Committee defers push on S.125 after veto; key changes had included decertification threshold and judiciary supervisors

Sophie Sadatney, legislative counsel, summarized S.125 for the committee, saying the bill would have allowed judiciary supervisors to organize and bargain collectively and would have increased the required showing of employee interest to trigger a decertification election from 30% to 50% plus one across Vermont’s seven labor relations acts.

“S.125 would have allowed judiciary supervisors to organize and bargain collectively,” Sadatney told members, and she said the decertification change would raise the threshold necessary to trigger a secret ballot election. Members recalled the governor vetoed the measure after it passed both chambers in a prior cycle.

Committee debate focused on whether to take up a bill that the governor had already vetoed. Some members argued it would be inefficient to use committee time on legislation unlikely to be signed without substantive revision, while supporters pointed to prior committee and Senate support and noted a related constitutional amendment on the November ballot addressing labor organizing. After discussion, members said it was pragmatic to leave S.125 for reconsideration in the next biennium and to return to the issue with a fresh review.

No formal motion to refile or recommit the bill was made at the hearing. The committee agreed members who remain for the next session should consider addressing the matter further.