This bill prohibits defendants from using a plaintiff's own negligence as a legal defense in personal injury lawsuits involving sexual acts or conduct. It amends Vermont's negligence laws to prevent courts from reducing damages based on how much fault the plaintiff had in the sexual situation. The change applies to any negligence claim where the incident involves sexual acts or conduct as defined in state law. This means plaintiffs seeking compensation for injuries from such incidents cannot have their claims reduced because they were partially at fault. The law takes effect immediately upon signing.
This bill formally approves the adoption of a new governing charter for the Town of South Hero, which was previously voted on by local residents in August 2023. The charter establishes the town's legal structure, including its elected and appointed officials, and outlines how the town will operate under state law. Key provisions allow the Selectboard to appoint specific town officers such as a delinquent tax collector, listers, and potentially a Town Administrator, while also authorizing the town to impose a one percent local option tax on rooms, meals, or alcoholic beverages for property maintenance. The legislation ensures the town retains its corporate existence and grants it the authority to create and enforce local rules and regulations.
This bill amends the Town of Essex charter to change the official fiscal year from July 1 to June 30. The change affects the town's financial planning and budgeting cycles by adjusting the start and end dates of its fiscal year. The amendment was approved by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor in March 2024. This adjustment aligns the town's fiscal calendar with other Vermont municipalities that operate on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal year.
This bill approves the adoption of a new town charter for Waterbury, Vermont, which was previously voted on by local residents. The charter establishes a new municipal manager with authority to hire, appoint, discipline, and remove town employees, while also authorizing the Selectboard to levy a one percent local option tax on sales, meals, alcoholic beverages, and hotel rooms. Additionally, the act reorganizes the state's municipal code by redesignating chapters for several other towns to accommodate Waterbury's new charter. The legislation takes effect immediately upon passage and was signed into law by the Governor in March 2024.
This bill makes permanent the ability to use remote and electronic methods for signing advance directives, which were previously only allowed through March 31, 2024. It allows witnesses and neutral explainers to participate via live video or telephone, and permits all parties to use digital signatures. The law also expands remote witnessing options for a special clause called a Ulysses clause, which lets a named agent make medical decisions even against the principal's wishes if they lose capacity. These changes affect individuals creating advance directives, their witnesses, and healthcare providers in Vermont. The bill takes effect on April 1, 2024.
This bill formalizes amendments to the City of Essex Junction's charter that were previously approved by local voters in April 2023. The changes include stricter conflict of interest rules for city council members, who are now prohibited from holding city employment during their term and must wait one year before taking other compensated municipal roles. The bill also establishes a new one-year Moderator position to preside over annual meetings and clarifies the timing for scheduling annual council meetings and elections. Once signed into law, these provisions will update the official city charter to reflect the voters' decisions.
This bill adjusts the state budget for fiscal year 2024 by increasing funding for various state agencies and programs. It directly affects departments including public safety, health services, cannabis regulation, and military air contracts by modifying their allocated spending amounts. The key mechanism involves updating specific budget sections to reflect new funding levels drawn from general funds, federal sources, special funds, and other revenue streams. These changes increase the total state budget from approximately $83 million to $85 million for public safety, and similarly adjust allocations for health access, Medicaid programs, and other services. The bill was signed into law by the Governor in March 2024.
This bill makes technical corrections to various state laws, including updates to administrative procedures, public records rules, and environmental regulations. It directly affects state agencies, public employees, and organizations by clarifying how hearings are conducted, how personal information in public comments is protected, and how certain construction projects are permitted. Key provisions amend statutes related to employee benefit contributions, abandoned vessel removal, product tax incentives, and corporate naming requirements. The bill does not create new programs or policies but instead refines existing legal language to improve clarity and consistency across multiple areas of state law.
This bill updates Vermont's official mapping system by establishing clear definitions for the Vermont State Plane Coordinate System and its two legacy versions, the 1927 and 1983 systems. It requires that all land surveys, maps, and legal documents using these coordinate systems explicitly state which specific system was used to ensure accuracy and consistency. The legislation also mandates that new projects use the Vermont Coordinate System 1983 after January 1, 2000, and will transition to newer systems as they become available from the National Geodetic Survey. These changes primarily affect surveyors, land developers, government agencies, and anyone creating or recording property boundaries in Vermont.
This bill establishes a transition process for Vermont's school funding system by comparing how student enrollment is weighted under the current formula versus a new one, with the goal of ensuring fair financial support for all districts. It calculates each district's relative change in funding share and adjusts homestead property tax rates accordingly, giving districts that lose funding under the new system a temporary reduction in their tax rate that phases out over five years. The legislation also allows school districts to cancel certain budget votes and move them to an earlier date in 2024, with $500,000 appropriated to cover associated election costs. These changes take effect immediately upon passage and are designed to facilitate the shift to a new pupil weighting system while protecting districts from immediate financial shortfalls.
This bill retroactively reinstates a specific exemption in Vermont's subdivision laws that was previously removed, allowing certain older subdivisions and developments to avoid new regulations. It directly affects property owners, developers, and local communities with subdivisions or development projects that existed before June 1, 1970, or telecommunications facilities existing before July 1, 1997. The law exempts these properties from current subdivision requirements while still applying rules to any substantial changes made to them after the exemption takes effect. The legislation takes effect retroactively from June 8, 2023, meaning it applies to situations that occurred after that date despite the earlier historical cutoff dates.
This bill allows municipalities to receive reimbursement for education property taxes owed on properties destroyed by severe storms and floods between July 1, 2023, and October 15, 2023, provided the municipality abated those taxes proportionally. It also excludes disaster relief payments from household income when calculating homestead property tax credits for tax years 2023 and 2024. The legislation directly affects local governments and homeowners in areas declared federal disaster zones during the specified period.
