Many big bills unfinished/ Guv appoints Dem to fill Progressive seat

By Guy Page

As rumors circulate through the State House that adjournment may be delayed until mid-next week to secure final passage of key legislation, House Speaker Jill Krowinski told VDC today that Friday, May 10 is the firm date for adjourning the 2024 session.

Unfinished business (as of Tuesday afternoon) includes:

• H.687, now in the Senate. Billed as Act 250/housing reform, it would change Vermont’s landmark land use/development law in ways that critics say would slow the addition of new housing, at least for several years. Gov. Scott has said he will veto it if passed as-is.

• H.887, the education funding reform bill now in the Senate. 

• H.883, the $8.6 billion state budget, has been passed by both House and Senate but with $2 million in spending and differing priorities now being worked out in a conference committee. 

• A plethora of public safety bills, including making retail theft an aggregate of $900 a felony.

And those are just the Big Names on the “gotta do” list. Many other lower-profile, but still important, bills awaiting final approval. Looks like a few late nights! 

Whether or not the session adjourns this week or next, a mid-June veto session is considered likely.

When the House passed S.259, VPIRG’s Sue Big Oil for Climate Change bill, Rep. Brian Smith (R-Derby) voted no and then went on the record with this statement:

“Extortion/suiing is not the answer….it should be noted that fossil fuel industries built the United States of America into the most powerful and once respected country in the world. Without fossil fuels, we would still be in the Middle Ages. Instead of suing, we should be helping them to develop cleaner burning methods.”

Stanak replacement – Gov. Phil Scott has appointed a Democrat, caterer Abbey Duke, to fill the Burlington House seat vacated by Emma Mulvaney-Stanak when she was elected mayor of Burlington.

Mulvaney-Stanak, a Progressive, expressed disappointment that Scott didn’t name a Progressive. Both the Democratic and Progressive parties of Burlington gave Scott a choice of three candidates. 

Duke is chair of the Burlington Parks and Recreation Board and operates Sugarsnap, a catering business. 

More $$ for fire, emergency training – S.310, a lengthy emergency resilience bill, includes $1.5 million for firefighter training and $450,000 for EMT training – both big jumps over current budget spending. The bill passed the House this week. 

Bills that passed both House and Senate since May 2 this week include:

S.184 – Temporary use of automated traffic law enforcement (ATLE) systems

S.186 – Systemic evaluation of recovery residences and recovery communities

H.72 – Safe injection sites, AKA harm-reduction criminal justice response to drug use

H.173 – Prohibiting manipulating a child for the purpose of sexual contact (replaces term ‘grooming’ with ‘manipulating.)

S.120 – Postsecondary schools and sexual misconduct protections

S.196 – Types of evidence permitted in weight of the evidence hearings

H.606 – Professional licensure allowed regardless of immigration status.