A flagger stops traffic in a work zone in Waterbury on Sept. 9, 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger There is no shortage of major issues for Vermont legislators to try to tackle over the second half of the session — far from the least of which is the slouching state revenue available fo r transportation projects, coupled with increasing costs for paving roads and other construction. To make a dent in that problem, Gov. Phil Scott has proposed directing less tax revenue from sales of new vehicles in Vermont to the state’s Education Fund, where a portion goes now, and sending more of it to the Transportation Fund. The idea has been working its way through the House. Now, a key committee has advanced a bill that keeps elements of Scott’s proposal — but with a different approach the Legislature’s economists said is more sustainable long-term. Any changes to the Ed Fund are politically charged this year because they come as lawmakers are weighing sweeping changes to how schools are funded and governed, as well as fierce pressure from the public to reduce the burden of property taxes used to pay for education.  As it stands, two-thirds of this Purchase and Use Tax goes to the T-Fund, while one-third goes into the Ed Fund. Scott wants to nix that percentage-based construct and instead set out specific dollar amounts going to education that decrease, by $10 million a year, through the end of the decade. It would start with about $42 million for education in the upcoming 2027 fiscal year, which is $10 million less than state economists have projected would be available for that purpose in that period. By the 2030s, no more Purchase and Use revenue would go to the Education Fund. Meanwhile, for the upcoming fiscal year, Scott has proposed transferring $10 million from Vermont’s General Fund to the Ed Fund to make up for the revenue changes. But there’s an issue with that plan, Emily Byrne, the Legislature’s deputy fiscal officer, told the House Appropriations Committee on Monday: One part of the proposal would change state funding for the next four fiscal years, while the other would make a corresponding change only for the upcoming year. “That sort of creates a structural gap in the Education Fund, if you only do it with a one-time transfer,” she said.  That’s why the House Ways and Means Committee created a different framework in H.933, a miscellaneous tax policy bill, that it voted out Friday, Byrne explained. H.933 would still increase the amount of Purchase and Use Tax revenue going to the T-Fund, and reduce what goes to the Ed Fund, to the tune of $10 million a year. Notably, though, the bill would maintain a set percentage of Purchase and Use revenue for the Ed Fund, even long-term. And, it would keep the Ed Fund whole by tweaking how revenue gets allocated from a different tax — the Meals and Rooms Tax, which is paid at hotels, bars and restaurants.  Scott’s proposal, on the other hand, would rely on one-time transfers or — perhaps — property taxes, to fill the gap, Chris Rupe, one of Byrne’s fiscal office colleagues, told the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday. He said Ways and Means was worried about taking too much money away from the Ed Fund or, possibly, enacting a plan that could burden property taxpayers. H.933 would, specifically, increase from 25% to 29% the amount of Meals and Rooms tax revenue going to education, while reducing by 4% the amount going to the General Fund. Of course, that tradeoff also means lawmakers would need to find a way to make up that  General Fund gap. Rep. Charlie Kimbell, D-Woodstock — the ranking member on Ways and Means — said Tuesday the committee wants part of the solution to be changes to the state’s corporate tax rules. The committee’s bill is currently being considered in House Approps, after which it would head to the floor for a vote. — Shaun Robinson In the know Lawmakers, advocates and activists did something of a midway victory lap Tuesday about the two big health care bills the Senate Health and Welfare Committee moved across the crossover deadline last week. The two bills go hand-in-hand, said Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, who sponsored both S.190 and S.197.  “There’s a lot of work going on to align work between hospitals and primary care, to align payers — insurers — with our providers, and then to also align the cost effectiveness of insurance for all of us,” she said at the midday press conference. S.190 aims to set maximum rates hospitals can charge people with health insurance plans bought on the Affordable Care Act marketplace or small-group plans — which represent employers with fewer than 100 workers and municipalities’ employees. At the press event, state Health Care Advocate Mike Fisher said the legislation would put “downward pressure on the cost of care for that (small) group,” which he said “is something that we have felt for years was an important step.”   S.197 aims to shift away from a fee-for-service model in primary care and have insurers pay into a pool to be distributed to those providers to incentivize preventative care. Jessa Barnard, the executive director of the Vermont Medical Society, extolled the effort. “It raises the proportion of our health care dollars invested in primary care services. It empowers primary care practices to more flexibly meet the needs of their patients,” she said. — Olivia Gieger  As President Donald Trump has tried to assert more federal control over elections in recent weeks, lawmakers in Vermont are considering a bill that aims to protect voters and election officials in the state.  Lawmakers in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday began considering a bill approved by the House, H.541, that would make it illegal to intimidate, threaten or coerce voters or election officials. For example, under the bill it would be a crime to coerce someone to change how they vote.  It seems, though, that legislators in both chambers have independently proposed similar bills, Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, pointed out to the committee.  A bill that originated in another Senate committee, S.298, has similar provisions as the House bill, with some additions. It was approved on the Senate floor Tuesday. That bill would make it a crime to intentionally communicate false information that impedes someone’s right to vote. The Senate bill also gives someone the power to file a civil lawsuit against anyone who violates the prospective law.  Senate Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, said he imagined the Judiciary Committee could work with lawmakers in the other chamber to “harmonize” the two efforts.  — Charlotte Oliver Burlington Democratic Rep. Bob Hooper formally resigned from the House on Tuesday, days after Speaker Jill Krowinski said in a memo, reviewed by VTDigger last week, that he’d violated the chamber’s sexual harassment rules.  Hooper’s resignation letter was read aloud on the floor by Clerk BetsyAnn Wrask. Hooper wrote that “the environment of the House has changed significantly” since he first took office in 2019, which he said influenced his decision to step down. — Shaun Robinson On the move The House on Tuesday approved H.542, which would end the state-led testing of schools for airborne polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The bill will now head to the Senate. The first-of-its-kind testing program in 2021 created strict limits on the level of PCBs in Vermont’s schools — limits that went beyond federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. Rep. Peter Conlon, D-Cornwall, the House Education Committee chair and lead sponsor of the bill, introduced the legislation in January to end the program altogether.  State funding for the program has run out, and the cost of remediation has ballooned beyond lawmakers’ original expectations. “This bill is solely about what could become a huge unfunded mandate if we do not remove the requirement to test by 2027,” Conlon said on the House floor Friday. “Without state dollars, the expense of testing and remediation would fall solely on property taxpayers.” There were some concerns among lawmakers last week around ending the program. A push by Rep. Anne Donahue, I-Northfield, to move the bill to the House Health Care Committee failed after a roll call vote, with only 16 members voting in favor. But the legislation was favorably amended on Tuesday to direct the Vermont Department of Health, in consultation with the state Agency of Natural Resources, to report to the Legislature on the impacts of discontinuing the testing of PCBs in schools by January 2027. “We made an original decision balancing health versus cost. We now realize the cost is a whole lot more than we might have envisioned,” Donahue said on the House floor Tuesday. “But I think if we’re making a cost-benefit decision, we need to know the update on anything new or better known about health impacts as well.” — Corey McDonald Read the story on VTDigger here: Lawmakers weigh changes to Vermont’s vehicle purchase tax with education challenges top of mind. ...read more read less