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Senate adopts conference report on S.51, drops caregiver credit and advances several tax changes including a veteran credit
Summary
The Vermont Senate accepted the conference committee report on S.51, adopting a package of tax changes that substitutes several tax credits and deductions in place of a previously proposed unpaid caregiver tax credit; the Senate voted 28–0 to approve and messaged the measure to the governor.
The Vermont Senate on May 30 accepted and adopted the committee of conference report on S.51 and sent the measure to the governor, after debate over a removed unpaid caregiver tax credit.
Senator Cummings, the senior senator from the Washington District and a conferee on S.51, told the Senate the version returned from conference had removed the unpaid caregiver tax credit and replaced it with a set of other tax provisions, including a child tax credit adjustment, expansion and separation of the earned‑income tax credit, phased increases to the deductible amount of Social Security for certain income brackets, adjustments for military and survivor benefits, and a new, modest tax credit targeted at some low‑income veterans.
"When the bill came back to us, that provision had been struck," Cummings said, describing the original S.51 as a shorter bill focused on a caregiver credit. He said the conference report adds provisions designed to help veterans, increase certain deductions, and preserve some state credits regardless of potential future federal changes.
Senators on the floor described the veteran credit as a time‑staggered, modest benefit for lower‑income military retirees or survivors: a $250 credit for taxpayers with federal adjusted gross income of $25,000 or less, with a sliding scale for incomes up to $30,000 that phases the credit upward by $5 per $100 of federal adjusted gross income above the $25,000 threshold.
Cummings said the unpaid caregiver credit originally in the Senate bill was removed because the Tax Department expressed concern about administering a credit based largely on attestation rather than documented hours; the department also could not place a reliable fiscal estimate on the proposed credit. "We were told the tax department said they really didn't think it was doable and didn't really feel comfortable doing it," Cummings said. The conferees accepted the House package in part because funding for several credits was included in the budget and because of timing constraints; conferees committed to revisiting a workable caregiver credit in a future session.
Senators pressed for greater follow‑up. One senator said he was "disappointed" that the conference committee did not include a report back from the Tax Department on feasibility; another reported conversations indicating the department was too burdened this cycle to add the extra report. Supporters of the conference report argued the adopted credits provide immediate assistance to veterans, low‑income taxpayers and families while the caregiver concept is refined.
A roll call vote followed a requested roll: the Secretary announced the result as Yays 28, Nays 0. The Senate then suspended the rules by voice vote to message the actions on S.51 to the governor "forthwith."
The action sends the conference report’s tax package to the governor’s desk; conferees and some senators said they would seek additional work on a caregiver credit during the off session.
