Senate advances bill expanding youth substance awareness program, adds license suspensions and reporting requirements

H.105, a bill to expand Vermont's Youth Substance Awareness Safety program, was advanced by the Senate on May 20, 2025, after the Senate Judiciary Committee reported the bill with an amendment and the floor approved the committee's amendment and proposal to the House. The bill, as reported, adds certain impaired-driving and cannabis-possession violations to the civil diversion pathway that YSAS provides and creates procedures for automatic driver's-license suspensions tied to program noncompletion.

The Judiciary Committee report was delivered by Senator Hashim, Senator from Windham District. Hashim said the bill aims to streamline the judicial process so youth can access educational and rehabilitative services instead of or alongside criminal prosecution and to align impaired-driving and underage-substance violations with existing civil diversion treatment. "This bill focuses on the civil track," Hashim said on the floor, noting that the bill does not eliminate criminal prosecution where elements of a crime exist.

The bill adds impaired driving for persons at least 16 but under 21 with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.02 or greater and certain cannabis-possession violations to the offenses handled through YSAS. Impaired-driving violators enrolled in YSAS would also face automatic license suspensions under new subdivisions described in the bill; the report cited suspension periods that may be 90 days or 145 days in one provision and enhanced suspensions of 180 days or one year in another, with automatic reinstatement procedures contingent on serving the suspension and any standard reinstatement process. The report also says failing to complete YSAS will subject the youth to civil-violation processing in the Judicial Bureau and possible penalties noted in the bill.

Hashim summarized additional bill provisions: a requirement that law-enforcement suspension notices include effective dates, duration, methods to acquire a restricted license, and projected reinstatement dates; revised confidentiality and public-records exemptions to permit reporting of license violations to law enforcement and insurance companies; and a reporting mandate for the attorney general to supply counts of referrals to YSAS, completions, failures, and those who later serve suspensions imposed by the Judicial Bureau. Section 2 requires the attorney general's office and Vermont's statistical analysis center to propose outcome measures to assess the effectiveness of suspensions imposed for impaired-driver violations processed through YSAS. Section 5 sets the bill's effective date as July 1, 2025.

Hashim reported the Judiciary Committee's initial consideration vote as 3–0–2 and said the committee received testimony from Legislative Counsel; the youth restorative programs manager and coordinator at the Burlington Community Justice Center; the state court administrator (Vermont Judiciary); the director of court diversion and pretrial services; representatives of the Vermont Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs; the chief juvenile defender from the Defender General's Office; the executive director of the Washington County diversion program; and the deputy commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

After the committee report, Hashim presented a technical amendment incorporating additional suggestions from the Vermont Judiciary. He said the amendment corrected a mis-cited cross-reference, clarified the definition of a public highway, specified that the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles imposes the automatic suspension (to align with existing statute), added notice-of-suspension language informing recipients of their right to review under Rule 75 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure, and created an ability to seek judicial review of an automatic suspension. The Judiciary Committee endorsed the amendment by a reported vote of 4–0–1.

On the floor the Senate approved the committee's amendment (voice vote recorded as "ayes have it"), then voted to propose to the House that H.105 be amended as recommended by the committee (voice vote recorded as "ayes have it"). The Senate then ordered H.105 read a third time (voice vote recorded as "ayes have it").

Discussion was framed by committee and stakeholder testimony; the bill report emphasized that the YSAS pathway is intended to be educational and rehabilitative and that the bill does not foreclose criminal prosecution where criminal elements are present. The bill also adds data-collection and reporting responsibilities intended to allow evaluation of suspensions tied to YSAS participation.

Votes and next steps: the Senate approved the committee amendment and proposed the amendment to the House, and ordered third reading; the bill’s reported effective date is July 1, 2025.

Ending: The Judiciary Committee and floor actions moved H.105 forward; the House must now consider the Senate’s proposed amendment and the bill will return to the Senate for further action if the House responds to the proposal.