, not the Legislature or the governor — but lawmakers can make a difference by either supporting or restraining the Green Mountain Care Board’s actions.
Housing
Expect to hear more discussion about the permit process for housing, including requests from the governor to tweak last year’s Act 250 changes. Key lawmakers also say that they’ll take a look at the process by which neighbors of new housing developments can file an appeal. These conversations come as Vermont needs to build at least 24,000 more homes in the next five years to keep up with demand.
Climate policy
The clean heat standard, passed in 2023, became one of the Democrats’ biggest liabilities on Election Day — thanks in part to a vigorous campaign against the policy by the governor.
House Republicans will introduce a bill to repeal the clean heat standard on day one of the 2025 legislative session. But a landmark law passed in 2020 could force the state to reduce its use of fossil fuels more quickly than the GOP is comfortable with, even if the Legislature repeals the standard.
More from Vermont Public: Urgency over energy policy builds in Montpelier as climate mandates loom
For more information on these issues, check out Vermont Public's topic guides:
A snapshot of this week’s schedule
- Wednesday, Jan. 8: The opening day of the 2025-2026 legislative session, including the welcome of dozens of new lawmakers and leadership elections in the House and Senate.
- Thursday, Jan. 9: The Legislature will decide the lieutenant governor’s contest between David Zuckerman and John Rodgers, since neither candidate won a majority in the November election. Then, Gov. Phil Scott will be officially inaugurated to a new term in office. Vermont Public will offer live online video and radio coverage of Scott’s inaugural address beginning at 2 p.m.
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