Issue Updates from the State House
Week of May 11, 2026
A weekly snapshot of key legislative activity impacting Vermont’s business community.
- Noncompete: The Senate advanced S.230, removing language that would have prohibited noncompete contracts for nonexempt employees noting the lack of time for Senate committees to dive into complex and impactful legislation. The bill now returns to the House.
- Data Privacy: The House Commerce and Economic Development Committee reviewed a new draft of S.71 this week that continued to fall short of a regionally compatible approach to consumer data privacy. With time running short in the session, the path forward for the bill this year is becoming increasingly uncertain.
- Event Ticketing: The House concurred with the Senate-passed version of H.512. The bill now moves to the governor’s desk.
- Economic Development: The Senate concurred with House-passed amendments to S.327, advancing several workforce and industry priorities while introducing new business tools and targeted program changes. The bill now moves to the Governor’s desk.
- Health Care Savings: The House Health Care Committee advanced S.190, directing hospital rate reductions toward Qualified Health Plans and teachers. As a result, the wider commercial market will see comparatively slower relief in the coming year. The bill has now moved to the House Ways and Means Committee.
- Property Classifications: The Senate Finance Committee reviewed H.955, adopting an amendment clarifying that lodging establishments will fall under the same classification as other business properties when new classifications are implemented. While previously assumed, the clarification provides important long-term certainty for lodging properties.
- Housing: Legislative committees continued work on S.328 and H.775, moving an off-site construction pilot to the Treasurer’s Office, refining multiunit construction regulations, and maintaining current funding structures for VHIP rather than allowing advance funding.
- Bottle Bill: Following changes adopted by the Senate Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Finance Committee took testimony this week on H.915, which would restructure Vermont’s bottle redemption system through a Producer Responsibility Organization model. The proposal would add an additional one cent per container at checkout for consumers and impose an estimated $2 million in new costs on beverage manufacturers. A broad coalition of small businesses has signed a petition urging lawmakers to reject the bill over concerns about higher costs and operational impacts.
- Wetlands: The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) continued review of proposed wetlands rules updates addressing housing shortages, discouraging sprawl, and preserving wetlands. LCAR indicated that they would be ruling negatively on the rule leaving the current hyper regulatory rules in place.
- Cannabis: The House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee advanced S.278, amending the bill to allow only five cannabis event permits annually, addressing potential risks and implementation challenges that may arise. The bill now moves to the House Ways and Means Committee.
