AGC/VT Legislative Update
Hark! I bet you all have missed my emails gracing your inboxes over the past few months. I wanted to offer a few quick updates, as there have been rumblings of activity here in Montpelier as we approach the start of the 2026 legislative session in January.
First, some rare off-year election news: Last Tuesday, nearly 10,000 voters across 18 cities and towns in central Vermont voted down a proposed $149 million bond to build a new, larger Central Vermont Career Center campus in Graniteville. The vote failed by a roughly 60-40 margin. Also on Tuesday, Barre City approved a TIF to finance the construction of a 31-unit apartment building downtown, and Plainfield voted down a $600,000 bond that would have helped fund a 40-unit housing development out of the flood plain.
On Wednesday last week, there was a joint House/Senate committee hearing to discuss housing. Legislators largely focused on the impact of the federal government shutdown here in Vermont, and general policy changes coming out of Washington as they relate to grant funding and housing vouchers. One of the major takeaways was: Federal funding will come and go, but the demand for housing remains high for Vermonters across the income spectrum. Thus, it's incumbent upon the Legislature to make progress in 2026 to meaningfully bring down the cost of construction, and to make it easier and more expedient to build.
Friday, I moseyed down to River Valley Technical Center in Springfield to participate in a working group on the future of career and technical education in Vermont. The Agency of Education is working on drafting CTE legislation ahead of the 2026 session, and according to their State Director of Career and Technical Education Ruth Durkee, one of their foremost recommendations will be to create a single, unified, statewide CTE school district. This garnered quite a bit of discussion among legislators, CTE directors and stakeholders in the room about centralization and streamlining of services and governance, and generally, about putting CTEs on equal footing with "traditional" schools. A few other key takeaways from this meeting:
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Funding and tuitioning for CTE students remains a problem, all too often disincentivizing schools from sending their students to CTEs.
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There must be better scheduling among "traditional" schools and CTEs, so that students can meet all of their academic graduation requirements and attend CTE programming of their choosing. (On a similar note, the group also discussed graduation requirements generally, and how they may not be aligned with CTE students' career goals and class schedules.)
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Students can and should be introduced to technical and hands-on learning at a younger age — say, in middle school — before it's time to enroll in a CTE program, so they know what options are available earlier on.
Last, here I am, once again reminding you that our white whale of the 2026 session will be balancing Vermont's ailing Transportation Fund. Fixing this is going to be a heavy lift, and I need your help keeping the pressure on lawmakers. I'll be sending out a memo soon with details of AGC-VT's campaign to save the T-fund. But starting now, here's what I need from you:
Please take photos and film short videos from your car or your worksite of Vermont roads in poor condition and email them to me. It's helpful if you include the name of the road and where and when you took the photos/videos. These photos and videos will be used to illustrate the current conditions of roads, and what's at stake if the state falls behind its paving and maintenance needs.
You'll be hearing from me more as we near the start of the 2026 session. Please reach out anytime to tell me what's on your mind and what you hope to see accomplished in Montpelier this year.
Have a great week,
Sarah Mearhoff
Director of Advocacy and Communications
Associated General Contractors of Vermont
(802) 223-2374
