Senate Government Operations reviews S.98: new 'democracy certificate' public-financing plan, automatic registration expansion and voting leave

The Senate Committee on Government Operations on May 9, 2025, reviewed S.98, a multipart bill that would overhaul Vermont’s public campaign-financing system, expand automatic voter registration for recipients of certain social services, create a preregistration option for 16-year-olds and require employer-provided voting time off. Tucker Anderson, legislative counsel, told the committee S.98 “expands automatic voter registration within a few programs, and then it is going to tee up potential future expansion after some reports from state agencies.”

Why it matters: S.98 would create a new public-financing mechanism that allows registered voters to assign small packets of public campaign funds to candidates, change who must file campaign finance reports, create criminal and administrative penalties for falsified filings, and add workplace protections and paid time-off rules intended to reduce barriers to voting.

The bill’s central public-finance proposal is a so-called “democracy certificate” program. Under the draft the committee reviewed, the secretary of state would issue four certificates worth $25 each to every voter who opts into the program; voters could assign those certificates to eligible state-office candidates. Certificates would be issued for primaries and general elections (on or before the first business day in March for primaries and the first business day in September for general elections), and town clerks or the secretary of state would verify and process returned certificates. The bill bars sale or transfer of certificates for cash or other consideration and makes forging, altering, buying or selling certificates a violation subject to the same penalties used for other election-law violations.

The draft includes administrative controls and candidate requirements. A candidate who wants to receive program funds must file an affidavit with the secretary of state attesting to conditions for public support and listing campaign contributions. Participating candidates must take part in at least three debates or similar public events, may not knowingly solicit money for entities that will make independent expenditures for or against any state candidate, and may not accept total contributions from any person above $2,000 in a single election cycle (this cap excludes the value of certificates assigned through the program). The bill sets maximum cumulative campaign-fund limits for qualified candidates: $1,000,000 for governor and $500,000 for certain other statewide offices; candidates must notify the secretary when they meet or surpass the limit.

If available public funds are insufficient to cover all assigned certificates, the secretary would pro rata the available monies among qualifying candidates. The secretary of state would set and publish annual fund limits by Jan. 1 each year and must publish program materials and participant lists. The draft directs the secretary to distribute verified funds to qualifying candidates within 10 business days after verification; it also authorizes the secretary to replace or cancel certificates where there is evidence of loss, theft or fraud.

On campaign reporting and enforcement, S.98 would expand reporting requirements so all candidates and many committees must file campaign finance reports and would replace a “deemed statement” regime with a requirement that a person who is not otherwise required to report file an affirmative statement that they made no reportable receipts or expenditures. The draft establishes a cure period for delinquent filings: the secretary of state must notify a filer of delinquency, the filer would have five business days to cure, and thereafter a $10-per-day penalty would apply up to a $1,000 cap; the secretary would have limited discretion to reduce or waive those penalties. The draft also ties materially false or fraudulent campaign-finance filings to criminal false-claims provisions referenced in Title 13.

The bill would expand automatic voter registration (AVR) by adding applications and forms used for the state’s reach-out social-services programs to the list of application points that must offer automatic registration, while requiring an opt-out choice for applicants. It also directs a set of state agencies — the Agency of Human Services, Agency of Education, Department of Labor, Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Department for Children and Families, and Department of Health — to report to the committee and to House Government Operations by Nov. 15, 2025, identifying application forms that could be updated to include AVR and proposing timelines for integration with the state voter-registration system.

S.98 would allow preregistration in Vermont at age 16 for persons who meet citizenship, residency and oath requirements so that they are automatically registered once they reach voting age; preregistration does not permit 16-year-olds to vote. The provision was discussed as a way to capture persons who obtain driver’s licenses at 16 but do not return to state agencies until they are older.

The bill adds a labor provision giving employees up to four hours of paid time off to vote in person in any local, state or federal primary, general or special election if they provide 24 hours’ notice; an employer need not grant the time off if the employee’s work hours begin at least two hours after polls open or end at least two hours before polls close. Employers would not be required to pay the absent employee unless the employee and employer agree on making up or trading the time. An employer who violates the provision could face a $200 penalty. The bill sets an effective date in the draft of July 1, 2025.

Committee members raised fiscal and implementation questions. The draft does not appropriate a specific sum for the democracy-certificate program; discussion noted program funding would come from the secretary of state’s fund and general-fund resources and that the secretary of state is charged with setting limits and publishing anticipated receipts. Committee members cited a prior Joint Fiscal Office estimate discussed in committee that a comprehensive public-financing program could carry a multimillion-dollar price tag (a figure mentioned in the discussion was roughly $35 million), and members pressed that the secretary of state would need discretion to cap disbursements and announce when funds are exhausted.

No final committee vote on S.98 was recorded during the session; members instead scheduled further review and division of the bill for committee work sessions. The draft includes multiple administrative reporting deadlines the committee would use to track implementation needs if the bill advances: agency AVR reports due Nov. 15, 2025; the secretary’s annual fund-limit publication due Jan. 1; and an annual Jan. 15 report to the committee with recommended campaign limits, funding needs and other program observations.

What’s next: Committee members said they would continue review and invite additional testimony; the committee is expected to receive further analysis and to consider S.98 alongside other items in coming meetings.