The House Ethics Panel has dismissed complaints against the five Vermont state representatives who visited Israel last September on a trip sponsored by the Israeli government. The panel concluded that the lawmakers did not violate the state Code of Ethics by participating in the overseas visit.
Jewish Voice for Peace Vermont-New Hampshire condemned the decision and warned it laid the groundwork for future ethics violations. The group released the panel’s official notice of closure on Monday, four days after it was issued.
The bipartisan, five-member House Ethics Panel keeps details of ethics complaints confidential, but parties involved in a complaint are allowed to disclose related materials.
Liz Blum, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace Vermont-New Hampshire, filed complaints in December 2025 against the delegation of five Vermont legislators who traveled to Israel: Reps. Sarah “Sarita” Austin (D-Colchester), Matt Birong (D-Vergennes), Gina Galfetti (R-Barre), Will Greer (D-Bennington) and James Gregoire (R-Fairfield). Blum alleged the representatives violated the state Code of Ethics’ gifts provision by improperly accepting free airfare, lodging and meals from the Israeli government for an event whose “chief purpose” was lobbying.
The lawmakers were among 250 state legislators from across the U.S. who participated in a conference organized by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called “50 States, One Israel” that ran September 15 to 18. The total expenses for each participant were approximately $6,500, paid for by the Israeli government.
Blum also alleged the representatives violated a separate ethics provision requiring public servants to avoid the appearance of unethical conduct, arguing that the breach arose from accepting gifts tied to pro-Israel lobbying and a pending state bill on antisemitism.
The filing included select excerpts from remarks by Israeli officials to conference participants, including a call to action from Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar. “There are still some States without BDS laws,” he said. “We call on you: ensure your home states have laws to protect Israel and Jews against this modern antisemitism.”
The lawmakers’ trip to Israel generated significant public response and sharp criticism after the delegation returned to Vermont. The conference occurred as Israel’s military launched a new ground incursion into Gaza City and all three members of Vermont’s federal delegation referred to the campaign in Gaza as genocide for the first time.
News of the trip initially spread after the foreign ministry shared a photograph on social media of the representatives posing at a ceremonial tree planting in southern Israel. Lawmakers were not required to disclose details about the trip because Vermont currently exempts gifts received in an official legislative capacity from such reporting requirements.
The five representatives filed a joint response on February 12 requesting the panel close the complaints. The lawmakers said the trip qualified as official travel to a widely attended event offering educational, training, cultural and political programming.
“It is unclear how the Complainant, who did not participate in the event and appears only to have read promotional materials and subsequent media coverage about it, would be familiar with the event’s “chief purpose,” but we can assure the Panel that there was much more to this trip than lobbying or propaganda,” the lawmakers wrote in their response. “It was a blend of cultural education, historical appreciation, and bipartisan engagement.”
“The question for the House Ethics Panel is not whether other colleagues would have opted to participate in the ’50 States, One Israel’ event if invited or whether our trip sent the ‘right’ message about our views on the situation in Israel,” their response concluded. “The question is whether our participation violated the Code of Ethics, the House Rules, or the Vermont Constitution, and the answer to that question is clearly no.”
In its decision, the bipartisan House Ethics Panel agreed with the lawmakers, finding that “there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an ethical violation occurred.”
The ethics panel determined that the trip fell within the state Code of Ethics’ gift provisions allowing lawmakers to accept free admission to widely attended events. It agreed with the representatives that the gathering — attended by roughly 250 bipartisan legislators — qualified as a cultural, political and civic event and that conference participants were acting in their official capacity. The panel also found that the Israeli government was the primary sponsor, with lawmakers’ travel, lodging, meals and related expenses reasonable and permissible under the ethics code’s definition of allowable gifts.
Additionally, the panel concluded that the comments reportedly made by the foreign affairs minister at the event, after the legislators were already there, were outside of the lawmakers’ control and could not “retroactively convert this trip into an unethical, impermissible one.”
In a press release on Monday, Blum denounced the panel’s decision and said it showed “willful blindness to the fact that the lobbying for legislation that the Vermont legislators received as part of the junket was foreseeable.”
“This House Ethics Panel decision is shameful,” Blum said in a statement. “It grants no credit to the five House members who took the improper gifts, and it discredits the Ethics Panel itself. The Panel turned a statutory safeguard into a roadmap for abuse.”
Blum warned that the decision created a “dangerous loophole” that could allow foreign governments to offer travel perks as gifts to U.S. lawmakers, as long as lobbying is not explicitly stated in an invitation.
Galfetti, a conference participant, said on Monday that she was grateful for the panel’s work and glad the complaints had been dismissed but added that the legislature should adopt clearer safeguards to guard against perceived conflicts of interest.
“We could use more guidelines in respect to these kinds of trips, so transparency is above and beyond what we need,” she said.
This session, Galfetti and Greer, another participant, sponsored legislation to expand travel disclosure requirements for public servants, including lawmakers. The bill did not advance out of committee, though Galfetti said she hopes its provisions could be folded into other legislation before the end of the biennium.
In its decision, the House Ethics Panel said that while the delegation had not violated the state ethics code, more guidance on applying gift provisions would help lawmakers evaluate whether benefits are permissible and said it was “committed to working with the Commission on developing such guidelines.”
Christina Sivret, executive director of the Vermont State Ethics Commission, said on Tuesday that the panel had not contacted the commission about any such effort. She noted that developing additional guidance would require more staffing for the commission, which is set by the legislature.
In the absence of new guidelines, she added, lawmakers can always seek guidance from the commission and attend ethics trainings.
Sivret said the legislature requested an ethics training on gifts last year but did not provide enough notice to schedule it; this year, she said, no training was requested.
This article appears in April 15 • 2026.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
