House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development

 

AGENDA

 

Room 35 and Zoom

January 20, 2026 - January 23, 2026

Last Updated 1/19/2026 12:47 PM

 

Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are livestreamed at

https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/house-commerce-and-economic-development.

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

9:00 AM                   Office of Workforce Strategy and Development

Board and Office Updates

Sabina Haskell, Executive Director, Office of Workforce Strategy and Development

Drake Turner, Deputy Director, Office of Workforce Strategy and Development

 

10:00 AM                   House Floor and Caucuses

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Governor's 2027 Budget Address

 

15 Mins After the Governor's Budget Address                   H. 639 - An act relating to genetic data privacy

Walk-through

Rep. Robin Scheu, Sponsor, House Committee on Appropriations

Rik Sehgal, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

9:00 AM                   H. 211 - An act relating to data brokers and personal information

Testimony will be heard from 9:00 - 12:00 p.m. with a break from 10:30 - 10:45 a.m.

Witnesses TBD

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Human Rights Commission

Discussion on Report

Big Hartman, Executive Director & General Counsel, Vermont Human Rights Commission

 

2:30 PM                   Vermont Captive Insurance Association

Brittany Nevins, Captive Insurance Economic Development Director, Vermont Department of Economic Development

Ian Davis, President, Vermont Captive Insurance Association

Julie Bordo, PCH Mutual Insurance

 

3:00 PM                   House Floor

 

Thursday, January 22, 2026

9:00 AM                   Northeast Kingdom Day

Rick Ufford-Chase, Mayor, Newport

Peggy Clay, VT Aero Space

Asha Marshall, Weidmann Electrical Technology

Bill Stimpson, Weidmann Electrical Technology

Kayla Veilleux, NEK Young Professionals Network

 

9:30 AM                   Vermont Foodbank

Witnesses TBD

 

10:00 AM                   Career Technical Education Concept Overview

Discussion

Zoie Saunders, Secretary, Agency of Education

Kendal Smith, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Labor - Invited

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Adult Education and Literacy Funding Report

Zoie Saunders, Secretary, Agency of Education - Invited

Nick Kramer, Chief Operating Officer, Agency of Administration

Catherine Kalkstein, Executive Director, Central Vermont Adult Education

Tara Brooks, Vermont Adult Learning

Michelle Faust, M.S., Executive Director, Northeast Kingdom Learning Services

 

2:00 PM                   Security Briefing

This will be an Executive Session.

Agatha Kessler, Sergeant at Arms, Vermont General Assembly

John Poleway, Chief of Capitol Police, Capitol Police Department

Sara Macera, Capitol Police Department

Joe Trombley, Capitol Police Department

 

3:00 PM                   House Floor

 

Friday, January 23, 2026

9:00 AM                   Legislative Interns Report

Report from Committee's Legislative Interns

Cabot Sayles, UVM Legislative Intern

Bailey Davis, Norwich Legislative Intern

 

9:30 AM                   House Floor

 

15 Minutes After the Floor                   Vermont Training Report

Randall Szott, Vermont Training Program Director, Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Executive Order on AI

Walk-through and Testimony on the Federal Executive Order on AI Usage.

Rik Sehgal, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

Witnesses TBD

 

ATTENTION WITNESSES

 

Please email handouts to the committee assistant at least 24 hours before your scheduled meeting time. With few exceptions, any documents you send to a committee assistant are open to the public and may be posted to the committee’s web page.

 

Should you require accessibility services, please click here and note that requests should be made 48 hours in advance of testimony.

 

 

 

If you have any questions or comments, please contact

 Annagrace Oblak at Annagrace.Oblak@vtleg.gov