A Weekly State House Recap
by Maggie Lenz and Nick Charyk on behalf of Atlas Government Affairs
The Long Game in Mind
The House version of Vermont’s education transformation, H.454, cleared its final votes this week and now heads to the Senate. The bill slows down and reshapes the governor’s sweeping plan, emphasizing process, phased implementation, and a deeper focus on Vermont’s school landscape. It builds a scaffolding, piece by piece, around the idea of a more equitable and predictable system.
Instead of drawing five mega-districts immediately, the bill creates a five-member subcommittee of Vermont education veterans to propose new boundaries by December. Local voting wards and elected boards would follow. First elections in the new structure would not take place until 2028.
The bill also introduces class-size minimums that would apply to both public and independent schools receiving public dollars. It ties future public tuition eligibility to schools where at least 51 percent of the students are publicly funded. And it moves Vermont toward a foundation formula for school funding, with a base amount of $15,033 per student and higher weights for students with disabilities, those living in poverty, and English learners.
The vote was not strictly partisan, but it was deeply divided. Some Republicans voted yes; others warned the timeline was too slow and voted against it. Several Democrats decried what they saw as the next Act 46 coming for their small, rural schools, and worried out loud about how redistricting will actually look on the ground. The governor has indicated he will not sign the bill without changes, but also suggested there is still room to land the plane. This week though, it’s the Senate holding the yoke.
It Adds Up
Meanwhile, an issue that has business owners and credit card companies facing off has been gaining sharper definition. H.317 in the House and S.135 in the Senate take on a simple question. Should credit card companies be allowed to charge businesses a fee on the portions of a sale the business doesn’t keep?
Right now, credit card swipe fees are charged on the full transaction amount, including sales tax and tips. That means restaurants pay a percentage fee on the gratuities passed to workers. Retailers pay fees on the tax they collect for the state. The bills under consideration would prohibit that.
When presenting the bill, lead sponsor Rep. Conor Casey (D-Montpelier) noted that he has heard directly from businesses in his district who said these dollars add up. Especially in a year of attempted rebuilding following catastrophic flooding of many Vermont towns and cities, fees charged on non-revenue money have hit especially hard.
National testimony reinforced the point. The National Association of Convenience Stores reported that Vermont businesses lose an estimated $14 million annually just on swipe fees applied to sales tax. That’s money legally owed to the state, shaved off before it ever arrives.
The issue is not unique to Vermont. Illinois passed a similar law in 2023, which is scheduled to take effect this summer. The law is currently being challenged in court, but portions are moving forward. A similar but much broader debate is now playing out in Congress, where Senator Peter Welch is among those pushing for broader reform of the payment processing market.
The House Commerce Committee heard a walkthrough and preliminary testimony but is unlikely to move forward this year. The Senate Finance Committee, on the other hand, scheduled a follow-up hearing and seemed immediately more engaged. Members asked serious questions about enforcement, federal preemption, and whether Vermont can pass a model that holds up against inevitable litigation by the banks and credit card companies.
As one supportive witness testified, this is a surgical correction for a sweeping issue.
Curiosities: A Weekly Peek at the Odd and Intriguing Happenings Under the Golden Dome
Lone Voice
It raised eyebrows when Lt. Governor John Rodgers appeared as a speaker at last Saturday’s Hands Off rally in Montpelier.
The nationwide rallies voiced concern over authoritarian drift and political overreach, in response to actions by the Trump administration. Rodgers’ presence made sense in some ways: formerly a Democrat, he ran for Lieutenant Governor as a Republican but was vocal in his criticism of Trump.
What stood out most came after the event. Rodgers posted on Facebook that a reporter told him he was the only Republican in the entire country to speak at one of these rallies.
When we followed up by phone, he said he was surprised by that fact, but not as surprised as he was by what happened behind the scenes.
“They told us I could speak, then changed their mind and took me off the list,” Rodgers said. “We had to put a lot of pressure on them to get back in the lineup. And even then, when they introduced me, they said that allowing me to speak was controversial, which I thought was odd.”
He says the resistance came from both sides. “There was definitely some pressure from somewhere—we haven’t figured out who exactly,” he said. “And yeah, the right’s been going crazy on me because we posted about it. The stuff they’re saying, most of it’s just inaccurate and nasty.”
The backlash has included personal attacks and accusations of betrayal. One commenter called him “on the wrong side of humanity.” Meanwhile, Rodgers also heard from people on the left who didn’t want him speaking at all.
Still, he says the response from most Vermonters has been overwhelmingly positive. “One lady told me they had a tent and table set up on the lawn, and my speech was all they talked about after the rally,” he said. “We’ve gotten piles of thank-you messages. Way more positive than negative.”
Rodgers doesn’t see any of this as especially courageous. “In my speech the day I was sworn in, I asked the Senate for honesty and courage, and I promised I wouldn’t avoid controversial subjects,” he said. “This is just living up to that.”
In a polarized era where party comes before policy, independence is notable, and typically seen as a liability in many other states. But this is Johnny Rodgers, and he is happy to be your huckleberry.
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