How to testify before the Vermont legislature

This page covers what's specific to Vermont. For the general steps of signing up and speaking, see the general guide.

How Vermont does it

Vermont's citizen legislature has kept remote participation in place well past the COVID-era measures that introduced it. Most House and Senate committee hearings run hybrid: in person at the State House in Montpelier, or remotely by Zoom. There's no single statewide sign-up portal spanning every committee. Instead, each committee posts its own hearing announcements and sign-up instructions, usually an online form linked from the Legislature's Announcements page or the committee's own page, or a request emailed directly to that committee's assistant.

Because sign-up is committee-specific, the most reliable approach is to find the committee handling your bill on legislature.vermont.gov, check its page for the assigned committee assistant, and follow whatever instructions are posted there for testifying in person or by Zoom.

Deadlines and numbers

• Sign-up: varies by hearing and committee, no single statewide deadline
• Example: 2026 joint Appropriations budget hearings required sign-up by 10:00 a.m. the day of the hearing, capped at the first 40 registrants
• Speaker time limit: varies by hearing, some public hearings have given 5 minutes per speaker
• Written testimony: emailed to the relevant committee assistant, or mailed to the committee, 115 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05633
• 2026 session: convened January 6, 2026, adjourned sine die May 29, 2026

Where to go

• Committee list and assistant contacts: legislature.vermont.gov/committee/list/2026/
• Announcements (hearing notices, sign-up links): legislature.vermont.gov/home/noteworthy/announcements/
• Scheduled committee meetings: legislature.vermont.gov/home/noteworthy/scheduled-committee-meetings/

Rules

There's no permanent statewide testimony portal in Vermont comparable to some other states' bill-comment systems. Sign-up and written testimony route through each committee's own form or assistant, so the process genuinely varies by committee. Similarly, no universal statewide time limit was found. 5 minutes appears in at least one public hearing example, but committees set their own limits per hearing. Confirm both with the specific committee assistant before assuming a number. Route anything unconfirmed to /engage.