By Guy Page

House legislative committees will consider hundreds of bills this week. Selected below, in no particular order, are a few: 

Data center restrictions – House Energy & Digital Technology at 3:30 PM Tuesday will consider H.727, to restrict siting of data centers in Vermont. Introduced by Rep. Laura Sibilia (I-Dover), the bill “proposes to regulate the deployment of data centers in Vermont for the purpose of ensuring electric service reliability and affordability for all Vermonters and preventing any adverse effects on the State’s environment, natural resources, local communities, economy, and public health and welfare.”

Arrest warrant for court no-shows –  Rep. Tom Oliver (R-Sheldon) will get a hearing for H.741 in House Judiciary this week. It would ‘require the court to issue an arrest warrant rather than a citation to appear when a criminal defendant is released on conditions and subsequently fails to attend a scheduled court hearing for the offense, or when a person fails to appear in court after being issued a citation to appear by a law enforcement officer.”

Gender equality in Olympic Nordic events – House Economic Development and Commerce Committee this (Tuesday) morning will consider a resolution to ask the Olympics to combine men and women’s Nordic skiing into one, gender-equal category. 

J.R.S. 37 is seeking “in solidarity with national and international ski organizations and numerous skiers across the globe, the introduction of long-overdue gender equality in Nordic combined Olympic competition and urging that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) only introduce new Olympic sports that practice gender equality.”

Nordic events include cross-country skiing and ski jumping. In both events male top finishers record better times and distances than top female finishers.

Chronic student absenteeism – House Education will discuss legislation about chronic absenteeism (30% in Vermont schools) this (Tuesday) afternoon. 

Veterans’ bills – Wednesday afternoon, the Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee will do introductory run-throughs on H. 93 – creation and maintenance of a database of veterans in Vermont (Rep. Robert Hooper, D-Burlington, a veteran) and H. 884 – definition of Gold Star family members (Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone D-Burlington, Sponsor). June Heston, Surviving Spouse of Brigadier General Michael Heston, Vermont Army National Guard, will testify.

Click here for a listing of all scheduled committee meetings and agendas this week. 

Judges – keep them, or not?

The Legislature’s Judicial Retention Board will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Feb. 11, to take public comment on the judicial retention of several Vermont Superior Court judges.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m. in Room 11 at the Statehouse. The meeting will also be livestreamed for remote participation and viewing.

Judges up for retention include: 

• Judge David Barra;
• Judge Ben Battles, appointed in December 2023 after nearly a decade with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, including service as solicitor general.
• Judge Michael Harris, appointed to the bench in 2016 by then-Gov. Peter Shumlin.
• Judge Rachel Marie Malone, a former Vermont public defender who previously served as a judicial master overseeing the state’s family treatment court in Chittenden County; 
• Judge John W. Valente, appointed in 2015 and experienced in both the Family and Probate divisions;
• Judge Thomas Walsh, an environmental lawyer before his judicial appointment by Shumlin.

Budget hearings this Thursday, next Thursday

The Vermont House and Senate Committees on Appropriations will hold two joint public hearings on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 1:45 p.m. and Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. via in person or video conference.

The Committee will take testimony on the Governor’s recommended budget at the above date and time. Anyone interested in testifying should sign up in advance of the hearing through the following online form not later than 10:00 a.m. on February 12, 2026, for the first hearing, and 10:00 a.m. on February 19, 2026, for the second hearing. Instructions on how to access and participate in the hearing will be sent once you have signed up for the hearing.

The hearing will be available to watch live on YouTube.

For more information about the format of these events, contact Autumn Crabtree or Elle Oille-Stanforth. Written testimony is encouraged and can be submitted electronically or mailed to the House Committee on Appropriations, c/o Autumn Crabtree, 115 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05633.