Representative Alice Emmons

Representative Alice Emmons I’m a State Representative from Springfield, VT. Currently I’m Chair of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions.

I also serve on the Justice Oversite Committee which is a joint committee of the House and Senate.

05/24/2026

Legislative Report, May 24, 2026

The plan, and hope, of this year’s legislative session being done by Friday May 22nd didn’t come to fruition. There is tremendous backlog in final work on the Senate side and the House is still wrapping up some key legislation dealing public safety as well a bill dealing with protecting our data privacy in the digital world. So we are back to the State House this week to finish up. While all this work was being done, the education bill that moves school districts to consolidate was being negotiated between the House, Senate and the Governor. When we left the building on Friday evening there appeared to be a compromise developing. If this holds true we should be finishing up our session this week.

My past week was working with the Senate Institutions Committee in our Conference Committee to resolve the differences in the two version of our Capital Bill. The Capital Bill is what’s termed a money bill and a must pass bill. It funds construction projects for the upcoming fiscal year and allows bonded money to be spent on these projects. There was disagreement between the two bodies as to where the dollars would go and how much. By last Friday both sides agreed to the projects and the dollar amounts. Some of those projects included dollars to state owned properties for installing stormwater management systems and the cost of those projects. We also resolved large projects in two of our correctional facilities. And we ensured that dollars that went directly to towns for their municipality drinking water and sewer projects were fully funded.

I want to bring attention to language that was also included in the Capital Bill that pertains to Springfield. For many years the state and our town has been in negotiation for a portion of land up at the correctional facility to be transferred to the town. There needed to be an agreement as to the amount of land to be transferred and Springfield needed to have some direction as to the use of that transferred property. Both the State and the town of Springfield have reached an agreement and language needed to be added in the Capital Bill to allow the transfer of the property. The language allows the State to transfer approximately 22 acres of state owned land to the town to be used for municipal purposes, including economic development as an industrial parcel. The land can be transferred once some conditions are met. The State needs to obtain any state or local zoning or subdivision approvals required for the transfer. Also, the two parties need to establish responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the road that goes up to the facility, as well as the water and sewer service line that is under that access road. There also needs to be assurance that the transferred property does not include any brownfields. Springfield needs to begin work on the transferred property for the purpose of economic development by the end of March 2030. If this has not occurred, Springfield will need to consult with the State to examine alternative uses for the transferred land.

As we finish up our work in Montpelier, please feel free to reach out to me with your thoughts. During the week I can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 802-828-2228.

05/17/2026

Legislative Report, May 17, 2026

Now that we are getting close to Memorial Day Weekend, the legislature has shifted into what we call adjournment mode. The focus now turns to finishing work on major pieces of legislation. And that work is now occurring in committees of conferences to resolve differences between the House and Senate version of their respective bills. Once the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year is agreed upon by both chambers, the legislature adjourns for the year. This year we are working with the Governor in hopes of avoiding a veto so we don’t have to return to Montpelier after we have adjourned for the year. So stay tuned.

One piece of legislation the House has been working on over the past two weeks is Senate Bill 193. This bill is important as it begins to put in place a process for the state to establish a forensic facility to house folks who have been deemed incompetent to stand trial or are not guilty by reason of insanity. Four House committees have been working on this legislation which is really remarkable. Vermont is one of a few states that does not have a state operated forensic facility. A forensic facility would be providing a competency restoration program, which the state currently lacks, to hopefully help the person gain competency in order to stand trial and to be sentenced.

The four committees are focusing on the clinical and security pieces of the legislation. It is the intent of the legislature that the clinical programming in the facility would be done by the Agency of Human Services, not the Department of Corrections. The Department of Corrections would provide the security outside of the facility if the building is on the site of a current correctional facility. The legislation states that the Secretary of Human Services shall establish and operate a locked secure forensic facility for the competency restoration, evaluation, stabilization, treatment and care of persons who have been found not competent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity for serious criminal offenses. A person would be placed in this facility is they have been charged with a serious criminal offense that is punishable by a life sentence, and the person is being held without bail, and has been found not competent to stand trial. Once placed in the facility, clinical services would be provided to help the person gain competency, if possible. Some folks will not gain competency and therefore could be held for a long period of time receiving treatment.

