MONTPELIER – The Vermont Kids Code Coalition issued the following statement applauding the Vermont legislature for passing Rep. Monique Priestley and Sen. Wendy Harrison’s age-appropriate design code bill, S.69, with overwhelming bipartisan votes and urging Governor Phil Scott to protect kids’ data, privacy, and safety online by enacting the Vermont Kids Code:
“We applaud Vermont lawmakers today for voting overwhelmingly in favor of the Vermont Kids Code, sending it to Governor Phil Scott for his signature, and we are especially grateful to Rep. Monique Priestley and Sen. Wendy Harrison for their leadership. Broad support for the Kids Code in Vermont has been driven by a passionate coalition of parents, youth, small businesses, and community organizations whose diversity highlights widespread and growing demand for change to protect kids online and build a better online world. Now, we call on Governor Scott to reject Big Tech industry pressure and stand with Vermont families by signing this bill into law.”
Earlier this month, parents, kids, small business leaders, and advocates for Big Tech accountability joined forces to call for action on the bill:
- Manchester Journal – ‘It’s time to break free’: Legislators, students rally in Manchester for Age-Appropriate Design (Danielle M. Crosier, May 19, 2025)
- Greater Northshire Access Television – Rally for the Age Appropriate Design Code (The News Project, May 20, 2025)
A number of advocates, from small businesses to local students, wrote to legislators in recent days, mounting a final push to overcome last-minute Big Tech lobbying:
- Front Porch Forum – Letter to VT Legislators
- Design It For Us – Letter to VT Legislators
Advocates have been encouraged by recent reports that Governor Scott is expected to sign the bill into law; an op-ed today from more than a dozen Vermont lawmakers urges community members to call on the Governor to “to stand with Vermont families, not with the powerful out-of-state corporations working behind the scenes to stop this bill.”
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