2025 VT Legislative Scorecard
The following scorecard lists several key votes in the Vermont General Assembly in 2025 and ranks state representatives and senators based on their fidelity to (U.S.) constitutional and limited-government principles.
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S0068 would repeal the Affordable Heat Act in its entirety, including eliminating of the Clean Heat Standard. It would also abolish certain positions at the Public Utility Commission and Department of Public Service that were created to support the program.
The Vermont Senate failed to pass S0068 on February 25, 2025 by a vote of 13 to 17. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because this bill repeals big-government overreach. Despite its misleading title, the Affordable Heat Act imposed costly mandates on heating-fuel providers, raised energy costs for Vermonters, and created unnecessary bureaucracy under the guise of environmental regulation. Repealing it would eliminate burdensome compliance requirements, abolish taxpayer-funded bureaucrat positions, and allow the free market to determine energy choices.
S0069 creates the Vermont Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, which imposes extensive regulations on "covered businesses," mandating highest-level default privacy settings for minors, as well as restrictions on data collection, processing, sharing, and retention of minors' personal data. Additionally, it prohibits design practices that could lead to compulsive use or emotional distress, and grants the attorney general broad rule-making authority to define prohibited practices and standards.
The Vermont Senate passed S0069 on March 12, 2025 by a vote of 25 to 5. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this legislation imposes government overreach that burdens businesses with vague, costly compliance mandates, and substitutes state bureaucrats and the attorney general for parental responsibility in guiding children's online activity. True protection of children comes from responsible parents exercising authority over their family. Expansive state regulations that impose one-size-fits-all schemes on private companies encourages further erosion of online freedoms under the guise of "safety."
JRS015 declares Vermont's support for the "Transgender and non-binary community" and commitment to the LGBTQ+ movement.
The Vermont Senate passed JRS015 on March 14, 2025 by a vote of 30 to 0. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this resolution promotes "woke" LGBTQ+ identity-based recognition, which fosters division and sanctions grossly illicit acts of sexual perversion. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," undermining self-government and the family. It attacks the very foundations of a free society. Nothing in the U.S. Constitution can be used to support homosexuality. No amount of "LGBTQ+" legislation can make normal, let alone constitutional, that which truth has told us since time immemorial to be abominable and shameful.
Proposal 3 proposes to amend Chapter I of the Vermont Constitution, establishing a constitutional right for employees to organize or join a labor organization. It provides that no law shall be adopted that interferes with, negates, or diminishes this right, or prohibits the application or execution of an agreement between an employer and a labor organization that requires membership as a condition of employment.
The Vermont Senate passed Proposal 3 on March 20, 2025 by a vote of 29 to 0. We have assigned minuses to the yeas because collective bargaining interferes with individual liberties, and compelling individuals to negotiate collectively infringes upon their right to freely associate or negotiate on an individual basis.
H0493, the "Big Bill – Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Act" makes appropriations to support state government operations in fiscal year 2026. Key provisions include establishing an Office of Health Equity; funding the Office of Racial Equity within the Department of Health; expanding emergency housing assistance; creating and funding a Substance Misuse Prevention Special Fund; increasing grants and spending across departments including Children and Families, Corrections, Education, and Health; allocating funds for HIV/AIDS services; health-equity grants, and various social programs.
The Vermont Senate passed H0493 on May 1, 2025 by a vote of 20 to 10. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this legislation expands unchecked government spending for the welfare state at the expense of taxpayers. It diverts taxpayer funds into new bureaucracies focused on equity and racial programs; funnels cannabis tax dollars into substance misuse prevention; increases government intervention in housing, health, and social services; and rewards collective dependency over individual and fiscal responsibility. Economic prosperity and safety comes from limited government and free markets, along with personal responsibility.
H0091 establishes the Vermont Homeless Emergency Assistance and Responsive Transition to Housing Program, which expands and replaces existing emergency-housing programs with a new state-run framework starting in FY2027. It creates a $10 million one-time General Fund appropriation for a shelter and supportive housing for homeless individuals, increases community-based shelter capacity, reduces reliance on hotels and motels, and provides interim shelter and services for households at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
The Vermont Senate passed H0091 on May 22, 2025 by a vote of 17 to 13. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this legislation expands government dependency and the welfare state at taxpayer expense. It creates a new state bureaucracy and housing program that spends millions in taxpayer funds on big-government services, shelters, and housing initiatives. Effective pathways out of homelessness come from economic freedom, job creation, and limited government. State appropriations, mandates, and programs reward dependency, erode individual responsibility, and prevent free-market solutions.
