---
type: "Bill"
title: "An act relating to freedom from compulsory collection of personal information"
description: "An act relating to freedom from compulsory collection of personal information"
jurisdiction: "us/states/vt"
legislature: "Vermont General Assembly"
session: "2017-2018"
identifier: "S. 79"
citation: "Vermont S. 79 (2017-2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard Sears"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 22
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-02-09"
last_action: "2017-03-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c0a07343-fc0e-4ea8-94e7-14703d74687d"
source_url: "http://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/loadBillDetailedStatus/2018/1139"
source_hash: "e4e7c5ae572f33a9098125d14d43461e46444177a1da7bb76e9d79942ed66577"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-vt"]
---

# Vermont S. 79 (2017-2018) — An act relating to freedom from compulsory collection of personal information

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **As Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2018/Docs/BILLS/S-0079/S-0079%20As%20Introduced.pdf)
2. **Act Summary** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2018/Docs/ACTS/ACT005/ACT005%20Act%20Summary.pdf)
3. **As Enacted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2018/Docs/ACTS/ACT005/ACT005%20As%20Enacted.pdf)
4. **Official** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2018/Docs/BILLS/S-0079/S-0079%20As%20Passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20Official.pdf)
5. **Unofficial** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2018/Docs/BILLS/S-0079/S-0079%20As%20Passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20Unofficial.pdf)

## Votes

- Roll Call Results Passed -- Needed 68 of 134 to Pass -- Yeas = 110, Nays = 24 — **110–24** (pass) · legislature
- 3rd reading ordered on roll call, requested by Senator Ashe, Passed -- Needed 16 of 30 to Pass -- Yeas = 30, Nays = 0 — **30–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Richard Sears — primary (person)
- Dustin Degree — cosponsor (person)
- Less… — cosponsor (person)
- Rebecca Balint — cosponsor (person)
- Timothy Ashe — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-09** Read 1st time & referred to Committee on Judiciary `introduction`
- **2017-02-21** Favorable report with recommendation of amendment by Committee onJudiciary
- **2017-02-22** New Business/Second Reading
- **2017-02-22** Favorable report with recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary
- **2017-02-23** Unfinished Business/Second Reading
- **2017-02-23** Favorable report with recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary
- **2017-02-23** Read second time, reported favorably with recommendation of amendment by Senator Sears for Committee on Judiciary
- **2017-02-23** Recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary agreed to
- **2017-02-23** 3rd reading ordered on roll call, requested by Senator Ashe, Passed -- Needed 16 of 30 to Pass -- Yeas = 30, Nays = 0
- **2017-02-24** New Business/Third Reading
- **2017-02-24** Read 3rd time & passed `passage`
- **2017-02-24** Rules suspended & messaged to House forthwith, on motion of Senator Sears
- **2017-02-28** Read First Time and Referred to the Committee on Judiciary
- **2017-03-14** Read Second Time
- **2017-03-14** Rep. Conquest of Newbury recommended for the committee on Judiciary
- **2017-03-14** Roll Call Results Passed -- Needed 68 of 134 to Pass -- Yeas = 110, Nays = 24
- **2017-03-14** Third Reading Ordered
- **2017-03-15** Read Third time and Passed in Concurrence `passage`
- **2017-03-16** House message House passed bill in concurrence
- **2017-03-16** As passed by Senate and House `passage`
- **2017-03-24** Delivered to Governor on March 24, 2017
- **2017-03-28** Signed by Governor on March 28, 2017 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c0a07343-fc0e-4ea8-94e7-14703d74687d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Vermont legislature records).