Legislative counsel walks committee through finding Act 148, key deadlines and reporting for transportation programs

Damien, legislative counsel to the House Committee on Transportation, told the committee on Feb. 11 that he would "take you through the process of actually finding the act summary for last year's T bill and finding the other versions of the T bill," and then show where required reports and deadlines appear.

The demonstration focused on how to use the Legislature’s website to find actions and the unofficial “as passed” bill text, the act summary, committee activity and witness lists, calendars and journals, and the searchable reports database. Damien said two search keywords — "transportation" and "vehicle" — quickly narrowed results for transportation-related acts; last year’s transportation act was identified as Act 148.

The guidance is intended to help committee members and staff locate the statutory and session-law language they will use while preparing the fiscal year 2026 transportation program and tracking agency reporting requirements. Damien emphasized that the act summary provides a concise road map of the bill’s sections and the key dates for required reports, and recommended using the unofficial as-passed text to read enacted language without strikeouts.

He summarized the major components described in the Act 148 act summary: adoption of the Agency of Transportation’s (AOT) proposed transportation program as amended by the act; several investments aimed at greenhouse-gas reductions; AOT goals to convert heating systems from fossil fuels with milestones including 2035; adjustments to public-transit funding and some repurposing of those funds; highway maintenance funding changes and a mechanism to recover reduced amounts; and one-time appropriations and statutory adjustments across multiple programs.

Damien highlighted specific items and deadlines that the committee may want to monitor: increases in town highway aid and town highway structures appropriations (identified in the act summary as an $860,000 increase for town highway aid and a $600,000 increase for town highway structures); one-time bridge funding for Green Mountain Transit with reporting on alternative service options (preliminary reporting in November and a final report due by February 2025); an oral update on AOT’s mobility services guide due Feb. 15; and a December 15 reporting requirement for a plan to provide sufficient notice when projects are delayed.

He reviewed several programmatic and statutory changes included in the act summary: a one-time e-bike incentive appropriation; revisions to bonding for AOT construction contracts; new or revised deadlines for notice when project costs rise; amendments to the Replace Your Ride program (including a temporary extension of the inspection lookback period to 18 months and increased waiver authority for AOT); revised reporting requirements for e-bike incentives and vehicle-and-sound programs; authority for the secretary to transfer up to 50 percent of remaining monies among certain electric vehicle incentive programs with a 30-day notice to the Joint Transportation Oversight Committee and the Joint Fiscal Office if a transfer occurs; and codification of level-3 EV charging deployment goals and siting standards tied to walkable access and public amenities.

Damien described additional requirements and administrative items in the act summary: a January 2025 deliverable from AOT for a plan to fund and maintain the EV charging network needed for the state’s energy and climate goals; a Public Utility Commission report on service upgrades needed for EV charging (also due in January); creation and codification of the Mobility and Transportation Innovations (MTI) Grant Program; provisions addressing bicycle storage on certain passenger trains; updates to the state’s Complete Streets law; and a directive that AOT and the Agency of Natural Resources prepare an analysis of policy and investment scenarios to reduce transportation-related emissions with a status update due by Nov. 15 and a written analysis and recommendations due by Feb. 15.

He also explained how to find and use the Legislature’s reports database: use the reports-and-research tab on the legislative website, click "find legislative reports," and search with the same keywords ("transportation," "vehicle"). He cautioned that the reports database and staff-maintained tracking pages are maintained manually and may contain omissions or typos; some reports can be posted slightly after their statutory due date when they are uploaded to the website. Damien said he can access a staff-side reports list for House Transportation that shows which reports are expected in 2025 and which have been submitted.

Committee members asked whether the staff-maintained report list is publicly accessible; Damien said he would check but indicated that he can pull that list for staff. Representative Pouch and others asked for a reminder about where session law differs from permanent statutory amendments; Damien demonstrated that session-law sections appear without a statutory citation in the act text and therefore apply for a limited period (for example, a fiscal-year transportation program), whereas statutory amendments include a citation such as "19 VSA §10g" (as cited in the committee discussion) and are codified in the Vermont statutes.

The committee received practical search tips (use the "as passed by both houses" unofficial bill text to avoid strike-throughs; check committee calendar entries and witness lists for past testimony; use the reports database and the committee’s reports resource tab) and a reminder to click "return to current session" on the website when switching between sessions so users view current law rather than historical versions.

No formal motions or votes were taken during the briefing. Members said they would use the guidance while they review the FY26 transportation program and upcoming agency reports.

Ending: Damien closed by offering to show the committee the staff-side report-tracking page and noting he had shared additional links (including a 2023 React Summit presentation) on the committee web page for members to review before future meetings.