By Kolby LaMarche

Earlier this week, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak delivered a memorandum to the City Council that formally established Burlington’s legislative priorities for the ‘26 session of the legislature. 

The mayor wrote that the priorities are nearly identical to those the city pursued in 2025, a reflection of what she described as very little progress during the first year of the current biennium. Mulvaney-Stanak, who became mayor in 2024, was previously a member of the Vermont House, representing the Old North End of the city. 

The administration’s legislative focus remains centered on three areas: addressing the ongoing housing emergency in Chittenden County, obtaining additional state funding for critical water and wastewater infrastructure, and securing final legislative approval for numerous charter changes that Burlington voters have already endorsed, in some cases more than once.

The first priority is state action to protect and expand emergency, transitional, and permanent supportive housing capacity across Burlington and Chittenden County moer broadly. 

The city is asking the Legislature to fund and authorize 24-hour shelter access with on-site mental health and substance-use services. The request includes support for a continuum of low-barrier and high-barrier options and for proven models such as small-village communities and apartment-style supportive housing that combine housing with coordinated, long-term stability services.

Second, the mayor aims to tackle additional state financial assistance for upgrades to Burlington’s water, stormwater, and wastewater collection and distribution systems, along with funding for comprehensive master planning. 

Although city voters overwhelmingly approved two local infrastructure bonds in March of this year, the administration maintains that state contributions are still required to ease the burden on local taxpayers while meeting environmental mandates, improving climate resilience, and removing infrastructure barriers to new housing development, the city said.

The third priority is passage of five long-pending charter changes that have repeatedly cleared Burlington ballots but have not received final enactment by the General Assembly.

Voters first approved authority for the city to ban firearms in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol in 2014, with 68 percent support; they reaffirmed that position in March ‘25 with 87 percent approval. The city is simultaneously supporting broader state-level prohibitions on guns in sensitive locations such as government buildings, playgrounds, and public demonstrations. No other information on locations was provided. 

On tenant protections, voters endorsed just-cause eviction requirements and granted the city authority to implement rent stabilization in 2021, receiving 63 percent approval. In March ‘25, voters extended the required notice period for rent increases beyond the current ninety days, passing that measure with 65 percent support.

In November of last year, 62 percent of voters approved a charter change that creates an independent police oversight panel within the existing Police Commission and clarifies that the Chief of Police serves under the authority of the Mayor, bringing the position in line with other department heads.

Also in March of this year, voters gave nearly 69 percent approval to a proposal allowing the City Council to adjust ward and electoral district boundaries once every five years without requiring separate legislative approval each time.

The memorandum additionally noted that a sixth charter item, which would permanently establish the city’s Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Department as a chartered department, is scheduled to appear on the March 2026 Town Meeting Day ballot.

Beyond the top three priorities, the Mayor’s Office stated it will monitor and support several other aligned initiatives during the session. 

These include continued state funding for Community Justice Centers and pre-charge diversion programs, limited authorization to deploy license-plate reader technology for traffic and parking enforcement with strict privacy safeguards, increased state investment in Green Mountain Transit to prevent service cuts, and extension of flexibility granted under the 2024 Energy Efficiency Modernization Act so that Burlington Electric Department can continue directing efficiency funds toward greenhouse-gas reduction programs.

The administration also plans to advocate for dedicated funding for programs serving at-risk and justice-involved youth, especially youth of color, expanded language-access services statewide, accelerated creation of a state Office of New Americans, and consumer protection measures that shield owners of stolen vehicles from towing and storage fees.