By Guy Page

The long-awaited school reform bill goes to the Senate floor today. 

A proposed Senate change to H.955 significantly revises the bill, most notably by dropping any clear requirement for forced school district consolidation — a key demand Gov. Phil Scott has pushed publicly. If the Senate and the governor ultimately support the amendment, as appears likely given sponsorship by the Senate Minority Leader, it would mark a major shift from his earlier insistence on mandatory consolidation.

The amendment also accelerates implementation of the new education funding system, known as the foundation formula. Instead of beginning in 2030 under the earlier version, the formula would take effect July 1, 2029, provided revised conditions are met.

For details, see analysis by Maggie Lenz and Gwynn Zakov in today’s VDC. 

Capital budget bill changes – H.952, the state capital budget and bonding bill, emerged from the conference committee last week and is on the Senate calendar today. 

Here are handful of the proposed changes in the conference committee version:

1. The Legislature wants to sell the downtown Montpelier government building at.110 State Street, now occupied by the State’s Attorneys and Sheriff’s Office, shall be sold provided the sale contract is for fair market value and includes “appropriate interior and exterior projection covenants developed in consultation with the Division of Historic Preservation.” A right of first refusal to the City of Montpelier was withdrawn.

2. The Department for Children and Families is required to report later this year on plans to develop the Green Mountain Youth Facility – i.e. the secure treatment and holding facility for ‘justice involved’ youth. Vermont has lacked a permanent secure youth facility since the forced closure of the Woodside Treatment Facility. 

3. Failing approval of a plan for a new Chittenden County correctional facility, the Legislature wants state Buildings and General Services officials to prioritize repairs of bathrooms, showers and flooring at the women’s prison in South Burlington.

4. The State Historic Preservation Officer may (for the first time) solicit gifts, grants, donations and loans on behalf of the program. Current state law allows only receipt. 

Rare disorders bill passage applauded – The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) on May 20 celebrated the signing of House Bill 46 into law by Governor Phil Scott, establishing a Rare Disease Advisory Council (RDAC) in Vermont.  

This legislation, sponsored by Representatives Mary-Katherine Stone (Chittenden-14), Anne Donahue (Washington-1), and Daniel Noyes (Lamoille-2) and supported by NORD and patient advocates across the state, seeks to ensure that Vermonters living with a rare disease have a formal voice in the state to address their unique and complex needs.  

Vermont’s council has two features that set it apart. Of its Vermont-based stakeholder membership, it includes a seat explicitly reserved for an older Vermonter living with a rare disease — a nationally rare provision that reflects the reality that rare diseases do not discriminate by age, and that aging patients in a rural state face compounding barriers to care. The council also includes a geneticist or genetic counselor, a seat that reflects the growing importance of cell and gene therapies: nearly 80% of rare diseases have a genetic origin.

The council launches at a pivotal moment. With the recent disbanding of the federal Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC).