Vermont Senate passes a slate of bills; constitutional labor amendment sent to voters

The Vermont Senate on third reading approved multiple measures and advanced a proposed constitutional amendment to the voters.

On the floor the Senate passed S.23 (use of synthetic media in elections), S.27 (medical debt relief and excluding medical debt from credit reports), S.51 (Vermont unpaid caregiver tax credit), S.59 (amendments to Vermont's open meeting law, as amended), S.60 (establishing a Farm Security Special Fund to provide grants for farm losses due to weather), and S.109 (miscellaneous judiciary procedures). The Senate also adopted S.R.10, a resolution disapproving Executive Order 0125, and concurred in Proposal 3, a proposed constitutional amendment to recognize a right to collectively bargain and requested the concurrence of the House.

Why it matters: the measures address a range of policy areas — from election integrity and consumer protections to agricultural disaster assistance and labor rights — and several have implications for state spending, administrative rules and how future disputes may be resolved.

Votes and outcomes (as recorded on the floor): - S.23,…