Senate Committee on Health and Welfare

 

AGENDA

 

Room 17 and Zoom

February 3, 2026 - February 6, 2026

Last Updated 2/5/2026 12:38 PM

 

Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are livestreamed at

https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/senate-health-and-welfare.

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

9:30 AM                   Senate Floor

Supreme Court Nominations

 

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

9:00 AM                   S. 157 - An act relating to recovery residence certification

Tenant Law

Cameron Wood, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

9:45 AM                   S. 64 - An act relating to amendments to the scope of practice for optometrists

M.D. Jessica McNally, President, Vermont Opthalmological Society

M.D. Matthew Greenberg, Chair, Vermont Board of Medical Practice

M.D. Jeff Young, Comprehensive Opthalmologist

DO Divy Mehra, Opthalmology Resident, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

 

10:45 AM                   S. 197 - An act relating to establishing a primary care payment reform program

Susan Ridzon, Executive Director, Healthfirst, Inc.

Fay Homan, M.D., Primary Care Advisory Group Member, Little River Health Care

Toby Sadkin, MD, Executive Chair, Primary Care Health Partners

Wyll Everett, Family Physician, Vice President, Vermont Academy of Family Physicians - Zoom

M.D. Deb Richter - Zoom

 

11:25 AM                   S. 206 - An act relating to licensure of early childhood educators by the Office of Professional Regulation

Meghan Meszkat, Director of Early Childhood Education, Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union

Jen Olson, Director, Quarry Hill School

Kaitlin Northey, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of Vermont

 

12:00 PM                   Adjourn

 

1:00 PM                   Senate Floor

 

Thursday, February 5, 2026

9:00 AM                   S. 157 - An act relating to recovery residence certification

Markup Comparison to VDH's

Katie McLinn, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

Emily Trutor, Director of Substance Use Disorders, Department of Health

Candace Gale, Director of Community Relations, Vermont Foundation of Recovery

Jessica Schifano, Policy Director, Department of Health

 

10:00 AM                   S. 243 - An act relating to distributing funds to the Vermont Language Justice Project

Introduction

Katie McLinn, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick, Sponsor, Sponsor

Alison Segar, Director, Vermont Language Justice Project - Zoom

Andrea Green Mahoney, Director, Pediatric Global Health

 

10:25 AM                   H. 237 - An act relating to prescribing by doctoral-level psychologists

M.D. Bud Vana, Psychiatrist

Phillip Hughes, PHD, MS, Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University SUNY

M.D. Evan Eyler

Sarah Hastings, PHD, Professor, Psychology Graduate Program in Clinical Counseling Psychology, St. Michael’s College

 

10:45 AM                   S. 163 - An act relating to the role of advanced practice registered nurses in hospital care

Devon Green, Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy, Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems

M.D. Jessa Barnard, Executive Director, Vermont Medical Society

 

11:00 AM                   H. 545 - An act relating to issuing immunization recommendations

Michelle Wade, MSN/Ed, APRN, AGNP-C, ACNPC-AG, FAANP, President, Vermont Nurse Practitioners Association

Laura Byrne, Executive  Director, HIV/HCV Resource Center

Alison Despathy, Health Choice VT

Andrew Garcia, Pharmacist

 

11:30 AM                   H. 545 - An act relating to issuing immunization recommendations

OPR Amendment Request Overview

Katie McLinn, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

11:45 AM                   3SquaresVT Awareness Day

Julia Burgess, Community Member, Barre

Mariana Lamaison Sears, Community Engagement and Outreach Lead, Hunger Free Vermont

 

12:00 PM                   Adjourn

 

1:00 PM                   Senate Floor

 

Friday, February 6, 2026

9:00 AM                   Budget Adjustment Act

Nolan Langweil, Principal Fiscal Analyst, Joint Fiscal Office

Aimee Pope, Associate Fiscal Officer, Joint Fiscal Office

 

9:30 AM                   H. 545 - An act relating to issuing immunization recommendations

Markup

Katie McLinn, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

10:30 AM                   Hospital Work on Transformation

This is a joint hearing with House Health Care. The Meeting will be held in Room 11 of the Vermont State House. The meeting will be streamed on their YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHtilisCXIU4ZgxQ8fRgsdw/featured

Michael Del Trecco, President and CEO, Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems

Shawn Tester, CEO, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital

Stephen Leffler, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, University of Vermont Health Network

Michael Costa, President and CEO, Gifford Health Care

 

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

 Calysta Koppenhaver at Calysta.Koppenhaver@vtleg.gov