Committee reviews H.1 amendment to state ethics law amid separation-of-powers concerns

The Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee heard testimony about H.1 on Thursday, a bill amendment offered by members of the House Ethics Panel that would change how the State Ethics Commission consults with legislative and judicial ethics bodies on complaints referred to those bodies.

Proponents told the committee the amendment is narrowly aimed at a consultation requirement added by last year’s ethics law (H.875, enacted as 2024 Act 171) and scheduled to take effect Sept. 1, 2025; they said the statute, as written, could improperly limit the House’s and Senate’s constitutional authority to judge the qualifications and discipline of their members.

"The provisions of 2024 Act 171 appear to us to infringe upon constitutional legislative authority and procedure and therefore violate separation of powers," said Betsy Ann Rask, clerk of the House and co-counsel to the House Ethics Panel. Rask told the committee the H.1 strike‑all amendment offered by panel members would require the commission to provide, at referral, any application of the state code of ethics and a recommended action so the panel would have that information up front but still retain authority to determine its own procedure.

Under current statute (3 V.S.A. § 1223, as amended by 2024 Act 171, section 9), the Ethics Commission is required to "specify the application of the state code of ethics, the facts presented in the complaint, and include a recommended action" when referring complaints to entities including the House and Senate ethics panels and judicial boards; the contested language would also impose a written…