By January 1, 2027 the Agency of Human Services is to develop their plan of establishing this locked secure forensic facility and its operational needs. Once this is presented to the next session of the legislature and approved, the forensic facility would then be operational come January 1, 2028. So you can see there is still quite a bit of work that needs to be done before it opens, but the legislature wants to make sure we do it right as the state will be holding people who have not been able to have their day in court due to their incompetency to stand trial or they have been deemed by the court to be not guilty by reason of insanity at the time of the crime.

As we enter the final week or so of this legislative session, please feel free to reach out to me with your concerns. During the week I can be reached in Montpelier by email at [email protected] or by phone at 802-828-2228.

05/10/2026

Legislative Report, May 10,2026

With just a couple of weeks left in this year’s legislative session, work needs to be completed on three major bills. These three bills, (issues) are intertwined. We need to resolve first and foremost the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year that funds all of state government functions, the yield bill which will help set the statewide school property tax rate, and the education bill which would set in motion the process for voluntary school districts consolidations. Once these issues have been resolved between the House, the Senate and the Governor, the legislature will adjourn for the year. A lot of negotiations needs to occur between everyone in the next couple of weeks, so it will be very busy in the halls of the State House.

The House did pass an important piece of legislation this past week dealing with services that local hospitals provide to our communities. Senate Bill 189 sets up a process for the reduction or elimination of hospital services. Currently there is no policy as to how a local hospital would notify the community of a discontinuation of services they would provide. Over the past couple of years we have seen at least three hospitals in the state eliminate a service, be it obstetrics, inpatient psychiatric services, or dialysis services. Going forward, if a hospital is considering eliminating a service, they need to provide notice of intent with the Vermont Agency of Human Services, the Green Mountain Care Board, and the Office of the Health Care Advocate. The notice of intent needs to include the rationale for the proposed service elimination, the financial impacts on the hospital and the description of all possible alternatives to the proposed elimination that were considered and the reasons they were not pursued. This is so the public is aware of the reasoning behind the proposed service elimination.

Once this is done, the bodies that were notified would work with the hospital to explore opportunities to maintain the service or to address the circumstances that lead up to the proposed elimination. If the proposed elimination of a service is to occur, there needs to be an explanation of the rationale for the proposed elimination, the timeline for the elimination and a transition plan. This would need to be done 60 days prior to the service being eliminated. Prior to any elimination of service, the hospital would also need to hold public hearings in the county in which the hospital is located and respond to public comments regarding the proposed service elimination. This legislation is to provide transparency in the process of a hospital proposing to eliminate a service and this openness does not always occur in some locations across the state. The bill passed the House on a unanimous voice vote.

As we enter the final few weeks of this legislative session, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts. During the week I can be reached in Montpelier by email at [email protected] or by phone at 1-802-828-2228.

05/03/2026

Legislative Report, May 3, 2026

This past week my committee, House Corrections and Institutions, heard testimony from Chicago Beyond outlining the work they have been doing with our Vermont Department of Corrections. This work has been ongoing since 2024. Chicago Beyond is a national philanthropic organization that addresses system inequity by backing solutions led by the people closest to the issues. The work that began with our Department of Corrections focused on the harm that occurs in the incarcerated setting for both those who are incarcerated as well as the staff.

In Vermont we have six correctional facilities and we incarcerate approximately 1400 folks. Of the 1400 around 175 are women. Chicago Beyond reported to my committee that on the national level 73% of correctional staff had seen someone seriously hurt or killed on the job. And 34% of correctional officers meet the criteria for PTSD, that is five times the national rate. On the incarcerated side, Chicago Beyond found that 100% of those interviewed (again on the national level) witnessed violence inflicted on other people during their period of incarceration. They also found 60% of men incarcerated experience moderate to severe symptoms of PTSD. Also in their study they found that incarcerated people live approximately two years less for each year they are confined. On the staff side, correctional officer live approximately 20 years less than the national average. The average life span for a correctional officer is 59 years of age.

Chicago Beyond has been working with our Department of Corrections to develop a framework that helps increase safety within our correctional facilities by collaborating with people who are incarcerated and the staff to improve the emotional wellbeing of both groups. They have worked with staff and the inmate population to talk together to see what each person needs in order for them to be well. This develops an atmosphere of understanding as to where the other person stands and in the end creates a safer environment within the prison walls for both the staff and the inmates.

