Final Reading: Year after year, lawmakers consider Vermont’s continued use of out-of-state prisons – VTDigger

“I think it’s below contempt.”

Rep. Conor Casey, D-Montpelier, did not mince words describing Vermont’s use of a for-profit, out-of-state prison to hold more than 100 people: “I know it’s cheaper, and it’s cheaper for a reason.”

The prison, Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, is operated by CoreCivic, a company that gleefully welcomed increased deportations and immigration detentions under President Donald Trump due to the economic implications for the corporation.   

Casey and his colleagues on the House Corrections and Institutions Committee were discussing H.191, a bill that would end Vermont’s use of for-profit prisons and prison services — including its health care contractor, Wellpath. But the lively discussion focused less on the bill itself than its philosophy — the idea that Vermont lets corporations profit off people in state custody, some of whom are held more than a thousand miles away. 

“I appreciate, I think, the spirit of the legislation,” Isaac Dayno, executive director of policy and strategic initiatives at the Vermont Department of Corrections, told lawmakers. “We just don’t have the beds.”

The state could end or limit out-of-state incarceration through several methods — reducing the number of people locked up, ending the use of state cells by federal agencies, or building more space to incarcerate people.

But the state has struggled to find communities willing to welcome a new prison. And then there’s the money problem.

“We can’t even build schools,” Rep. Shawn Sweeney, D-Shelburne, noted — a nod to Vermont’s school construction conundrum.  

Many committee members agreed with the legislation’s principle, but, as Rep. Mary Morrissey, R-Bennington, put it, “I’m not quite there yet.” 

Still, the bill drew support from the Vermont State Employees’ Association, the union representing state workers. Steve Howard, the union’s executive director, urged House Corrections to give H.191 “very serious consideration,” because the state’s existing arrangement is “not consistent with the values of the people of Vermont.” 

The committee ultimately decided to shelve the bill and wait for a study due in November that will answer some questions regarding ending out-of-state incarceration. In the meantime, lawmakers hope to hear directly from someone at CoreCivic to learn about conditions for people incarcerated at the Mississippi prison. Vermont’s contract with the corporation is scheduled to end in September. 

— Ethan Weinstein

In the know

President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared sweeping tariffs on imports from most nations, escalating a trade war that state officials and business leaders have warned could have dire consequences on Vermont’s economy.

At a glance, the Green Mountain State was spared the worst of Wednesday’s announcement, owing to Canada’s exemption from Trump’s comprehensive “reciprocal tariff” package. But Vermont consumers and businesses can hardly breathe a sigh of relief. 

“The bottom line is that consumers across the entire country are going to see their prices go up,” said State Treasurer Mike Pieciak. “Businesses not just in Vermont, but around the country are going to be feeling the effects of this broader trade war, and those effects are largely going to be passed down to consumers.”

According to an estimate from the state treasurer’s office using data from the Yale Budget Lab, price increases from the latest round of tariffs could collectively cost Vermont households approximately $1 billion annually, with each household seeing about $3,800 of additional costs per year.

Read more about the impacts here. 

— Habib Sabet

Vermont officials are assessing how residents may be affected after the mass firing of federal workers who administer the LIHEAP program, which provides millions of dollars in heating assistance to low-income households in the state. 

The cuts, reported by national news outlets Wednesday, won’t immediately affect Vermonters receiving the federal assistance, according to the state Agency of Human Services. But the agency is still evaluating potential impacts to the program in the long term, Economic Services Division Deputy Commissioner Miranda Gray said via email Thursday. 

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program provided $23 million in funding to Vermont in 2025 for the winter season, which runs from November to April. That money has already been allocated to the state, according to Tom Donohue, CEO of BROC Community Action.

Read more about LIHEAP program impacts here. 

— Erin Petenko

On the move

The Legislature has once again sent a midyear spending bill to Gov. Phil Scott’s desk, but a partisan standoff over Vermont’s motel voucher program continues to unfold.

On Thursday afternoon, the Senate gave final approval to its second attempt at an annual budget adjustment bill, after Scott vetoed the first version last month. But without a key change sought by Republicans to narrow criteria for the voucher program, the bill appears destined to meet the same fate.

Republicans brought forward an amendment Thursday to bring eligibility rules for the motel program in line with an executive order signed by Scott late last week. The order — which the Legislature’s chief lawyer has called unconstitutional — extended motel stays for families with children and certain people with acute medical needs through June 30. 

Read more about the standoff here. 

— Carly Berlin

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

On the hill

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., again unsuccessfully attempted to block certain U.S. arms sales to Israel Thursday, decrying the scale of destruction and death caused by that country’s war against Hamas.

Sanders forced a vote in the U.S. Senate on two joint resolutions of disapproval, which — if approved — would have prevented the transfer of heavy bombs and other munitions worth almost $8.8 billion to the Israeli government, his office said in a press release. 

“The United States must not continue to be complicit in the destruction of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Sanders said in his speech to the body. “History will not forgive us for this.”

The two resolutions failed to reach the votes necessary to move forward, each garnering 15 Yeas and more than 80 Nays. Sen. Peter  Welch, D-Vt., voted in support of both measures.

— Kristen Fountain