If the tulips lining the walkway to the Statehouse are any indication, summer is on its way, and with it, a season of boating on Vermont’s lakes and ponds.
That fast-approaching season is not lost on advocates for wake boat-free lakes. Alongside representatives from the Department of Environmental Conservation, they spent Tuesday morning in the Senate Natural Resources Committee discussing the presence of the contested craft in Vermont’s lakes.
Wake boats, it’s worth clarifying, are not just any old boat that creates a wake — waterskiing boats, pontoons or whalers don’t fall into this category. Rather, they are boats specifically designed to displace large amounts of water, with V-shaped hulls, special wave-shaping plates and — most notably — big ballast systems that can take on gallons of water to weigh the boat down to create even bigger waves for wakeboarders or surfers.
Though the committee does not intend to take action this year, advocates are concerned that even one more boating season under the current rules could spread invasive species across Vermont’s lakes.
Those rules, passed in April 2024, restrict wake boating to specific wake sports zones: areas with 50 contiguous acres of lake, 500 feet away from the shoreline on all sides and depths of at least 20 feet. Those rules are meant to prevent the large waves from crashing down on shore and from churning up lake-bottom sediments — and thus protect lake wildlife from too much disruption.
But, advocates say the current rules don’t go far enough in protecting Vermont’s precarious lake ecosystems from the encroachment of invasive species. Specifically, the ballasts of these boats can be carriers for insidious invaders like zebra mussel larvae or watermilfoil, Pat Suozzi, president of the Federation of Vermont Lakes and Ponds, said in her testimony. Though boaters empty most of their tanks when taking boats ashore, they still may hold up to 8.5 gallons of residual water, according to John Wildman, a member of Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes, who also testified.
“It doesn’t take much. In fact, it only takes one boat,” Suozzi said, of the risk for invasive species spread.
That’s why she and other advocates are urging legislators and the Department of Environmental Conservation to consider a “home lake rule” for this summer, meaning wake boaters must register in one lake for an entire season.
Other attempts to prevent the transport of invasives through ballast tanks fall short, advocates said, since the visual inspection of hard-to-reach, under-boat tanks can be near impossible and the disinfecting washing equipment — with water hot enough to kill larvae — is expensive and doesn’t exist at most lakes.
Still, others who testified expressed a desire to prohibit the presence of wake boats on Vermont’s inland lakes altogether. Waves that can reach up to 5 feet above the water can be an equally daunting prospect to a kayaker on the surface or a loon nesting not far off shore, according to advocates.
“Why should our lakes be essentially off limits to those — the majority, by far — who want to fish, kayak, canoe, paddleboard, sail, swim, water ski, or use their normal motorboats or pontoon boats?” said Phil Dodd, a Montpelier resident, during testimony.
Dlugolecki, with the Department of Environmental Conservation, said her office plans to engage residents this year through the summer on revising some of these rules to possibly take effect for 2026.
— Olivia Gieger
In the know
Advocates for unhoused Vermonters are calling on lawmakers to remove restrictions on the state’s motel voucher program in the coming year’s budget, including an 80-night limit on voucher stays and an 1,100 cap on available rooms during the warmer months.
“The caps are not grounded in any reality,” said Frank Knaack, executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, at a Statehouse press conference on Tuesday.
Lawmakers’ draft budget would continue the limits on the motel voucher program that were enacted last year, resulting in the evictions of hundreds of people — including young children — over the course of the fall.
Many lawmakers lambasted the caps as their impacts became clear, and as recently as March, Democratic leaders in the Legislature attempted to lift the restrictions to avoid another wave of evictions. A heated disagreement with Republican Gov. Phil Scott over the extension tanked a midyear spending bill, which never passed.
This go-around, however, both the House and Senate have agreed to a budget containing the caps, at a price tag of about $38 million – matching what Scott’s administration recommended for the program earlier this year.
Read more about the debate over the motel voucher program here.
— Carly Berlin
On the move
The Vermont Senate advanced Montpelier’s annual property tax rate legislation, expected to increase the average education tax bill by 1.1%.
The relatively modest increase pales in comparison to last year’s average rise of 13.8%, but the legislation relies on about $118 million to buy down rates.
While the state frequently uses surplus funds to lower property taxes, the practice creates additional upward pressure on rates the following year. Some lawmakers have criticized the process.
But legislative leaders — and Gov. Phil Scott — have said that after back-to-back years of higher-than-typical property tax increases, policymakers need to do all they can to flatten further spikes.
Read more about the yield bill, H.491, bill here.
— Ethan Weinstein
The Senate also passed H.494, the Capital Bill, which helps pay for state infrastructure. But later on Tuesday, the House voted against concurring with the Senate’s version, instead requesting a conference committee. That decision was endorsed by the House Corrections and Institutions Committee, which has jurisdiction over the bill.
— Ethan Weinstein
Visit our 2025 bill tracker for the latest updates on major legislation we are following.
Chill hang in Boston soon?
Gov. Phil Scott on Monday signed onto a letter with five other governors of Northeast states — all of whom, except him, are Democrats — inviting the leaders of six Canadian provinces to a forthcoming meeting in Boston to discuss the impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The invitation was penned by Scott, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee. It was sent to the premiers of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Québec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, per a press release from Healey’s office.
“We are keenly aware of the effects these tariffs have on citizens on both sides of the border,” the governors wrote. “Businesses small and large that employ citizens in the US and Canada are already facing severe consequences from the trade war as the tariffs make life increasingly more expensive for our people and our businesses.”
The letter proposed holding a meeting sometime “in the coming weeks.”
— Shaun Robinson
Department of corrections
The newsletter’s top story on Friday mischaracterized whether the motor vehicle bill must pass every year. Lawmakers generally take up a miscellaneous bill on that topic annually, but it’s not required to become law.
