Vermont conservation groups urge fix to recent PAC-definition wording before election cycle

Dan Fingis, executive director of Vermont Conservation Voters, told the Senate Government Operations Committee that a single-word change in the statutory definition of a political committee could have sweeping unintended consequences for nonprofits, unions and other civic groups if left uncorrected.

Fingis said attorneys for his organization and others discovered that changing the connective from "or" to "and" in the statute could create scenarios where routine endorsement activities—communications to members or supporters—would convert organizations into PACs subject to registration and reporting. "There are multiple layers of potential consequences to the one-word change," Fingis told the committee, warning that a nonprofit that spends even modest amounts on endorsements could be forced into campaign-finance reporting that it has not historically undertaken.

Why it matters: committee members heard that the change (which witnesses said became effective July 1, 2025) has not yet been tested in a full election cycle, which helps explain why stakeholders discovered the problem only recently. Witnesses said the change could affect c4 nonprofits, unions and ordinary donors, and could chill routine member communications or endorsements. Suggested fixes ranged from restoring the prior connective to adopting federal-style de minimis exceptions for small or administrative expenditures.

Next steps: senators asked stakeholders and counsel for technical draft language as soon as possible and discussed using session law or a narrow amendment to avoid disrupting the current election cycle while a permanent fix is developed. No formal action was taken at the hearing.

The committee recessed for a break after requesting draft technical language to address the PAC-definition issue.