Lottie Manoli was recommended for confirmation as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) by the Senate Institutions Committee on a 5-0 voice vote after a committee hearing in which Manoli described her 38-year career in state government and outlined priorities for the agency.

Manoli told the committee she began her career in the 1980s at the Department of Education in a program called public school approval and later worked on school construction and capital planning. She said she moved to Buildings and General Services (BGS) in 1999 to oversee capital budgeting and planning, helped expand the capital bill from a one-year to a two-year cycle and contributed to development of a 10-year planning statute. Manoli also said she served as deputy commissioner at BGS and later became commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in 2018.

"I will not disappoint. You or my team or the governor or the state of Vermont," Manoli said after the roll call vote.

Manoli told senators she led a core IT modernization at DMV after the Legislature allocated $50,000,000 over two years and said the project remained on budget and on schedule when she left. She described experience working with school districts on licensing and endorsement issues, efforts to add nonbinary options on licenses, and the importance of translating materials and balancing regulatory requirements with operational realities. She told the committee she plans to listen to staff, seek recommendations from front-line employees, and give clear direction when necessary.

During the hearing senators complimented Manoli's record and asked how the committee could best support the agency. Senator Sam moved to recommend favorable confirmation; the motion was seconded (speaker for the second not specified in the transcript) and the committee proceeded to a roll-call vote. Senators recorded as voting "yes" were Robert Duncan, Ross Nichols, Joseph Major and Wendy Harrison; the clerk announced a 5-0-0 result.

The committee hearing focused on Manoli's professional background and management approach; no other formal actions or amendments were recorded on the confirmation motion during the hearing.