Vermont
A breakdown of what got done during the Vt. legislative session
MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont lawmakers wrapped up the legislative session in the early morning hours Saturday, passing an $8.6 billion state budget.
Lawmakers tackled issues like housing and flood recovery, but also passed a number of new tax increases, including a 3% tax on short-term rentals, a 6% tax on business software and a 3.4% tax when second homes are bought or sold. It comes as Vermonters will also see a 0.44% payroll tax starting July 1 that will help pay for child care.
The session started with flood recovery in the forefront of everyone’s mind but ended with clashes among the House, Senate and Gov. Phil Scott over taxes and spending.
The session was defined by big questions about the future of education and no federal stimulus money to fall back on.
“This has been a hard session. Perhaps the hardest session of my 20 years here in the Statehouse,” said Sen. Allison Clarkson, D-Windsor County.
State lawmakers grappling with the soaring cost of education and spiking property taxes passed a plan to raise them by 13.8%.
The plan, sarcastically blasted by Senate Minority Leader Randy Brock, almost certainly faces a veto from Governor Scott.
“Most Vermonters will be happy that we’ve tamed the property tax problem by limiting this year’s increase to only double-digits,” said Brock, R-Franklin County.
Others stressed the challenges are in contrast to massive legislation last year.
“This has been a dark year but it’s been an amazing biennium,” said Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Vt. Senate President Pro Tem.
Lawmakers also struck 11th-hour deals on retail theft, stiffer penalties for drug trafficking and Act 250 reform. The proposal is intended to balance conservation and the housing crisis.
But not everything made it, including a proposed wealth tax, a bill reforming the state Fish and Wildlife Board, another banning cellphones in the classroom and a proposal to pause the PCB testing program.
The end of the legislative biennium again put the Democratic supermajority at odds with Republican Gov. Phil Scott. In his goodbye speech to lawmakers, Scott acknowledged their differences.
“I think most of us want the same thing. We just have a different vision on how to get there. And after this session, it’s clear that we have a little more work to do,” the governor said.
Political experts say the moderate Republican governor and Democrats are divided on what degree the state should spend and tax.
“I do think you see a deeper debate over principle here between Democrats who are willing to raise more taxes and a Republican governor who thinks it’s central to his philosophy to hold the line,” said Bert Johnson, a Middlebury College political science professor.
As Scott prepares to campaign for a fourth term, we’re tracking at least six bills on the way to his desk that could end in a veto. State lawmakers will return on June 17 to attempt to override.
Copyright 2024 WCAX. All rights reserved.
An international ambassador for tennis from South Burlington and a three-sport captain at Burlington High School and the University of Vermont more than 100 years ago are the final members for the 2026 Vermont Sports Hall of Fame banquet, the organization announced in a news release on Thursday, March 26.
Jake Agna, the former legendary tennis coach at South Burlington High School, is the 2026 David Hakins inductee, which honors an individual or a group or organization for exceptional promotion of sports, athletics and recreation in the state. Fenwick Watkins, a pioneer and exceptional athlete and coach who helped break color barriers in sports in the early 1900s, has been named the hall’s historic inductee.
Agna and Watkins join 10 other members previously announced this year who will officially be enshrined during a celebration banquet at the Delta Marriott Burlington Hotel on 1117 Williston Road in South Burlington on Saturday, April 25.
The dinner begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by the induction ceremony. To purchase tickets to the 2026 event, visit the VSHOF website at vermontsportshall.com. The cost is $95 per plate with part of the proceeds going to Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, the longtime designated charity for VSHOF.
Over 38 years coaching girls tennis at South Burlington, Agana compiled a 489-95 record with eight perfect seasons, 16 Division I titles and 13 runner-up trophies before stepping down prior to the 2023 season.
Agna is also founded Kids on the Ball in 2000, which is designed to teach children life lessons such as relationships and respect by learning the game of tennis. He has led 31 trips to Cuba to help expand the sport. His tennis programs reach out to over 200 kids each day in school and after school programs.