Other work they have been delving into is dealing with the physical isolation of people who are incarcerated. An example would be how can we increase the amount of out-of-cell time and still provide security within the facility. How can we add resources that support the ability of the inmates to thrive. There is also emotional isolation of staff. How do we add resources that support the ability of staff to thrive. And there is also isolation between staff and the inmates. We need to find ways to combat the “us vs. them” culture. Chicago Beyond has been working with our Department of Corrections to revise their policies. They started with Policy #410, Facility Rules and Discipline, to safely reduce the number of people in restrictive housing units. They have also revised Policy #327, Visitation, in order to provide more supportive and family oriented visitation times. The Department has created the Division of Engagement, Health, and Wellness to advance wellness for people incarcerated and the staff. More work is needed, but this is a good starting point. My committee will be engaging with our Department of Corrections to ensure we continue on the path of providing support to both our correctional staff as well as to those who are incarcerated.

As the session winds down, please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. On the weekends I can be reached at home either by email at [email protected] or by phone at 802-885-5893.

04/26/2026

Legislative Report. April 26, 2026

The legislature is now entering the month of May which is the time we will be adjourning this year’s legislative session. The plan is to adjourn around the middle of May, which means we have a little over three more weeks. We are in the home stretch and this is when a lot of work gets done in a very short timeframe. The topic that is now getting attention in the halls of the State House is whether or not the Governor will veto the legislation that sets the state budget which begins on July 1st. The Governor has repeated quite often that if the school consolidation plan the legislature passes is not what he wants, he will also veto the state budget legislation. The Governor would like to consolidate our current school districts into larger districts. Currently we have 119 school districts across the state and the Administration has proposed a much smaller number of districts. They have proposed as few as five school districts statewide. There is not support of that plan in the legislature and the Governor has indicated he would veto the state budget legislation if we did not pass his plan for school consolidation.

This past week that veto threat has raised a lot of questions if we do not have a state budget come July 1st of this year. Per the Vermont constitution, without an enacted budget the State of Vermont is not authorized to spend any funds from the State Treasury, including Federal funds. In essence the state government would shut down. We were given a summary of what that could mean for the state. State government may have some limited ability to make payments to state employees, vendors, contractors, schools, grant recipients, and other entities but it is impossible to say what payments, if any, would be made. It was stated by the legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office that it is difficult to overstate the seriousness of a shutdown. They indicated the impacts would be all encompassing and potentially extreme.

There is no known precedent here in Vermont for a State government shutdown. We have little guidance on how a limited government would function. We would be entering uncharted territory that could lead to significant legal and fiscal issues. There are unknown consequences for the state’s workforce and the delivery of state services. It is unclear which state employees would continue to work during a shutdown and how they would be paid. It is also certain that programs and services could be affected and those range from Medicaid payments to education payments to summer road projects across the state. A shutdown could affect many more State government functions and services such as protection and public safety, human services programs, and transportation projects. Additional, a government shutdown could negatively impact our Vermont bond rating which could lead to a higher cost of borrowing for the state as well as for municipalities.

As stated this is uncharted territory. Hopefully we will know more in the next couple of weeks if the veto threat will be carried out or not. As always please feel free to reach out to me with your thoughts. During the week I can be reached in Montpelier by email at [email protected] or by phone at 802-828-2228.

04/19/2026

Legislative Report, April 19, 2026

As we enter the end of April our work in the legislature starts to shift. The larger pieces of legislation like finalizing the state budget, setting the amount of the statewide property tax that funds our school budgets, and the work of looking to consolidate our school districts are now all in the Senate for their review. Once we flip the calendar to May these pieces of legislation will return to the House for our review. If there is disagreement between the House and Senate on those individual pieces of legislation a committee of conference will be appointed for each issue. A committee of conference is made up of three House members and three Senate members for each piece of legislation that is in contention. It’s then up to those committee of conferences to find a resolution and compromise on the different versions. You will see all this occurring come the month of May. When these differences are resolved, that will determine when we adjourn this year’s legislative session.

This is not to say that the House isn’t currently working on issues. Committees are working on Senate bills that have passed the other body. The House Commerce Committee is reviewing S-198 dealing with the regulation of to***co products and to***co substitutes. The legislation makes updates to the Department of Liquor and Lottery’s oversight of to***co products. The bill would move the wholesale licensing process from the Department of Taxes to the Department of Liquor and Lottery for improved transparency. The legislation also updates the current regulation of to***co products as there are new substitutes in the market, including ni****ne pouches and vapes that have become particularly common among our youth. The legislation would regulate these practices to ensure the safety of Vermonters.

