Secretary of State outlines bill to harmonize business registration, agent rules and fees

Montpelier — The Vermont Secretary of State’s office on Feb. 12 presented a bill package to the House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development that would standardize business registration procedures, unify registered-agent rules and adjust filing fees for entities that register with the state.

David Hall, former legislative counsel and presenter for the Secretary of State’s Office, told the committee the proposal aims to reduce inconsistencies that developed over “decades” of piecemeal changes to business-organization law. “What the proposal does is we’re just trying to make these things, at least for our purposes, more harmonized than they are now because we’ve got this scattershot and mishmash of filings and names and fees that for no good reason are not terribly consistent across types,” Hall said.

The changes are largely technical and administrative but contain provisions the office described as consequential for consumer protection and fraud prevention. Key features include: a single statutory section to govern agents for service of process for most…