---
type: "Bill"
title: "An act relating to acknowledgment or denial of parentage"
description: "An act relating to acknowledgment or denial of parentage"
jurisdiction: "us/states/vt"
legislature: "Vermont General Assembly"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "H 278"
citation: "Vermont H 278 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Maxine Grad"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 31
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2019-02-19"
last_action: "2019-05-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/994dc17e-1f5f-4017-aeea-2b782a2010e3"
source_url: "http://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/loadBillDetailedStatus/2020/1027"
source_hash: "44e7a63f7091c1ea79087134b5de908c0e45817265d71f8212893cee921f3dab"
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 H 278 (2019-2020) — An act relating to acknowledgment or denial of parentage

## 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/Documents/2020/Docs/BILLS/H-0278/H-0278%20As%20Introduced.pdf)
2. **Act Summary** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2020/Docs/ACTS/ACT024/ACT024%20Act%20Summary.pdf)
3. **As Enacted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2020/Docs/ACTS/ACT024/ACT024%20As%20Enacted.pdf)
4. **Official** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2020/Docs/BILLS/H-0278/H-0278%20As%20passed%20by%20the%20House%20Official.pdf)
5. **Unofficial** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2020/Docs/BILLS/H-0278/H-0278%20As%20Passed%20by%20the%20House%20Unofficial.pdf)

## Sponsors

- Maxine Grad — primary (person)
- Martin LaLonde — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-19** Read First Time and Referred to the Committee on Judiciary
- **2019-03-13** Action Postponed to next legislative day as moved by Rep. Grad of Moretown
- **2019-03-14** Read Second Time
- **2019-03-14** Rep. Rachelson of Burlington reported for the committee on Judiciary
- **2019-03-14** Report of Committee on Judiciary agreed to.
- **2019-03-14** Third Reading Ordered
- **2019-03-15** Read Third time
- **2019-03-15** Passed `passage`
- **2019-03-20** Read 1st time & referred to Committee on Judiciary `introduction`
- **2019-04-18** Entered on Notice Calendar
- **2019-04-18** Favorable report with proposal of amendment by Committee on Judiciary
- **2019-04-19** New Business/Second Reading
- **2019-04-19** Favorable report with proposal of amendment by Committee on Judiciary
- **2019-04-19** Read 2nd time, reported favorably with proposal of amendment by Senator Nitka for Committee on Judiciary
- **2019-04-19** Consideration postponed to April 24, 2019 on motion of Senator Sears
- **2019-04-23** Consideration Postponed/Second Reading
- **2019-04-23** Pending Question: Shall the Senate propose to the House to amend the bill as recommended by the Committee on Judiciary?
- **2019-04-24** Consideration postponed; Second reading
- **2019-04-24** Pending Question: Shall the Senate propose to the House to amend the bill as recommended by the Committee on Judiciary?
- **2019-04-24** Consideration resumed
- **2019-04-24** Proposal of amendment by Committee on Judiciary amended as moved by Senator(s) Baruth, Benning, Nitka, Sears, and White
- **2019-04-24** Proposal of amendment by Committee on Judiciary, as amended, agreed to
- **2019-04-24** 3rd reading ordered
- **2019-04-25** New Business/Third Reading
- **2019-04-25** Read 3rd time & passed in concurrence with proposal of amendment `passage`
- **2019-04-26** Senate Message, passed in Concurrence with proposal of amendment
- **2019-05-01** Senate Proposal of Amendment concurred in `passage`
- **2019-05-03** House message: House concurred in Senate proposal of amendment
- **2019-05-10** Delivered to the Governor on May 10, 2019 `passage`
- **2019-05-16** Signed by Governor on May 16, 2019 `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-16** House message: Governor approved bill on May 16, 2019

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/994dc17e-1f5f-4017-aeea-2b782a2010e3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Vermont legislature records).