On Thursday, March 13, the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General committee took up a slew of bills related to labor laws. ABC NH/VT Vermont Regional Director, Matt Musgrave, was invited to give feedback on the bills introduced. The issues raised were for the most part perennial requests to the legislature from organized labor groups. The policies were introduced in the “11th hour” of the first half of the biennium. They had not yet received an official bill number, and little to no testimony was received.

The Vermont Legislature has gone on recess for the week of March 3rd to return home for town meeting day. This is a time of the year that elected leaders stand before their localities to share with them the progress that they have made improving the lives of Vermonters. It is also the time where townspeople vote on their selectboards and other local initiatives. This year, however legislators will have very little progress to report to their constituents due to it being the first year of a biennium and the overshadowing priority of school funding.

On Friday, February 7th, ABC NH/VT Vermont Regional Director Matt Musgrave and chair of the newly formed Vermont Construction Academy board Jon Pizzagalli descended on Montpelier to testify at Vermont’s commerce committees. They would introduce the works of ABC NH/VT including the apprenticeship program successes and future education plans that would take place at the new Vermont Construction Academy training facility in Winooski. Jon focused his testimony on the needs of the industry and that more proactive effort was needed to make young people and people considering career changes successful. That effort to improve the outcomes for new construction workers starts with programs like Vermont Construction Academy. In the morning, they testified in front of the Senate Economic Development, Housing and Commerce committee followed by the House Committee on Commerce in the afternoon. The committees all seemed to be impressed by the work that had been done by the private industry partners and they wanted to learn more. They also wanted to set up tours of the training facility.

New Hampshire has long prided itself on a competitive, business-friendly environment that fosters growth, innovation, and economic prosperity. However, that advantage is under threat due to government-mandated Project Labor Agreements (PLAs), which stifle fair competition in our public construction sector. That is why the Associated Builders & Contractors New Hampshire/Vermont Chapter (ABC) strongly supports Sen. Regina Birdsell’s Senate Bill 88 (SB88), legislation that ensures taxpayer-funded projects are awarded through fair and open competition. PLAs impose restrictive conditions that often disadvantage non-union, merit shop contractors—excluding them from the negotiation process and forcing them to adhere to union-specific work rules. These agreements may require companies to recognize unions for job representation, use union hiring halls for workforce recruitment, and abide by union benefit structures.

On Tuesday, January 28, Governor Phil Scott addressed the Vermont people and the legislature from the floor of the House or Representatives. In his address he outlined the many differences in opinions with the way he and the former legislative supermajority believed the state should be spending taxpayer funds. He also proudly explained that we need to “fix broken systems not just fund them” when we are not happy with the results that we get from Vermonts programs such as education. His focus in the 2026 state budget will be creating affordable housing and transforming the grades PreK-12 education funding system.

This year marks a significant milestone for Associated Builders and Contractors NH/VT: four decades of advocating for the construction industry, supporting our members, and strengthening the trades in New Hampshire and Vermont. Since our founding, ABC NH/VT has been dedicated to promoting the merit shop philosophy, delivering world-class training programs, and fostering a sense of community and collaboration among industry leaders. Over the past 40 years, we’ve grown into a trusted resource for contractors, builders, and tradespeople, championing innovation and excellence every step of the way.

As expected, the beginning of the 2025/2026 legislative biennium got off to a slow start, but by design. The first few days of the session organize legislative members to their respective committees, organize leadership, and behind the scenes they are organizing their priorities. As of Friday, January 17 only 60 bills have been introduced out of a likely 1000 bills between both the Senate and the House over the next 30 days. The House of Representatives, unlike the Senate, elected their leader “Speaker of the House” prior to the beginning of the session in a member caucus with Representative Jill Krowinski from Burlington holding on to her seat for another term. The three person Senate “Committee on Committees” which assigns members to committees is composed of the Senate Pro Tem, Senate Majority Leader and Lieutenant Governor. Because the Lieutenant Governor is not officially installed until the session begins, the Senate waits to appoint their committees and their chairs. Both chambers appoint their committees within the first week of the session. Due to Republicans picking up seats in both the House and the Senate, it changed the composition of leadership. With no official formula, it has been precedent that there is parity between the parties’ members at large and who chairs committees. This means that Republicans picked up chair positions in both chambers.

Tomorrow, January 8th, will be the first day of the 2025/2026 Vermont Legislative Biennium. ABC NH/VT is prepared to work with elected officials to craft state policy to help build our workforce, build our opportunities and create an economy that is prosperous. This start date will be the latest beginning of the session due to the new year beginning halfway through the prior week. Usually the session begins as early as the 2nd or 3rd of January and being a new legislature the week lost is significant. Nonetheless, legislators are ready to dig in to their priorities. ABC NH/VT will report to our government affairs committee, board of directors and membership the progress we make as the session moves forward.

In a short three weeks from today the first fall of the gavel will occur at the Vermont State House signaling the start of the 2024/2025 legislative biennium. After a wild election season with national and state political shake ups voters are anxious to see what their newly elected leaders will accomplish, or not. The first couple weeks of the Vermont legislature are filled with ceremonial and educational traditions. Legislative committees will be assigned to members, and they will get to see where their desks will be for the next two years. The House of Representatives has 13 committees that meet each day, all day when the floor is not in session, and each has 7-10 members. The Senate has 11 committees that meet each day, but only for half the day. The Senate has only 30 members unlike the Houses 150, which requires Senators to participate in two committees to complete the workload. The members of the legislature will also spend time in either committees or on the floor of their respective chambers taking trainings. The trainings they receive range from ethics to sexual harassment to procedural education so that everyone is on the same page though the session. In committees, the chairs spend time bringing their members up to speed on their duties and perennial issues they tackle.

On Wednesday, November 20th ABC NH/VT was invited to Governors Phil Scotts office on the “5th floor” of the Pavilion building in Montpelier, VT for his weekly press conference. Ryan Ahern, Director of Field Operations for ReArch and Ted Sheehan, Apprentice Participant at ReArch also attended the press conference to recognize apprenticeship week. Vermont Works for Women who also hosts apprenticeship programs joined in the conference. Governor Scott started off the press conference with a speech recognizing the hard work Vermonters face in growing their workforce, but also in retaining the workforce through programs like apprenticeships. Scotts applauded that employers across the state now have over 1,500 active participants in apprenticeships and that the state would work hard to expand those opportunities and programs. The Governor pointed out that we need to continue to create pathways into professions because the average age of a worker in Vermont is 55 and we are in a demographic crisis.