Vermont House - End of Session Report - 2026

Expands eligibility for the State’s $80,000 line-of-duty death benefit to include law enforcement officers, most Department of Corrections employees, certain Family Services Division employees, and medical staff working in State-operated therapeutic residences and psychiatric hospital units.

Creates new financing and planning tools to encourage housing development, including municipal revenue bonds for housing infrastructure, expanded state-backed financing programs, additional housing-development financing authority, and new local housing-planning requirements.

Introduced and championed by Representative Pezzo, this bill updates and modernizes laws governing manufactured homes and limited-equity cooperatives. It streamlines the transfer of manufactured homes and ensures they are treated the same as other housing under local zoning laws. The legislation also updates terminology to reflect that these homes are typically permanently sited rather than routinely moved. To help preserve affordability, the bill limits subleasing in limited-equity cooperatives and exempts manufactured homes from sales tax, making transfers subject to the property transfer tax instead. Limited-equity cooperatives provide affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters.

H.938 overhauls Vermont's approach to homelessness, creating a coordinated system that moves households from prevention and shelter services to permanent housing. The bill limits motel use, expands supportive services, establishes a state-funded rental assistance program, and makes key investments in homelessness and housing programs.

Allocates approximately $7.6 million in opioid settlement funds to support prevention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, and recovery services. The bill also requires regular spending reports, pauses new FY2028 funding proposals pending an outcomes review, and provides funding for youth substance misuse prevention programs.

Modernizes tobacco laws by expanding regulation of tobacco substitutes and vaping products, prohibiting products designed to appeal to youth, increasing licensing and enforcement requirements, and strengthening penalties on retailers who violate the law.

Makes a variety of updates to child welfare laws, including allowing certain unaccompanied homeless youth to make key decisions without parental consent, strengthening protections for youth in state custody related to the use of restraint and seclusion practices, and limiting the state’s use of foster youth Social Security benefits to reimburse state costs.

H.577 (Act 132) established Vermont's participation in ArrayRx, a nonprofit prescription drug discount program available to anyone with a Vermont address. The free program is expected to save Vermonters millions of dollars by providing significant discounts on both generic and brand-name medications while protecting participants' privacy and ensuring pharmacists are fairly compensated.

Legislative action also included S.197 (Act 173), a bill related to primary care that takes steps to improve access to primary care and control long-term health care costs by increasing investment in primary care practices, reforming payment systems, and reducing administrative burdens on providers. The legislation strengthens Vermont's primary care infrastructure, improves data collection and accountability, and lays the groundwork for future reforms aimed at making primary care more accessible, affordable, and sustainable for Vermonters.

The Legislature also expanded access to care by allowing pharmacists to test and prescribe medications for certain common conditions and HIV prevention.

This law broadens the role of physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses in hospital care.

Act 84 Permits specially trained psychologists to prescribe medications for mental health treatment

Act 172 creats a pathway for internationally trained physicians to become licensed in Vermont

During the first year of implementing Act 181, Vermont's landmark 2024 land-use reform law, it became clear that some aspects of the rollout were producing unintended consequences and raising significant concerns among Vermonters. Testimony from landowners, farmers, foresters, rural communities, and others highlighted worries that proposed rules could subject small-scale home construction and development in many parts of rural Vermont to additional Act 250 review, while important decisions about protecting natural resources were moving forward without sufficient public input. In response, the Legislature listened and acted. S.325 repeals the proposed Road Rule and Tier 3 designations, creates a more robust public-engagement process to guide future land-use policy, establishes legislative oversight of implementation, and preserves key housing exemptions. The bill reflects a recognition – a recognition that we all shared – that Act 181 needed course corrections and that Vermonters deserved a stronger voice in shaping how these important land-use policies move forward.

Vermont has a long tradition of hunters and anglers accessing private lands with the cooperation of landowners. This law does not change that tradition but instead makes the process for posting private property clearer and less burdensome for landowners. It removes outdated sign requirements, ensures minor gaps in signage do not invalidate a property's posted status, and helps reduce misunderstandings and conflicts by providing clearer notice of a landowner's wishes regarding access and use.