By Michael Bielawski
With the Crossover deadline for most bills to be voted out of committee set for March 15, House bills under committee review this week include expanding “Dr. Dynasaur” healthcare to adults, pushing more public money towards climate mandates, new taxes on income and more. Agendas published weekly on the Legislature’s website are subject to change.
The Renewable Energy Standard – H. 289 – (Tuesday, House Committee on Ways and Means) Sponsored by Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, and others. This update to the state’s current Renewable Energy Standard (RES) would require 100% of Vermont utility’s electricity be derived from renewable power. i
The RES sets required carbon-reduction goals in transportation, heating, and electricity production. Joyce Manchester, a Senior Economist/Associate Fiscal Officer for the Joint Fiscal Office is invited. Specifically, H.289 requires that 63 percent of each retail electricity provider’s annual retail electric sales during 2023, increasing by an additional 10.6 percent every two years, until reaching 100 percent by Jan. 1 2030.
A recent poll by Campaign for Vermont shows Vermonters don’t want to pay anything at all to support the Democrat’s climate agenda.
Equity in Zoning policy? H. 687 – (Tuesday, House Committee on Environment and Energy) Sponsored by Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, and others. It’s unclear how racial equity pertains to land use policy, but Jay Greene, who is Racial Equity Policy & Research Analyst for the Office of Racial Equity, will speak to the committee. The bill itself deals with land conservation and development policies related to Act 250, the state’s zoning law. It “provides a regulatory framework that supports the vision for Vermont of human and natural community resilience and biodiversity protection in the face of climate change.”
Homeless Bill of Rights committee vote – H. 132 (Tuesday, House Committee on General and Housing) Sponsored by Rep. Thomas Stevens, D-Waterbury, and others. This bill deals with the rights of homeless people in Vermont. It would allow homeless people “to use and move freely in public places, including public sidewalks, parks, transportation, and buildings, in the same manner as any other individual and without discrimination on the basis of the individual’s housing status.” Past versions of the Homeless Bill of Rights have foundered on downtown business owners’ concerns that homeless people will be a nuisance to shoppers and diners in municipal economic centers.
Ban on ‘no cause’ evictions – H. 616 (Tuesday, House Committee on General and Housing) Sponsored by Rep. Thomas Stevens, D-Waterbury. Jean Murray who is the director of the Housing for Everyone Law Project for Vermont Legal Aid will speak to the committee. The intent is for “temporary protections to tenants against no-cause evictions.” The bill does not specify what constitutes a “no-cause eviction” but it does list situations that will continue to be justified evictions such as not paying rent or criminal activity.
Landlords have objected to similar bans on the grounds that evicting tenants at the conclusion of their lease is not permitted. They say ‘no cause’ evictions would essentially grant a life-time occupancy to an apartment, unless the landlord can demonstrate the tenant has violated one of the limited number of eviction-worthy rules.
Short-term rental housing registry – H. 449 (Wednesday, House Committee on General and Housing) Sponsored by Rep. Tesha Buss, D-Woodstock.
Julie Marks who is Founder and Director of the Vermont Short Term Rental Alliance Inc. will speak among others. The bill states, “An owner of a short-term rental… shall, annually, within 30 days after renting a unit, register with and pay to the Department of Housing and Community Development an annual registration fee of $135.00 per rental unit.”
Dr. Dynasaur for adults – H. 721 (Wednesday, House Committee on Health Care) Sponsored by Rep. Lori Houghton, D-Essex Junction)
In all there are 11 people invited or scheduled to testify, and there will be a possible vote on Friday. This is about “expanding access to Medicaid and Dr. Dynasaur” including to let young adults up to age 26 use Dr. Dynasaur, a program intended originally to serve children and teens. It also increases Medicaid reimbursement rates to providers. No cost figure is included in the bill, although it does authorize a $250,000 study to plan for some of the proposed transitions.
Banning flavored tobacco and E-liquids? – S. 18 (Tuesday, House Human Services) Sponsored by Sen. Virginia “Ginny” Lyons, D-Chittenden, and others.
Jennifer Carbee who is Director and Chief Counsel for the Office of Legislative Counsel is invited. It was recently pointed out on VDC that these efforts to ban certain nicotine products could fail because the state could lose $7-14 million in tax revenues.
Wealth Tax – H. 828 (Wednesday, House Committee on Ways and Means) Sponsored by Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro.
This is an “act relating to the creation of a personal income tax surcharge” – AKA a Wealth Tax. Patrick Titterton who is Senior Fiscal Analyst for the Joint Fiscal Office will testify and others. It calls for a 3% income tax on Vermonters making over $500,000.
Climate infrastructure – H. 586 (Thursday, House Committee on Ways and Means) Sponsored by Rep. Katherine “Kari” Dolan (D) Waitsfield, and others.
This relates to “flood protection and climate resilience infrastructure and financing.” Chirag Lala who does energy policy for the Center for Public Enterprise and others are invited. Again at a time when Vermonters have voiced in a poll that they want no new expenses associated with the climate agenda, this bill states “There is established within the Authority the Climate Infrastructure and Resilience Fund, the purpose of which shall be to enable the Authority to make loans and provide other forms of financing for climate change mitigation and resilience project.”
Saving the bees – H. 706 (Wednesday, House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry) Sponsored by Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman, P-Middletown Springs, and others.
This bill is to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are considered dangerous to bees and humans. Legislative Counsel Michael O’Grady will be speaking among others. Its text states, “This bill proposes to prohibit the sale, offer for sale or use, distribution, or use of any neonicotinoid treated article seed for soybeans or for any crop in the cereal grains crop group. The bill would also prohibit the application or treatment with a neonicotinoid pesticide for multiple other uses.”
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle