Vermont broadcasters tell Senate committee they are central to emergency alerts; language-access fixes done administratively

Wendy Mays, executive director of the Vermont Association of Broadcasters, told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on Jan. 28 that Vermont’s over‑the‑air radio and television stations provide emergency alerting, local news, scholarships and community fundraising and that the association stands ready to help on policy questions.

Mays said the VAB represents about 100 broadcasters across the state and described the services stations provide during severe weather and other all‑hazard events, including rebroadcasting notices from civil authorities through the Emergency Alert System and ongoing reporting after an event to direct people to shelter, volunteer opportunities and aid.

The VAB’s role matters because many Vermonters rely on free, over‑the‑air broadcasting where cell service or broadband is unreliable. “If the power is out, you can still get these messages on your radio,” Mays said. She emphasized broadcasters’ local reporting—newsrooms, road and weather updates, and long‑term follow‑up reporting—and their support for nonprofit drives and community events.

Mays provided counts and program details to illustrate the sector’s size and activities: the association lists roughly 100 member stations, of which she described nine television outlets and 91 radio outlets with public, community and college stations among them. The VAB runs scholarship programs (about 23 students receive scholarships annually), subsidizes paid internships (Mays said the program began in 2021 and has subsidized roughly a dozen internships) and offers monthly professional training and a “rising star” award to encourage workforce recruitment, especially for broadcast engineers.

On accessibility, Mays told the committee the association participated in a language‑assistance working group over the summer and submitted a report with recommendations via Vermont Emergency Management. She said technical measures such as closed captions and post‑event captions already exist and that some changes to preserve visibility of American Sign Language interpreters at press briefings have been implemented without new legislation. “There’s always been interpretation,” she said, adding that the working group’s executive summary discusses picture‑in‑picture implementation and the operational constraints stations face.

Committee members pressed for clarity about next steps. One member asked where the working‑group recommendations had gone; Mays said she believed the report was submitted to the committee and to the House, and that it should be available on the committee website. She agreed to send a brief summary highlighting the changes broadcasters have made since the floods and what remains under consideration.

The committee also clarified what the VAB represents: the association covers over‑the‑air broadcasters (radio and TV); public access cable channels are represented by Vermont Access Network, not the VAB. Mays urged lawmakers to contact the VAB as a resource when bills affecting broadcasters or emergency communications come before the committee.

Mays also cited an example of community support from broadcasters: she said one station’s annual year‑end campaign raised more than $230,000 to send children affected by cancer to camp. She said stations regularly coordinate drives for food, clothing, blood and other needs, and she described the intangible local value of live radio for listeners feeling isolated.

The committee did not take formal action during Mays’s presentation; members said they would review the working‑group executive summary and consider follow‑up testimony.

Mays concluded by offering to return when relevant bills reach the committee and to provide a written summary of operational changes made in response to the accessibility concerns raised after recent floods.