Vermont’s Legislature adjourned last week, ending the 2023-24 biennium. Lawmakers will reconvene for a veto session in June. A new cohort of legislators will kick off the 2025-26 biennium in January.
There's a lot to reflect on, but first we want to say thank you! ACLU supporters sent thousands of messages to legislators this year, positively impacting some of the most critical issues facing Vermont. We also want to thank all the legislators who advanced civil rights and liberties in 2024.
The Vermont House of Representatives made historic progress on fair taxation, ushering forward a measure that would raise taxes on our state’s highest earners. Had H.829 been approved by the whole legislature, it would have generated nearly $75 million in annual revenue to serve Vermonters and our communities.
The House also worked tirelessly in its attempt to secure emergency housing—by expanding the criteria for who could be served by Vermont’s General Assistance Housing program—and to advance harm reduction solutions to the overdose crisis. Both chambers passed H.72, legislation to create Vermont’s first-ever overdose prevention centers (OPCs), proven and necessary tools to save lives now.
Sadly, the legislature enacted multiple bills that will send more people to prison without addressing the root causes impacting our communities. These bills increase penalties for low-level thefts, further criminalize drug-related offenses, call for more juveniles to be charged as adults, and again delay implementation of juvenile justice reforms.
As signed into law, H.534 will allow the state to charge people with a felony—and up to ten years in prison—for recurring petty retail theft. Given that extreme and excessive sentencing is a major driver of mass incarceration, this bill represents a step backward on criminal justice reform in Vermont. Beyond that we know that this bill is likely to put more women, people in poverty and people with substance use disorder in prison instead of addressing the underlying conditions that lead to crime in the first place.
Similarly, S.58 represents a major setback for juvenile justice and racial justice, and undermines effective, public health-centered approaches to substance use by doubling down on criminalization. This bill makes it easier to incarcerate more people—including youth—and impose longer sentences for knowingly possessing, distributing, or selling a regulated drug. It would also create more situations when youth are prosecuted in adult court, and delays implementation of Vermont’s “Raise the Age” statutes.
We also saw a failure to pass any meaningful police accountability measures or address persistent racial disparities in the criminal legal system.
Despite these painful setbacks for our civil liberties, we and our allies fought for and won many key changes that will result in more people’s rights being protected, fewer lives lost, and fewer people incarcerated. Together we will push lawmakers in 2025 to resume the work of moving Vermont forward with data-informed, evidence-based policies. Find a summary below of where we left off.
Smart Justice: Prisons and criminal legal reform
H.534 – Increasing penalties for low-level retail theft.
ACLU Position: Oppose
Status: Passed
Given that extreme and excessive sentencing is a major driver of mass incarceration, H.534 represents a step backward on criminal justice reform. As passed, this bill would allow the state to charge people with a felony with up to ten years in prison for recurring retail theft between $250 and $900.
H.645 – Expanding approaches to restorative justice.
ACLU Position: Support
Status: Passed
This bill creates a more equitable avenue to divert instances of harm or wrongdoing away from our criminal legal system into a restorative justice, community-based process in all Vermont counties.
H.876 – Miscellaneous changes to corrections laws
ACLU Position: Support
Status: Passed
This bill would improve our correctional system by reducing the number of people being incarcerated pre-trial; requiring the Department of Corrections to better support people as they transition back into their communities; ending the use of out-of-state and private prisons by 2034; and requiring studies on improving visitation for children with incarcerated parents. The House-passed version of this bill allows people on parole to earn time off their sentences for good behavior. The Senate downgraded it to a study, with hopes of making legislative changes next year.
S.58 – Locking more people up for drug offenses and charging more juveniles in adult court.
ACLU Position: Oppose
Status: Passed
Despite some positive changes over the session, S.58 represents a major step backward for both juvenile justice reforms and promoting a public health approach to drug use. This bill could make it easier to incarcerate more people—including youth—and impose longer sentences for knowingly possessing, distributing, or selling a regulated drug. It would also create more situations when youth are prosecuted in adult court, and delays implementation of Vermont’s “Raise the Age” statutes.
S.195 – Conditions of release
ACLU Position: Oppose
Status: Passed
This bill lifted the $200 cap on bail for people charged with another crime while awaiting trial, created a pretrial monitoring program within the Department of Corrections, and expanded the use of electronic monitoring. We opposed this bill because it perpetuates wealth-based incarceration through the use of cash bail and could lead to more people being incarcerated pretrial due to increased surveillance in the community.
Community safety and policing
Unfortunately, this session represented a step backwards for efforts for greater police oversight and accountability. All meaningful proposals either failed to pass the legislature or to generate enough support to overcome a veto.
H.176 and S.357 – Addressing over-policing and racial profiling on our roadways.
ACLU Position: Support
Status: H.176 and H.357 received hearings in the House and Senate, respectively, but neither bill made crossover.
These “Smarter Stops” bills would only allow traffic stops for serious safety violations, not for minor equipment infractions like a broken taillight or obscured license plate, for which Black and Latinx drivers are disproportionately targeted.
S.285 – Prohibiting the use of deceptive and coercive practices in police interrogations.
ACLU Position: Support
Status: Passed the Senate and did not pass out of House Judiciary.
Cops shouldn’t lie during questioning. This bill requires the creation of a binding statewide policy for law enforcement that would prohibit the use of deception and coercion in police interrogations.
Harm reduction: A public health approach to substance use
We have worked with partners and legislators this year to pursue commonsense strategies to address substance use disorder and our opioid crisis, including the development of evidence-backed overdose prevention centers. OPCs are public health facilities where people can receive vital medical services if necessary and be connected to treatment.
H.72 – Creating overdose prevention centers.
ACLU Position: Support
Status: Passed the House and Senate, going to the governor’s office
This bill would enable and fund the creation of overdose prevention centers in Vermont, a proven harm reduction approach that will save lives.
Economic justice
The ACLU is one of several organizations supporting the Fair Share for Vermont proposal to ensure that the wealthiest Vermonters are paying their fair share in taxes. With resulting revenue, we can meet the state’s most pressing needs in housing, social services, infrastructure, education, and the environment, for everyone who calls this state home.
H.827 – Increasing tax liability for the wealthiest Vermonters.
ACLU Position: Support
Status: In House Ways and Means, did not make crossover
This proposal would add to the tax liability of people who have $10 million in assets.
H.829 – Enabling fair taxation.
ACLU Position: Support
Status: Passed the House did not pass the Senate
This legislation creates a 3% tax increase on income over $500,000 to fund crucial public investments in housing.
Housing
H.883 - State Budget
ACLU Position: More funding needed for emergency housing
Status: Passed
The final budget imposed caps on available rooms and limited the number of nights that people can stay in housing. This compromise will still leave vulnerable people outside when they need to access housing.
