Work Week
With Town Meeting recess quickly approaching, committees worked diligently this week on priority legislation. The “crossover” deadline is March 17, the date by which House and Senate committees must vote bills out in order for the opposite chamber to consider them this year. That leaves only three weeks for legislative work since lawmakers do not meet the week of Town Meeting (March 6 through 10).
Committees in both chambers advanced major policy initiatives this week. The Senate Natural Resources and Energy committee voted 5-0 to approve S.5, the Affordable Heating Act. The House General and Housing committee voted 9-3 to approve H.66, the paid family and medical leave bill. Both S.5 and H.66 will be referred to other committees for consideration before they reach the floor.
As Senate committees met on Thursday morning, a strong smoldering odor was detected in the corridor adjacent to the committee rooms. Committees halted their deliberation as Capitol police officers and maintenance crews searched the statehouse for signs of fire. Fortunately, they cleared the threat, and it turned out to be a mishap resulting from work being done in the statehouse basement. Business resumed a short while later. On the bright side, the statehouse was not consumed by flames, unlike the previous statehouse which did burn in 1857.
BUDGET ADJUSTMENT
On Friday the Senate gave preliminary approval to the Budget Adjustment Act, the bill that makes mid-year adjustments to the current fiscal year that ends in July. Temporary housing is the area where there are significant differences between the governor’s proposal, the House-passed bill and the version the Senate is expected to give final approval to early next week. Here is a link to a summary of the Senate Appropriations committee’s proposal.
SCHOOL FUNDING
On Thursday, the House Education committee received an introduction to H.258, a bill that restricts public dollars to independent schools. Among other provisions, H.258 requires a school district that does not maintain an elementary or high school to designate up to three public schools to serve as the public school of the district. The bill also repeals the definition of approved independent school and the approved independent school approval process. The bill would essentially prohibit most independent schools from receiving public dollars. This proposal is of particular concern to more rural parts of the state where towns can be too small to operate their own public schools. With many lawmakers across the political spectrum representing districts that depend on independent schools to educate their children, this issue is expected to be contentious in both chambers.
FINANCIAL LITERACY
The House Environment & Energy committee took testimony this week on H.158, also known as the “Bottle Bill”. H.158 expands Vermont’s existing beverage container redemption program beyond beer and soda containers to include water bottles, wine bottles and sports drinks. The original Bottle Bill, passed in 1972, established a redemption system that charges consumers a small deposit when they buy certain beverages. This version of the Bottle Bill is nearly identical to last year’s version that failed to pass the Senate when the clock ran out at the end of the session. Stakeholders who oppose the bill say that it would increase the cost of recycling and create a hefty burden on distributors and redemption centers, among other businesses. One specific concern that has been highlighted is a provision which stipulates that there must be three redemption centers per county, at least one in any municipality with more than 7,000 people and one within a 15-minute drive of every person in the state, unless a waiver is granted.
SHIELD LAWS
This week the House Education committee reviewed H.228, a bill that proposes to guarantee to all Vermont high school students a full-semester course on personal finance before graduating. H.228 has widespread, tri-partisan support, and the committee of jurisdiction has indicated their interest in taking the issue up. As introduced, the bill allows for maximum curricular flexibility suited to local control, and would guarantee the following areas of study: behavioral economics, banking and bill payment, investing, types of credit, managing credit, paying for college, insurance, taxes, budgeting and consumer skills. A recent poll conducted by the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College found that 88 percent of Vermont adults believe that guaranteed access to a personal finance course for all Vermont high school students is urgently needed.
