Committee agrees to joint posting of candidate financial-disclosure form; staff and accessibility needs flagged

The House Government Operations & Military Affairs committee agreed to have the Vermont Ethics Commission post the candidate financial-disclosure form and FAQs and to have the Secretary of State link to that material, while committee members pressed for phone support and more staff to handle a heavy filing period.

Representative Waters Evans opened the discussion by urging urgency and accessibility: "The goal is to get this form available to candidates so that they can file properly according to what we've laid out already in statute," she said, arguing the panel should avoid creating barriers to candidacy.

Director Sibret of the Vermont Ethics Commission told the committee the commission prepared a fillable PDF from its model online form and proposed a compromise: both the Ethics Commission and the Secretary of State post the form and a joint FAQ, and the commission triage questions by email while providing phone help when necessary. "My suggestion would be that both entities post the form," Sibret said, framing the approach as a way to preserve clarity about statutory responsibility while ensuring access.

National consultant TJ Jones, who reviewed practices in other states, told lawmakers that many states have campaign finance offices host candidate disclosures so voters find materials where they expect them. "The candidate form," Jones said, "is there not only for candidates to make disclosures, but it's for voters to be able to find the information." He recommended posting the form in both places with clear labelling and including the document in candidate packets.

Former Secretary of State Jim Condos, newly appointed to the Ethics Commission, warned the committee that the peak filing period will compress hundreds of filings into the last week, and urged a phone option for deadline-day help. "Someone needs to answer a phone," Condos said, noting that when candidates file at the deadline they cannot wait for an email reply.

Administrative assistant Peggy Delaney, who converted the online template into a fillable PDF, said the work was time-consuming. "It was a bear to do," she told the committee, underscoring the technical effort required to create a usable PDF from the online system.

Committee members also raised concerns about staffing: Director Sibret described a staffing shortage that has required the commission's chair and a consultant to split duties during Sibret's sabbatical, and asked for language in the bill to create a position to avoid relying on unpaid overtime. Condos and others urged that budget and staffing decisions account for the operational burden of answering filer questions, especially during the compressed filing window.

On accessibility, a participant with healthcare experience warned that an email-only help line could be a digital barrier for some potential candidates and asked that phone access remain an option. The committee agreed the commission should triage email inquiries but provide phone help when needed.

The chair summarized the committee's approach as four practical steps: post the form on the Ethics Commission site, post FAQs on the commission site, allow the commission to answer questions by email and phone as needed, and have the Secretary of State link to those materials. Staff were directed to draft statutory language reflecting the duties and charges discussed and to return a draft for another review.

The committee signaled it would press for a prompt posting to ensure candidates can file in the coming days and left open a request for language to address staffing needs and labeling so voters understand where and how to find disclosure materials.