Welcome to my annual summary of highlights from the legislative session. The 2025 Legislative Session came to a close in mid-June after a grueling extended session dedicated to passing K-12 education transformation legislation.

In the version of this piece on the Addy Indy’s website I provide links to highlights of the session. I have not covered all of the 78 bills and five town charters we passed this session, nor have I detailed most of the provisions of many complex bills, such as the FY26 State Budget. You can read a summary of highlights from the FY26 State Budget and there’s a summary of legislative highlights from Vermont Public. You can find links to all of the bills passed by both the House and Senate on the legislative website, along with detailed information for each bill.

I spelled out some of my highlights in detail on my rutherforvermont.com website. Read this commentary at www.addisonindependent.com to link to the specifics on:

• Agriculture & Environment

• Education & Youth

• Health Care

• Housing & Homelessness

• Taxation

Unfortunately, some of the work we did this session is at risk due to the destructive federal budget bill championed by Trump and passed this month by the Republican Congress. The bill includes brutal cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These programs serve thousands of Vermonters, many of them children and senior citizens, keeping them healthy and fed through an incredibly effective state-federal partnership. An estimated 45,000 Vermonters will lose their health insurance as a result of Trump’s bill that will also blast holes in Vermont’s state budget while providing tax cuts to wealthy individuals and large corporations.

The Medicaid cuts are expected to be especially harmful to rural hospitals, slamming the hospitals that serve Vermonters and under-cutting our efforts to reduce health care costs. Go online to tinyurl.com/InTheGOPbill to read an outline of what’s in the Trump-Republican bill, which describes the cuts to critical programs, including Medicaid, food assistance, green energy and higher education, and tax breaks largely for wealthy Americans. It will mean that even more Vermonters will suffer from homelessness, food insecurity and a lack of health care. Our small state is very dependent on federal funding so there will be even more work needed to address Vermont’s many challenges. I will continue to fight for the health and safety of all Vermonters.

On this anniversary of the 2023 and 2024 summer floods, it was scary to have a severe thunderstorm with flash floods hit many parts of the state, including here in the Addison District. I hope you are staying safe and dry — reach out if you need assistance. Thanks for reading and take care.

Email Sen. Hardy at [email protected].