Final Reading: Vermont Senate passes pared-down data privacy bill  – VTDigger

State lawmakers are once again taking a swing at passing a comprehensive data privacy law for Vermonters. 

On Thursday, the Senate unanimously gave approval to an amended version of S.71, a bill that would put guardrails on tech companies that collect and sell data while providing baseline data privacy rights for users in Vermont.  

Prior to the amendment, the Senate’s version of the bill mirrored the one that was introduced in the House. The new version strips a controversial provision that led to a similar bill’s failure last year.

Sen. Robert Plunkett, D-Bennington, explained the change on Wednesday on the Senate floor before a preliminary vote. “This amendment contains the central consumer protections of really any data privacy law,” he said. 

Those protections include the right for users to opt out of targeted advertising and limitations on what kind of personal data can be collected, among other provisions. 

What the bill no longer contains, however, is a private right of action for consumers, which would give users the legal right to sue companies for violating the state’s data laws, opening the door for Vermonters to launch weighty class action lawsuits against big tech companies.

A fierce debate surrounding that right of action dogged the sweeping data privacy bill passed by both chambers last year, with some lawmakers contending that the provision would place an undue burden on some Vermont businesses. 

And when, after a months-long game of tug of war between the chambers over the provision, the legislation made it to Gov. Phil Scott’s desk, the governor vetoed the bill, pointing to the inclusion of the private right of action as a dealbreaker. Last year’s effort came to an end in the Senate, which lacked the votes for an override.

By removing that sticking point, Senate lawmakers appear to be playing ball with the governor, offering up a more palatable version of the data privacy law that could finally elude his veto. 

“In the governor’s veto letter, the governor indicated expressly the preference that Vermont adopt Connecticut’s data privacy law,” Plunkett told fellow lawmakers, referencing Connecticut’s exclusion of a private right of action provision. “That is what this amendment proposes.” 

It’s unclear, however, whether the House will be equally agreeable.

— Habib Sabet

In the know

Top officials at the Department for Children and Families have acknowledged the existence of an internal calendar used to monitor Vermonters’ pregnancies, confirming an allegation made in a striking lawsuit filed by the Vermont ACLU in January.  

The document, Family Services Division Deputy Commissioner Aryka Radke said in a meeting of Vermont’s Legislative Women’s Caucus Thursday, is a Microsoft Outlook calendar that includes the initials, an identifying number and the expected due date of certain pregnant women.

The admission sheds light on a secretive and little-known function of the Department for Children and Families, one that top officials have said helps protect newborns from potential abuse or danger. 

Read more about how the calendar is used here. 

— Peter D’Auria

State officials plan to extend two shelters for families experiencing homelessness in Williston and Waterbury that had been slated to close down next week, on April 1.

Chris Winters, the commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, said in a Wednesday interview that state officials want to avoid disrupting the school year for children. 

“We don’t know for sure if folks have other options, but even if they do, you know, that might require them to move,” Winters said. “The concern there is that kids not be uprooted and potentially not stay in school through the end of the year.”

Read more the future plans for the two shelters here. 

— Carly Berlin

On the move

The House advanced the Legislature’s annual property tax bill, known as the yield bill, which helps set property tax rates statewide. 

Lawmakers chose to adopt Gov. Scott’s proposal to use $77 million in one-time General Fund dollars to buy down the tax rate this year. That decision is expected to reduce the average property tax increase from roughly 6% to 1%. Actual tax rates will vary from district to district, and the fate of the few outstanding school budgets that voters are yet to approve will also impact rates. 

The bill provides “property tax relief,” said Rep. Charlie Kimbell, D-Woodstock, who reported the bill for the House Ways and Means Committee. That is crucial, he said, after last year’s double-digit property tax increases. 

—Ethan Weinstein

Visit our 2025 bill tracker for the latest updates on major legislation we are following. 

A thousand cuts

The federal government announced Wednesday that it would cut $11 billion in Covid-19-related grants to local health agencies, including $6.9 million to two departments in the Vermont Agency of Human Services. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Health, Kyle Casteel, provided a statement on behalf of the agency Thursday that called the cuts a “sudden termination” that would “negatively impact public health in our state.”

Most of the funds, about $5 million, were allocated for vaccination programs at the health department. The statement said the grants began during the pandemic but have continued to support the department’s work beyond the pandemic. 

Read more about the federal cuts here. 

— Erin Petenko