It has been a busy few weeks in Montpelier and we’ve now crossed the mid-point of the Vermont state legislative session, called “crossover” under the golden dome in Montpelier. That means that all policy bills that are going to make it out of committees this biennium must have been passed out of committee by Friday, March 13 and “money bills” must have been passed out of committee by Friday, March 20. The next stop for those bills will be on the House or Senate floor and then over to the next body for more work.
For those who want to understand the process, if a bill begins in the House (these bill names start with H.), they will go to the Senate committees for work; if a bill begins in the Senate (those bill names start with S.), they will head over to the House committees for work. You can find more information about How a Bill Becomes a Law here! The exceptions to that rule are budget bills, which go through the House first then over to the Senate. More on budget requests and that process below!
Vermont State House Updates
The State House seems busier than usual, but maybe it is simply because there are many things moving fast in this second year of the biennium.
- Vermont Foodbank and the Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets gave the first annual report on the Vermonters Feeding Vermonters Grant Program to the Senate Agriculture Committee. See minutes 49:55 through 1:08 for details.
- Budget Adjustment Act was signed with $385k of funding for Vermonters Feeding Vermonters included! This funding will support purchases of local food through June 30 and it is a significant indication of legislature’s support for local farms and local network partner agencies! Want to thank your legislator? Find them here!
- Ready Response language was included in H.935, a bill on Emergency Management updates drafted by House Government Operations and Military Affairs. This creates a program to create collaboration with Vermont Emergency Management and Vermont Foodbank to address short-term food access in disaster or emergency events. It passed House Appropriations last Friday.
- After gaining support for our three priority FY27 budget requests in multiple House Committees, the House Appropriations Committee included $400,000 for Vermonters Feeding Vermonters and $500,000 for Ready Response (food in disasters and emergencies) in their final draft of the budget. That moves to the full House for a vote this week! While it was not the full $5 million in support Vermont Foodbank is seeking, we are grateful to legislators for their support prioritizing food access in a difficult budget year.
- We want to thank and recognize the many community members, partners, and farmers who have joined us to testify before committees and during the Budget Public Hearings this year. Your voice made a difference!
- Senate Agriculture has already included Vermonters Feeding Vermonters as a priority at $1.9M in that committee’s budget memo to Senate Appropriations.
- We are not done – this week, we will be talking to Senators and asking for support for our full budget request from the Senate!
Food Security Coalition Priorities got support last week, too:
- Crop Cash, Crop Cash Plus & Farm Share was included at the full $500k requested in the House Budget. Next stop: House Floor.
- Child and Adult Care Food Program at the full $182k requested was included in the House Budget. Next stop: House Floor.
- Last Friday, S.60, the Farm & Forest Operations Security Special Fund was delivered to the Governor last Friday after passing the House and Senate. He has until Thursday to take action.
- Increased administrative funding for the 3SquaresVT program was also included in the Governor’s recommended budget and was kept in the House version. Great news for maintaining this critical program that more than 60,000 people in Vermont use!
Questions about State House activities and priorities? Just ask!
Federal Updates
Congressional House of Representatives Agriculture Committee’s Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) has drafted a proposed farm bill and advanced it out of committee. It is not clear if this farm bill proposal has the support needed to pass the full House and the timeline for a Senate farm bill is also uncertain. You can read Feeding America’s statement on the farm bill, calling for support of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or 3SquaresVT here) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) as central pillars of any bipartisan farm bill.
Vermont Foodbank would like to thank Vermont’s Representative Becca Balint for signing on to a letter supporting TEFAP funding for storage and distribution, rural infrastructure grants, and opportunities to increase the supply of TEFAP (USDA) commodities in the coming fiscal year. TEFAP is a critical federal piece of the food security system for many in Vermont and we must maintain and strengthen this program in order to ensure neighbors can access the food they need.
Food insecurity is a solvable problem. While the bulk of the Foodbank’s work is distributing nourishing food every day, the team is also working at addressing hunger by advocating for policies that can ultimately end hunger.
Summer in Vermont brings a bounty of local food. Here are five ways to stretch your food budget and eat local—get seeds and seedlings for your garden, get discounts at your local co-op, find free coupons at farmers markets, find free coupons at farm stands, and get a discount on your CSA farm share.
A new survey reported by CNN on 3/12/26 reveals that many Americans are skipping meals to pay for rising health care costs: “Roughly one-third of respondents – equivalent to more than 82 million Americans – said they have had to cut back on at least one daily living expense to cover their health care bills, according to the survey of nearly 20,000 adults.”