And the Commerce Committee is also taking testimony on S-313. This bill sets the intention and goals to create an integrated career technical education (CTE) system in Vermont that supports our workforce. There is a need for providing technical education to our middle and high school students as well as our adult learners. The conversation occurring right now is to work collaboratively with our ongoing work in the transformation of our K-12 education system. The bill proposes a legislative working group to explore a new way for providing career technical eduction once the new K-12 education system is put in place.

As always, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts and concerns. During the week I can be reached in Montpelier by email at [email protected] or by phone at 802-828-2228.

04/12/2026

Legislative Report, April 13, 2026

At this time of the legislative session is when House committees are reviewing and working on Senate bills that have passed that body and are now in the House. My committee House Corrections and Institutions is currently reviewing Senate Bill 193 that would establish a forensic facility within our correctional facilities. The legislation applies to individuals who are charged with a criminal act and are not competent to stand trial or have been found not guilty of the crime by reason of insanity. Currently there are no facilities in Vermont that would house these folks. A person not competent to stand trial would need psychiatric care as well as therapeutic care to possibly be able to gain competency in order to proceed through the criminal court process.

Forensic psychiatric care is specialized. It requires 24/7 clinical care until a person is stabilized. The care must include a full continuum of treatment which includes medication treatment, therapy, peer support, case management and social work. Everyone in my committee is supportive of taking care of these individuals in an appropriate facility. The issue in placing these individuals in a correctional facility under the custody of the Commissioner of Corrections is that the world of corrections is not designed to deliver this level or type of care. The committee is looking at possibly placing these individuals under the custody of the Department of Mental Health or the Department of Aging and Independent Living. The question remains as to where to house them.

By placing these individuals under the custody of the Department of Corrections and being held in our correctional facilities raises constitutional concerns, not just policy concerns. The courts have ruled that states may only hold someone for competency restoration for a reasonable period of time. The courts have rejected prolonged detention. In the proposed legislation it could hold the person in a jail indefinitely. And we must remember these individuals have not been convicted of their crime or have been determined by the court to be insane at the time of the crime and therefore have been found not guilty. In terms of competency, if competency cannot be restored within a reasonable period, the response must shift to treatment. Continued confinement in a correctional facility is not appropriate.

So the concern of the proposed legislation is not the goal, but whether the structure of housing the folks within a jail and under the custody of the Department of Corrections can meet the goal in a clinically sound and constitutionally durable way. The question before us is can the Department of Corrections and its correctional facilities realistically meet the clinical standard of care needed for these individuals. The concern is this may be the “easy” solution but is it the ethical and/or constitutionally sound solution.

As always, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts. Over the weekends I can be reached at home by email at [email protected] or by phone at 802-885-5893.

04/05/2026

Legislative Report, April 5, 2026

Another week is in the books for this year’s legislative session. Though it was much quieter than the previous one. Being the week of Passover and Easter many of my colleagues were getting ready for family arriving, religious ceremonies and dinners. By the end of the afternoons the State House was quiet with many folks leaving to go home. But during the day committees were still meeting and we did vote on bills on the House floor.

One of the first bills we took up was H-941 that deals with municipal regulation of agriculture. For many years agricultural activity and farm structures have been exempt from municipal oversight. In May of 2025 the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the law could be interpreted differently. The court ruling stated that municipalities could impose regulations on farms, with the exception of water quality rules. House Bill 941 works to restore the exemption of municipal oversight, restore the historic status quo for existing farms, give towns limited authority over new farms on smaller lots, and establish the right to grow food without regulation.

The legislation would restore the exemption for existing farms, but give towns and cities the ability to regulate future agricultural activity in limited ways. Some of the oversight methods that could be put in place revolve around siting and setback restrictions, and the control of traffic flow in and out of the property. The bill explicitly prevents towns and cities from regulating the growing of vegetables and ornamental plants. It also maintains the right of the municipality to enact ordinances on non-farm settings that restrict the raising of poultry, such as the number of birds, setbacks of coops and fencing. Roosters are treated differently; they can be banned. The legislation is also silent on raising backyard livestock, so towns could continue to regulate that activity. The House passed the bill unanimously.

At this point in the legislative session, House committees are beginning to review Senate bills that have been sent to us for our review. Some of those are; S-327, an economic development bill, S-202 allowing for portable solar devices for one’s home, S-218 reducing chloride contamination of state waters, S-232 relating to public libraries and S-298 creating the Vermont Voting Rights Act.

