The Burlington charter change banning guns in bars, S.131, got an initial run-through in Senate Government Operations today

Quick, brief overview of bills and topics under review this week by Vermont Legislature committees.

Also, VT Senate on March 19 adopted a S.R.10, a resolution opposing Gov. Phil Scott’s proposed reorganization of the Department of Public Safety into an Agency.

No ideology – not Mari Cordes’, not mine, not Donald Trump’s, not Bernie Sanders’ – is so sacred that it may be allowed to suppress anyone’s right to speak and be heard. 

Outright Vermont, in collaboration with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, developed the “Full Spectrum Educator’s Guide to Implementing LGBTQ+ Inclusive Sex Ed,” which is currently being implemented widely in Vermont public schools through the Vermont Agency of Education.

“This is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. Vermont needs stronger ethics oversight for all three branches of government, not weaker.”

Poleway and two of his uniformed officers were standing in the corridor outside while Kessler delivered her ultimatum. They had not been asked by Kessler to remove the disruptive protesters, he said. 

The Clean Heat Standard rally at noon Wednesday, March 12 isn’t the only grassroots gathering at the State House this week.

Senate Transportation heard from people “traumatized” by roadside noise and truckers worried that the new law could reduce road safety.

A recent Pay Act provides a 6.4% state employee pay increase this year and a 5.2% increase next year, Vyhovsky said.

Will the House budget (just to cite one example) continue to allocate Title X family planning money to Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood of New England certainly hopes so – there was a request at the governor’s budget public hearing last week from PPNE for an increase in Medicaid for family planning for $85k state funds and a 90% federal fund match, which would bring the total up by $850k.

Raising Minimum Wage (S.67) to deal with higher livable wage and inflation also introduced.

House Bill 98, if enacted, would streamline adoption of children born through assisted reproduction, including intrauterine insemination, gamete donation, embryo donation, in vitro fertilization, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

70% of all Vermont inmates take substance abuse treatment meds in jail. Yet recidivism is high. The Scott admin wants more treatment options – including paying inmates for sobriety.

Rep. Headrick also has sponsored a bill requiring high-capacity, gender-neutral school bathrooms.

“The election never should have been certified,” Busa said.

People living in Vermont’s motels often lack the storage and cooking facilities to adequately prepare good meals, the committee was told. 

The mid-year allocation extends funding through June, the end of the fiscal year.

Ehlers has been nothing if not multifaceted in his more than two decades of Vermont political and policy involvement.

In recent years, for example, House Democrats have bemoaned the State’s failure to complete a flood control dam safety checklist as required by state law. 

Vermont is 75% forest (4.46 million acres.) In fact, trees consume half of Vermont’s total C02 emissions,

Will Medicaid for immigrants and transgender treatment imperil federal Medicaid funding for Vermont? Candidate Bruce Busa weighs in on the Battle of Bennington-1.

“There are far too many people with hundreds of law enforcement encounters, dozens of arrests and many active criminal court cases. Yet they’re still walking free,” Scott told the Legislature.