| 1 | 1 | | BILL AS INTRODUCED H.25 |
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| 2 | 2 | | 2025 Page 1 of 5 |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | VT LEG #379217 v.1 |
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| 6 | 6 | | H.25 1 |
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| 7 | 7 | | Introduced by Representatives Arsenault of Williston, Dolan of Essex 2 |
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| 8 | 8 | | Junction, and Rachelson of Burlington 3 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Referred to Committee on 4 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Date: 5 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Subject: Motor vehicles; operation of vehicles; impaired driving; 6 |
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| 12 | 12 | | rehabilitation; program fees 7 |
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| 13 | 13 | | Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to require that 8 |
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| 14 | 14 | | the Department of Health’s Impaired Driver Rehabilitation Program fees be 9 |
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| 15 | 15 | | imposed based on an individual’s gross income compared to the federal 10 |
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| 16 | 16 | | poverty level. The bill proposes that an individual who requests a reduction or 11 |
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| 17 | 17 | | elimination of program fees disclose the individual’s income. Using the 12 |
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| 18 | 18 | | disclosed income, the Program must charge a higher fee if the individual has 13 |
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| 19 | 19 | | greater financial resources and a lower fee if the individual has lesser financial 14 |
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| 20 | 20 | | resources. 15 |
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| 21 | 21 | | An act relating to imposing Impaired Driver Rehabilitation Program fees 16 |
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| 22 | 22 | | based on a person’s ability to pay 17 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.25 |
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| 23 | 23 | | 2025 Page 2 of 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | |
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| 25 | 25 | | |
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| 26 | 26 | | VT LEG #379217 v.1 |
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| 27 | 27 | | It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | Sec. 1. 23 V.S.A. § 1209a is amended to read: 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | § 1209a. CONDITIONS OF REINSTATEMENT; ALCOHOL AND 3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | DRIVING EDUCATION; SCREENING; THERAPY PROGRAMS 4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (a) Conditions of reinstatement. No license or privilege to operate 5 |
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| 32 | 32 | | suspended or revoked under this subchapter, except a license or privilege to 6 |
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| 33 | 33 | | operate suspended under section 1216 of this title, shall be reinstated except as 7 |
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| 34 | 34 | | follows: 8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (1) In the case of a first suspension, a license or privilege to operate 9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | shall be reinstated only: 10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (A) after the individual has successfully completed the Alcohol and 11 |
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| 38 | 38 | | Driving Education Program, at the individual’s own expense, followed by an 12 |
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| 39 | 39 | | assessment of the need for further treatment by a State-designated counselor, at 13 |
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| 40 | 40 | | the individual’s own expense, to determine whether reinstatement should be 14 |
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| 41 | 41 | | further conditioned on satisfactory completion of a therapy program agreed to 15 |
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| 42 | 42 | | by the individual and the Drinking Impaired Driver Rehabilitation Program 16 |
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| 43 | 43 | | Director; 17 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (B) if the screening indicates that therapy is needed, after the 18 |
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| 45 | 45 | | individual has satisfactorily completed or shown substantial progress in 19 |
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| 46 | 46 | | completing a therapy program at the individual’s own expense agreed to by the 20 |
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| 47 | 47 | | individual and the Impaired Driver Rehabilitation Program Director; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.25 |
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| 48 | 48 | | 2025 Page 3 of 5 |
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| 49 | 49 | | |
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| 50 | 50 | | |
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| 51 | 51 | | VT LEG #379217 v.1 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (C) if the individual elects to operate under an ignition interlock RDL 1 |
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| 53 | 53 | | or ignition interlock certificate, after the individual operates under the RDL or 2 |
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| 54 | 54 | | certificate for the applicable period set forth in subsection 1205(a) or section 3 |
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| 55 | 55 | | 1206 of this title, plus any extension of this period arising from a violation of 4 |
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| 56 | 56 | | section 1213 of this title; and 5 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (D) if the individual has no pending criminal charges, civil citations, 6 |
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| 58 | 58 | | or unpaid fines or penalties for a violation under this chapter. 7 |
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| 59 | 59 | | * * * 8 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (f) Fees. 9 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (1)(A) The Department of Health’s Drinking Impaired Driver 10 |
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| 62 | 62 | | Rehabilitation Program shall assess fees for the Alcohol and Driving Education 11 |
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| 63 | 63 | | Program and the alcohol assessment screening required by subdivision 12 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (a)(1)(A) of this section. The fee for the Alcohol and Driving Education 13 |
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| 65 | 65 | | Program shall not exceed $250.00. The fee for the alcohol assessment 14 |
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| 66 | 66 | | screening shall not exceed $200.00. In the case of a more intensive or 15 |
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| 67 | 67 | | weekend residential program combining both the Alcohol and Driving 16 |
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| 68 | 68 | | Education Program and the alcohol assessment screening, the total charge shall 17 |
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| 69 | 69 | | not exceed $625.00. 18 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (B) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and the Department of 19 |
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| 71 | 71 | | Health’s Impaired Driver Rehabilitation Program shall engage in education and 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.25 |
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| 72 | 72 | | 2025 Page 4 of 5 |
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| 73 | 73 | | |
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| 74 | 74 | | |
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| 75 | 75 | | VT LEG #379217 v.1 |
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| 76 | 76 | | outreach to ensure that individuals eligible to enroll in the Program are aware 1 |
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| 77 | 77 | | of any required fees and any potential fee discounts. 2 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (2)(A) Upon an individual’s request, any discounted fees charged 3 |
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| 79 | 79 | | pursuant to this subsection (f) shall consider the individual’s annual gross 4 |
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| 80 | 80 | | income prior to imposing such a fee. 5 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (B) The Commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 6 |
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| 82 | 82 | | 25 establishing a graduated fee schedule bearing a reasonable relationship to an 7 |
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| 83 | 83 | | individual’s gross income. An individual shall be found eligible for a program 8 |
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| 84 | 84 | | fee reduction based upon the federal poverty level. 9 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (i) An individual with an annual gross income of less than or equal 10 |
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| 86 | 86 | | to 175 percent of the current federal poverty guidelines shall not pay any 11 |
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| 87 | 87 | | program fees. 12 |
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| 88 | 88 | | (ii) An individual with an annual gross income of up to and 13 |
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| 89 | 89 | | including 575 percent of the current federal poverty guidelines shall be eligible 14 |
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| 90 | 90 | | for discounted program fees. 15 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (C) An individual seeking a fee reduction to enroll in any program or 16 |
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| 92 | 92 | | screening under this section shall disclose the individual’s gross income. Any 17 |
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| 93 | 93 | | income information disclosed by the individual shall remain confidential and 18 |
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| 94 | 94 | | be solely used for the purpose of assessing any fee reduction for the individual 19 |
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| 95 | 95 | | as required by this subsection (f). 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.25 |
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| 96 | 96 | | 2025 Page 5 of 5 |
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| 97 | 97 | | |
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| 98 | 98 | | |
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| 99 | 99 | | VT LEG #379217 v.1 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (3) Charges collected under this section shall be credited to separate 1 |
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| 101 | 101 | | special funds for each type of service and shall be available to the Department 2 |
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| 102 | 102 | | of Health to offset the cost of operating the Drinking Impaired Driver 3 |
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| 103 | 103 | | Rehabilitation Program. 4 |
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| 104 | 104 | | Sec. 2. RULE IMPLEMENTATION DATE 5 |
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| 105 | 105 | | The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall adopt the rules required by this 6 |
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| 106 | 106 | | act on or before January 1, 2026. 7 |
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| 107 | 107 | | Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 8 |
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| 108 | 108 | | This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 9 |
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