As these pieces of legislation unfold, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts. During the week I can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 1-802-828-2228.

03/29/2026

Legislative Report, March 29, 2026

This past week was one of the longest and hardest week of this session. Once we finish with what is termed cross-over, all those bills that have passed out of committees now come before the full House of Representatives for debate and votes. Each day this past week we worked into the early evenings and still didn’t complete all of our work for that day. By Friday of last week we had finally caught up. Many of us were relieved and tired when we finished our work early Friday evening and were free to drive home for the weekend.

Over the week we dealt with a wide range of bills. They range from reigning in data brokers to protect one’s personal information, establishing a Vermont Prescription Drug Discount Card Program, dam safety, landlord tenant rental agreements, the Fiscal Year 27 state budget, the Transportation state budget for Fiscal Year 27, and the school property tax rate for the Fiscal Year 27 school budgets. It was a packed full week of big issues to say the least.

The property tax rate for school budgets took up the most debate and time. The House Ways and Means Committee has been working all session on bringing down the anticipated state average of a 12% increase in school taxes. This is an average, it does not mean every community will see that percent of increase, some towns may see more and other town may see less. Our system of paying for school budgets is a state system, we need to raise enough money to cover the sum of all school budgets all over the state. The Education Fund supports the funding of this statewide system. The revenues that go into this fund besides the property taxes, come from the state lottery, the sales tax, the rooms and meals tax, the purchase and use tax on vehicle sales, and a few other sources. The anticipated revenue growth from these other sources are not growing as anticipated thereby putting more pressure on the property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year.

There are two proposals in an attempt to bring down the projected 12% increase. Both proposals are not sustainable and kicks the can down the road. And both proposals use General Fund money that is available only once, this term is called one-time money. The Governor wants to use all of this one-time money this year to bring the property tax rate to around a 4% increase. The legislature is looking at spreading the same amount of one-time money over two years, resulting in a 7% increase to the tax rate, instead of the projected 12%. Spreading the General Fund one-time money over two years results in the school property tax rate of increase to be decreased for this year as well as next year instead of the Governor’s proposal that would only ensure the tax rate is decreased for this year only. Either way, there are projected rate increases for the upcoming year. The Ways and Means Committee proposed the two year model as an effort to balance property tax relief and avoid economically irresponsible decisions that would lead to an even larger increase in property taxes next year. The state is looking at an anticipated $80 million deficit in our state revenues for the general operations of state government next year. Using up all of the capacity of General Fund dollars this year to offset some of the school taxes for only one year will put much more pressure on our school property taxes come next year. A quick fix may look good today, but it will make things worse for taxpayers tomorrow.

As always, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts and concerns. Over the weekends I can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 802-885-5893.

03/22/2026

Legislative Report, March 22, 2026

Now that we are getting close to the end of March, the House Education Committee continues to work on finalizing a proposal that will bring improvements to strengthening our public education system. There has been discussions for the past year that consolidating school districts into larger districts will decrease costs and increase educational outcomes for our students. The jury is still out so to speak if these goals are achievable in larger districts versus our current district sizes across the state. Last year a School District Redistricting Task Force was formed and they met through the summer and fall. Their final recommendation was to create mandatory statewide Cooperative Education Service Areas (CESAs) instead of consolidating our school districts into larger districts of say 4,000 students or larger.

These CESAs are regional shared service structures offering support in areas that small school districts cannot efficiently manage alone. The legislation now being proposed by the House Education Committee would establish up to seven CESAs across the state. The core functions of these CESAs would be to offer greater opportunities for cooperative purchasing of supplies and heating fuel, capacity to hire high quality staff, enhanced opportunities to apply for and administer grants, and an ability to offer broader services to our students. Research from similar states to Vermont show that CESAs effectively improve access to services, reduce duplication and decrease costs to the district. The committee has received a lot of feedback in opposition to forced school district mergers. Instead the committee heard that Vermonters want increased efficiencies, more opportunities for our students, and at the same time cost savings if we do move into strategic school district mergers in the future. This legislation establishing CESAs is still being developed based on this testimony and the goal is to vote it out of committee in the next week.

As the session continues, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts and concerns. During the week I can be reached up in Montpelier by email at [email protected] or by phone at 1-802-828-2228.

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Springfield, VT

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+18028855893

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