Senate Committee on Institutions

 

AGENDA

 

Room 7 and Zoom

February 17, 2026 - February 20, 2026

Last Updated 2/20/2026 9:21 AM

 

Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are livestreamed at

https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/senate-institutions.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

9:30 AM                   Senate Floor

 

1:00 PM                   Vermont Humanities

Vermont Reads: The Light Pirate; and Books in Prisons Program: Gather

 

Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup, Executive Director, Vermont Humanities

 

2:00 PM                   State of Vermont IT Funding

Adam Greshin, Commissioner, Department of Finance and Management

 

3:00 PM                   Data management and sharing policies

Sarah Copeland Hanzas, Secretary of State, Secretary of State's Office

Lauren Hibbert, Deputy Secretary of State, Secretary of State's Office

Lisa Gauvin, IT Consultant, Joint Fiscal Office

 

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

1:00 PM                   Senate Floor

 

1:30 PM                   Vermont Fairs

Jackie Folsom, President, Vermont Farm Bureau

Tim Shea, Executive  Director, Champlain Valley Exposition

Rick McKirryhe, Vermont State Fair

Chris Vance, President, Caledonia County Fair

Scott Bushee, Bondville Fair

Cindy Kayhart, President, Addison County Fair and Field Days

 

2:14 PM                   Break

 

2:22 PM                   Department of Corrections Updates

Staffing, Recruitment, Retention, Future Plans, and the Wellpath Contract

 

Travis Denton, Chief of Operations, Department of Corrections

Tanya Barber, Deputy Director of the Office of Professional Standards and Compliance, Department of Corrections

Steven Belisle, Recruitment and Retention Coordinator, Department of Corrections

Haley Sommer, Communications Director, Department of Corrections

Jon Murad, Interim Commissioner, Department of Corrections

 

3:30 PM                   H. 50 - An act relating to identifying underutilized State buildings and land

Discussion

Jon Gray, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

Thursday, February 19, 2026

10:30 AM                   Joint Assembly

Election of VSC Trustees and Adjutant and Inspector General

 

 

1:00 PM                   Senate Floor

 

1:30 PM                   Capital Budget Adjustment

Sections 2, 17 and 18 Department of  Buildings and General Services

Joe Aja, Director Design & Construction, Department of Buildings and General Services

Lauren Washburn, Program Chief, Design and Construction Division, Buildings and General Services

 

Friday, February 20, 2026

11:30 AM                   Senate Floor

 

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

 Ken Ely at Ken.Ely@vtleg.gov