Agna’s work to help resurface 10 courts and renovation of the National Tennis Center in Cuba in 2017 was recognized by the Tennis Channel.
Watkins was a three-sport star in football, basketball, baseball at Burlington before graduating in 1905. At UVM, he is believed to be the first Black captain of a non-historical Black college or university sport and was captain for all three sports at both BHS and UVM, according to VSHOF.
After UVM, Watkins went on to become a high school and college head coach in North Dakota at Concordia College (football) and what is now known as North Dakota State (baseball and football). He died in 1943.
The previous winners for the Hakins award are: Barry Stone (2024); Thomas Dunkley (2023); Ted Ryan (2022); Cochran’s Ski Area, Mickey & Ginny Cochran (2020); Mal Boright (2019); Helmut Lenes (2017); Ernie Farrar (2015); Tom Curley (2014) and Ray Pecor (2013).
The previous historic winners include: Leo Papineau, St. Michael’s College, athlete, coach and official (2025); Clarence Demar, South Hero, distance running, (2017); Fred Harris, Brattleboro, outdoors/ski jumping, (2015); James Taylor, Windsor, outdoors, (2014); and Charles Adams, Newport, National Hockey League, (2013).
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
Eason DeMarsico-Thorne, a student at Brattleboro Union High School, won the 2026 Poetry Out Loud State Finals, held the Flynn on March 5, according to a community announcement.
DeMarsico-Thorne will represent Vermont at the national competition at the end of April in the nation’s capital. Gretchen Wertlieb of South Burlington High School was the runner-up, and Aiva Reed of Windsor High School placed third.
The state finals featured 10 students who recited poems over three rounds. The top three, with the highest cumulative scores after the first two rounds, advanced to the final round.
DeMarsico-Thorne recited “Fruit of the Flower” by Countee Cullen, “I Shall Return” by Claude Mckay and “A Southern Road” by Helene Johnson.
Wertlieb recited “To a Young Dancing Girl” by Elsa Gidlow, “Thoughts in Jail” by Katharine Rolston Fisher and “I shall forget you presently, my dear” (Sonnet IV), by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Reed recited “Why We Oppose Women Travelling in Railway Trains” by Alice Duer Miller, “Militants to Certain Other Women” by Katharine Rolston Fisher and “If I Had Known” by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson.
The other finalists were Phoebe Gresham from Mount Mansfield Union High School, Ranee Hall from Thetford Academy, Marcus Burns from St. Johnsbury Academy, Taylor Daleb from Peoples Academy, Moya Thayer from Burlington High School, Theo Novak from Champlain Valley Union High School and Patrick Tester from Lyndon Institute.
Eighteen schools across Vermont registered to bring the national Poetry Out Loud program to their classrooms for the 2025-26 school year, reaching 2,000 students with about 60 teachers participating, according to the announcement. Fifteen students were selected by their teachers as school champions and participated in the statewide semifinals, held on Feb. 12 at the Barre Opera House.
DeMarsico-Thorne received $200 and advances to the national finals, where $50,000 in awards and school stipends are distributed. The state champion’s school receives $500 for the purchase of poetry materials. Wertlieb received $100, with $200 for her school.
Poetry Out Loud is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council. Since the program began in 2005, more than 4 million students across the country have participated. The Poetry Foundation provides and administers the monetary prizes.
For more information about Vermont Poetry Out Loud, visit flynnvt.org/Education/poetry-out-loud.
This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
BARTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont police are asking the public for help identifying a man suspected in a road rage assault.
It happened on Main Street in Barton on Feb. 14, just before noon.
Troopers say a man got out of his green Subaru Forester and hit another driver in the face, then got back in his vehicle and left.
They released photos of the man on Wednesday.
If you know who he is, state police want to hear from you. Call the barracks in Derby at 802-334-8881 or leave an anonymous tip online.
Copyright 2026 WCAX. All rights reserved.
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