Votes at a glance: Senate passes multiple bills on collective bargaining, PFAS, Rutland charter changes, floodplain disclosure, and remote committee voting

The Vermont Senate completed votes on a package of measures on May 20, 2025, approving or concurring in several bills and adopting a joint House resolution. The floor recorded committee reports, committee vote tallies where provided, and voice votes on final actions.

S.125 (collective bargaining). The Senate concurred in the House proposal of amendment to S.125, an act related to collective bargaining. The chamber’s floor reporter summarized that the House deleted four workers’-compensation sections (handled separately in S.117) and that the bill now focuses on collective-bargaining organization and decertification thresholds across multiple statutes, including the Judiciary Employee Labor Relations Act (JELRA), the State Employee Labor Relations Act (SELRA), municipal and other employee-relations acts. The change raises the decertification trigger to 50% plus one for multiple labor acts. The Economic Development and Housing Committee (and the House committees prior) considered related provisions; the Senate report cited a committee vote of 5–0–0. The Senate floor voice vote to concur in the House proposal was recorded as "ayes have it."

H.238 (phaseout of PFAS in consumer products). H.238, an act relating to the phaseout of added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in consumer products, was read for third reading and passed on voice vote (floor recorded as "ayes have it").

H.504 (Rutland charter amendment). H.504, approving amendments to the charter of the City of Rutland, received third reading and passed by voice vote (floor recorded as "ayes have it").

H.106 (property disclosure for FEMA flood hazard areas). The Senate’s Economic Development and Housing Committee reported H.106 with recommendation to propose amendment to the House. Senator Weeks (Rutland District) summarized the bill’s purpose: require sellers to include flood-map information in property-disclosure statements, clarify whether sellers maintain or are required to have federal or state flood insurance, and provide a physical copy, electronic copy, or link to a relevant FEMA flood map. The committee reported a vote of 5–0–0, and the Senate approved the committee’s proposed amendment and ordered third reading (voice votes recorded as "ayes have it"). The bill’s effective date in the report is Sept. 1, 2025, to allow recorders’ offices to update forms.

J.R.H.5 (limited remote joint committee voting). The Senate adopted in concurrence a joint resolution (J.R.H.5) authorizing limited remote joint committee voting through the remainder of calendar year 2025. Senators explained this renews the House rules for remote voting in joint meetings so that remote committee attendance and voting may continue under the House’s framework; the floor approved the resolution by voice vote.

Procedural notes: several items were reported out of committee with unanimous or near-unanimous committee votes (S.125 reported 5–0–0; H.106 reported 5–0–0), and the floor used voice votes for final approval in each case. The Senate also noted scheduling and committee meetings before adjourning.

Ending: Bills that the Senate has proposed to the House or ordered for third reading will return depending on House action; H.238 and H.504 were passed by the Senate on third reading.