Both chambers pass bills this year, but none have become law – yet

By Guy Page

For better or worse, the Vermont Legislature has not yet passed any bills into law this year. 

The Senate last week passed two controversial anti-ICE bills. Both bills passed by a 27-2 roll call vote with only Sens. Russ Ingalls (R-Essex) and Terry Williams (R-Rutland) voting no. Both bills now move over to the Vermont House and the lower-chamber’s Judiciary Committee, which at present is split 5-5 Democrat/Republican pending the medical recovery of Rep. Kevin Christie (D-Hartford). 

S.208 attempts to demask and require identification of law enforcement agents. The bill is aimed at federal ICE agents, but given federal pre-emption is enforceable only among state and local police. 

S.209 “prohibits civil arrest in sensitive locations.” It would make arrests of suspected illegal immigrants virtually impossible as it would enable the suspects to claim they are coming from, going to, or currently at a ‘sensitive location’ – i.e. emergency shelter, health care appointment, court appearance, etc..

However, given federal pre-emption, the bill if passed into law would only affect local and state police conducting ‘civil arrests.’

In addition to immigration arrests, civil arrests (according to online sources) can generally be categorized into several types based on their purpose, such as enforcing court orders, compelling attendance in court, or ensuring compliance with legal obligations. Common examples include civil contempt arrests for failing to pay child support or appearing in court, and body attachments for witnesses who do not comply with subpoenas.

The Senate also has passed S.202, streamlining the permit approval process for portable solar power devices. 

However, both chambers have passed bills that are pending approval by the other chamber or resolution of differing versions of the same bill, or the Governor’s signature. 

Bills passed by the Senate this year:

Bills passed by the House this year:

Bi-partisan support for $100 million in federal funding – When the federal government wants to write Vermont a big check, support tends to be party-blind, even when the top dog in Washington is President Donald Trump. 

A bi-partisan list of members of the Vermont Legislature representing communities in the  Northeast Kingdom issued the following statement regarding the National  Telecommunication and Information Administration’s (NTIA) approval of Vermont’s $100  million plan to use Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding to extend access to reliable, high speed, and affordable broadband services to places where  it currently does not exist:  

“This award is a major step forward for many communities in our region. Universal  broadband internet access for rural Americans is long overdue. BEAD funding will  allow us to provide essential connectivity to the parts of the state that need it – and  will benefit from it – the most. We want to thank Vermont’s congressional  delegation, the Trump administration, the Vermont Community Broadband Board,  as well as Governor Scott. It was truly a team eKort. And, because of good  collaboration, our communities will benefit tremendously when we finally deliver on  the promise of universal access to affordable broadband services. This is the type of  cooperation, and bipartisan effort that we need across the board to handle the  serious challenges we face as a nation.”  

Legislators representing towns in Orleans, Essex and/or Caledonia counties signing on to this statement include: Sens. Scott Beck and Russ Ingalls, and Reps. Gregory Burtt, Scott Campbell, Deb Dolgin, Martha Feltus, Leanne Harple, Mark Higley, John Kascenska, Larry Labor, Mike Marcotte, Woodman Page, Joe Parsons, Debra Powers, and Beth Quimbly. 

Projects funded through BEAD will deliver broadband that meets or exceeds the federal  performance standard of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload.  

The $42.45 billion program provides funding to all U.S. states, territories, and the District of  Columbia to deploy or upgrade broadband infrastructure and ensure access to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet service. States were required to submit proposal roposals to NTIA describing how they will use BEAD funds to serve all eligible locations. BEAD requires recipients to finish the work within four years of the grant award.  

More information about Vermont’s BEAD and ongoing broadband efforts can be found on the  VCBB’s VT-BEAD webpage.

National Guard leader to give final ‘State of the Guard’ speech – Maj. Gen. Gregory Knight, Adjutant General of the Vermont National Guard, will give his last “State of the Guard” address to the Vermont Legislature on Thursday, February 19 at 9 a.m. at the Vermont State House. Maj. Gen. Knight will discuss the mission, purpose, and service of members of the Vermont National Guard.

Legislators are scheduled to pick a new adjutant general the following day.