An act relating to the creation of the Citizens’ Assembly

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Daisy Berbeco and 13 co-sponsors

Creates a randomly selected Vermont Citizens’ Assembly to deliberatively advise on public policy and report recommendations to the Legislature.

Read first time and referred to the Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs

Summary of H.920 (2025-2026) — An act relating to the creation of the Citizens’ Assembly

Purpose and intent

Establishes the creation of a Vermont Citizens’ Assembly. The bill is designed to bring together a representative sample of Vermont residents to deliberate on specified public policy issues, with the aim of informing state decision-making and potentially guiding legislative recommendations.

Seeks to institutionalize a deliberative process outside of routine elections and partisan dynamics, providing a structured forum for civic participation.

Key provisions and changes

Creation of the Citizens’ Assembly: Establishes a new body to be composed of randomly selected Vermont residents (mechanisms for selection typically drawn from a broad cross-section of the population).

Deliberative process framework:

Defines the scope of issues the Assembly may consider (subject to statute or joint rules).
Sets rules for deliberation, prioritization, and consensus-building among members.
Provides for expert testimony, data review, and access to information necessary for informed decision-making.

Reporting and recommendations:

Requires the Assembly to produce final recommendations or reports concerning its assigned issues.
Specifies timelines for deliberation, reporting, and potential follow-up by the Legislature or relevant state agencies.

Legislative involvement:

Outlines how Assembly recommendations would be communicated to the Vermont General Assembly.
May designate a process for the Legislature to respond, implement, or request further study of Assembly findings.

Administration and funding:

Creates or assigns administrative support, staffing, and resources needed to operate the Assembly.
Addresses budgeting, oversight, and accountability measures to ensure transparent operations.

Participation and rights:

Establishes eligibility criteria for members, including age, residency, and exclusion criteria (e.g., conflicts of interest).
Defines compensation or stipend provisions, scheduling expectations, and member protections.

Who would be affected

Vermont residents who are selected to serve on the Citizens’ Assembly.

State agencies, departments, and legislators who would receive Assembly reports and potentially implement or respond to recommendations.

Administrative bodies responsible for convening and supporting the Assembly (e.g., the Clerk of the House, state agencies, and relevant committees).

Procedural and timeline aspects

Initial action: The bill was read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs as of February 27, 2026.

Next steps likely include:

Committee hearings to gather testimony from supporters, opponents, and experts.
Potential amendments to refine scope, selection process, funding, and reporting requirements.
If advanced, passage by the Vermont House and Senate, followed by signing into law by the governor (subject to legislative process).

Observations

The bill is focused on creating a formal, deliberative citizen body to inform public policy.

Specific procedural details (e.g., exact selection methodology, issue scope, funding levels, and reporting formats) are not provided in the available summary and would be clarified in the bill’s text and any accompanying fiscal notes or committee amendments.

If you’d like, I can extract and summarize the exact language from the bill text (when available) or compare H.920 to similar citizen assembly instruments in other jurisdictions.