Preceded by 31 other House bills – most other bills are toast for ’25

By Guy Page

It’s Baby Turtle Race time in the Vermont Legislature. Every year, at the mid-March Crossover deadline, the majority of bills introduced with high hopes in January and February meet their demise – not unlike the majority of baby sea turtles who fall victim to predators before they can reach the relative safety of the sea.

On Friday, March 14, Vermont House committees sent 13 ‘baby sea turtle survivor’ bills to the full House. In addition to the many bills sent out before Friday, these bills survived the Crossover deadline and are therefore allowed to proceed through the Legislature this year.

Passage is by no means assured. Even on bills that proceed through both House and Senate, a powerful gubernatorial veto could fall. 

But like the baby turtles that have trundled across treacherous sands at least half the way down the beach to the surf without getting eaten, it’s a promising start.

Bills that didn’t meet the Crossover deadline (except the Big Bills for the state budget, education bill and transportation funding) will have to wait until next year to proceed. 

Unless they’re tacked onto another bill. Or unless the House votes to override its own rules. But barring exceptions like that, the hundreds of bills that didn’t get passed out of committee by last Friday’s crossover are toast for 2025.

See Friday’s Crossover winners below:

H. 80 The Office of the Health Care Advocate 

H. 167 Establishing the Vermonters Feeding Vermonters Grant at the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets 

H. 209 Intranasal epinephrine in schools 

H. 219 Creating a family support pilot program for incarcerated parents and guardians 

H. 237 Prescribing by doctoral-level psychologists

H. 243 The regulation of business organizations 

H. 244 State contracting standards for advertising 

H. 319 Miscellaneous environmental subjects 

H. 321 Miscellaneous cannabis amendments 

H. 342 Protecting the personal information of certain public servants 

H. 397 Miscellaneous amendments to the statutes governing emergency management and flood response 

H. 401 Exemptions for food manufacturing establishments 

H. 461 Expanding employee access to unpaid leave 

Other bills passed Crossover earlier last week and therefore may proceed as well:

H. 137 The regulation of insurance products and services

H. 266 Protections for 340B covered entities and 340B contract pharmacies

H. 463 Technical corrections for the 2025 legislative session

H. 125 Reporting on the energy transition

H. 222 Participation in a domestic violence accountability program as a condition of a final relief from abuse prevention order

H. 231 Technical corrections to fish and wildlife statutes

H. 259 Preventing workplace violence in hospitals

H. 396 The creation of the Mollie Beattie Distinguished Service Award

H. 474 Miscellaneous changes to election law

These bills have already passed the House:

H.1 3/14/2025 accepting and referring complaints by the State Ethics Commission

H.206 3/14/2025 the Uniform Commercial Code

H.238 3/14/2025 the phaseout of consumer products containing added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances

H.458 3/14/2025 the Agency of Digital Services

H.50 3/13/2025 identifying underutilized State buildings and land

H.21 3/13/2025 service of writs of possession

H.2 3/13/2025 increasing the minimum age for delinquency proceedings

H.105 3/13/2025 expanding the Youth Substance Awareness Safety Program

H.96 3/12/2025 increasing the monetary thresholds for certificates of need

H.339 2/28/2025 removing the repeal of 7 V.S.A. § 230

H.154 2/20/2025 designating November as the Vermont Month of the Veteran

H.98 2/20/2025 confirmatory adoptions

H.44 2/19/2025 miscellaneous amendments to the laws governing impaired driving

H.13 2/19/2025 Medicaid payment rates for home- and community-based service providers

H.41 2/13/2025 abuse of the dead body of a person

H.118 2/11/2025 expanding the scope of hate-motivated crimes

H.141 2/7/2025 fiscal year 2025 budget adjustments

H.34 2/6/2025 workforce leadership in Vermont

These bills have passed both House AND Senate, and have been enacted into law except for H.141):

H.141 3/12/2025 fiscal year 2025 budget adjustments (vetoed)

H.31 2/26/2025 claim edit standards and prior authorization requirements

H.35 2/14/2025 An act relating to unmerging the individual and small group health insurance markets

H.78 2/6/2025 An act relating to the use of the Australian ballot system in local elections

To learn more about each bill, click on Tuesday’s House Calendar and on the hyperlinked page number following the bill. Tomorrow: Senate Sea Turtle Survivors.