Senate Education Committee reviews H.931 amendments, narrows intercollegiate sexual-harm prevention council role

Legislative counsel on April 24 told the Senate Education Committee that Draft 3.1 of the House‑passed H.931 strikes a large statutory section and replaces it with narrow language that establishes an intercollegiate sexual‑harm prevention council focused on sharing best practices among postsecondary institutions.

The committee was told the council’s charge is to "advance best practices for prevention of and response to campus sexual harm," while several previously enumerated statutory duties and an annual reporting requirement were removed. Betsy James of the Office of Legislative Council said the draft replaces the struck section with the single word "deleted" for that portion of statute and inserts a new effective‑date section tied to the council language.

Under the revision, council membership is narrower and more prescriptive: a Title IX coordinator or designee from each postsecondary institution chartered in Vermont with a physical campus; a peer educator or advocate appointed by the vice provost for student affairs at the University of Vermont (rather than appointed by the council itself); a designee of the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence; the program coordinator (or designee) of the Vermont Forensic Nursing Program; and the Commissioner of Public Safety (Department of Public Safety). The committee clarified that "postsecondary schools chartered in Vermont" includes private colleges.

Charlie Blisserman, policy director at the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, told members the council as drafted is "really a table for kind of information and resource sharing" and that the network would stay in touch if policy recommendations emerged. Counsel and members discussed whether the legislature should require written reports or rely on periodic testimony; Betsy James outlined a common legislative option — adding a sunset or a repeal date — as a mechanism to force future review.

Committee members pressed on practical details: who appoints peer advocates, whether the Department of Public Safety reference is state‑level DPS, and the timing for the council’s first meeting (committee counsel noted a suggested first meeting date of Nov. 15, 2026). Counsel confirmed co‑chairs would be selected from public and private postsecondary memberships and said the council would meet twice per year rather than quarterly.

The draft removes earlier statutory assistance and annual reporting duties long attached to the council; several members voiced concern about eliminating formal feedback mechanisms while others said the committee can request testimony or invite the council to brief the committee periodically.

The committee did not take a vote on H.931 during this session; counsel said members would see the next draft incorporating these changes and other edits to the bill’s definitions and attendance provisions.

The committee intends to revisit the draft in a subsequent meeting; the bill’s revised membership and the removal of annual reporting are the central changes emerging from Draft 3.1.