Secretary of State Seeks General Fund Support for Voter guides, public-access grant and new licensing positions in FY26 budget

Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas told the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 27 that the office is preparing its FY 2026 budget around rising personnel and health-care costs, declining business-services revenue and major one-time investments in aging IT systems.

The request includes a mix of general fund asks and targeted uses of other funds tied to new regulatory work. “We are anticipating and preparing for, rising costs at the secretary of state's office,” Copeland Hanzas said, citing both predictable personnel costs and the need to maintain the Secretary of State Service Fund, which fluctuates with business-services revenue.

Why it matters: the office administers elections, professional licensing through the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), and several civic programs. The testimony warned that federal election grants that previously covered roughly 60% of elections-related spending are no longer expected going forward, raising the prospect that the state will need to appropriate money in election years.

Key budget requests and program items

- Voter guide: The office asked for $1,500,000 in general funds to produce and mail a printed voter guide to one household per address timed to general-election ballots so that recipients receive a paper guide tailored to the candidates on their ballot. Lauren Hibbert, deputy secretary of state, said the mailing would be separate from the ballot envelope and “we'll put on the outside of the ballot, look out for your voter guide.”

- Vermont Access Network (public-access TV): The office requested $1,350,000 in FY26 for a VAN grant to sustain local public-access media while a longer-term funding approach is developed; the presentation said the network needs about $2,000,000 overall and the plan is to scale funding toward that level over two fiscal years. The testimony explained the decline in cable-fee revenues that once supported the network and said the office would work with legislative stakeholders on a longer-term solution.

- Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) and mental-health consolidation: Copeland Hanzas said the OPR fund has run deficits for several years and staff are conducting a “positive reporting” study to track staff time by profession. The department requested creation of an executive officer for mental health to lead a proposed consolidation of numerous mental-health licensing boards into a single mental-health board; the presentation said the House Appropriations Committee approved a one-time allocation of $170,000 to begin implementation. The secretary said she will bring a bill (H.472) next year that would strike and replace multiple statutory sections to create the consolidated model and the executive officer position.

- New professions, licensure transition funding: The office described a recommendation to license early childhood educators (S.119) and to create an early childhood educator board and executive officer. For implementation, the office requested $45,000 for IT setup and rulemaking and $262,000 to fund two startup positions (an executive officer and a staff attorney). The presentation also asked the committee to consider a $1,300,000 allocation from the Childcare Tax Fund to cover licensure fees for the first two cycles so applicants would not bear the initial cost. The agency said it anticipates a six-year transitional licensing period with renewable transitional licenses to avoid foreclosing existing providers.

- Doulas: The office requested $25,000 in general funds for IT setup, rulemaking and stakeholder engagement if the doula licensing bill proceeds.

- Paralegal position: The office asked for creation of a paralegal position that had been budgeted in its request to the administration but was not included in the big bill as received by the committee.

Discussion and staff clarifications

Committee members pressed about the OPR fund deficit and asked how new licensing programs would avoid creating additional deficits. Copeland Hanzas said some programs (for example, doula licensure) are expected to be quickly fee-supported, while early childhood educator licensure would require an on-ramp with initial general fund support and later fee revenue once licenses are issued. She emphasized the ongoing staff time study intended to show costs by profession and to help the office recommend whether the current OPR fee-silo model should be changed.

The secretary and deputy also warned the committee that without changes or new revenue, the state may need to appropriate funds in future election years to sustain election administration.

Ending

After questions from the committee, Copeland Hanzas and her staff offered to provide further information to committee members and to return with more detail as the OPR study advances.