Senate advances bill to make remote witnessing and electronic signatures permanent for advance directives, clarifies Ulysses clause rules

The Senate ordered third reading of H.469 after a detailed committee report from the senator representing Chittenden Southeast (Speaker 2). The bill would make remote witnessing, remote explanation and digital signatures for advance directives permanent — changes first introduced as temporary measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Everyone has the right to make their own healthcare decisions, and an advanced directive ensures that end-of-life and critical healthcare decisions ... will be honored," the committee reporter said while outlining the bill.

Speaker 2 described new statutory definitions (digital signature, remote witness), permanent allowance for one or both witnesses to be remote, and special rules for hospital and long-term care settings where an explainer (an ombudsman, attorney or clinician) must be available. The bill also addresses the Ulysses clause — an optional provision permitting an agent to override expressed directives if a principal lacks capacity — and requires that the first execution of a Ulysses clause be in person, with later executions allowed by live interactive audiovisual connection (not telephone).

On the floor, Senator (Speaker 5) asked whether live interactive audiovisual requirements would deter the risk of AI deepfakes; Speaker 2 said the committee had not specifically addressed subterfuge and noted reliance on trained explainers and witnesses. Senator (Speaker 6) raised concerns about telephone reliability for verification; the committee clarified telephonic options are limited to basic advance directives and do not apply to the Ulysses clause.

Why it matters: H.469 would codify pandemic-era remote processes for executing advance directives, changing how Vermonters can affirm healthcare choices when incapacitated and clarifying safeguards for the Ulysses clause. The Senate voted to order third reading; the transcript records voice procedure without a roll-call vote tally.