But Senate may try to cut CHS funding from budget Wednesday
By Guy Page
In two words, freshman Rep. Rob North (R-Ferrisburgh) explains why he tried Tuesday morning to repeal the Clean Heat Standard on the floor of the Vermont House of Representatives:
“The voters,” North told VDC in a cafeteria conversation hours later.
Tuesday’s non-vote on repealing the 2023 law to convert home heat from fossil fuels to electricity happened like this: When the House brought up a Senate bill to increase (from 15 to 25 kilowatts) the size of solar projects qualifying for streamlined registration, North proposed an amendment to repeal the Clean Heat Standard.
Amendments have to be ‘germane’ to the underlying bill.
The Senate bill would expedite solar power, a source of electricity. The Clean Heat Standard would expedite electrification of Vermont homes. Kind of connected, right?
Wrong, said House Speaker Jill Krowinski, who promptly ruled North’s proposed amendment non-germane. House rules allow a Speaker to do that. Attaching a gun control amendment to, say, a contractor fraud bill? Non-germane. Attaching a homeowner anti-fraud education program to the same bill? Germane.
North explained that voters urged him to repeal the unpopular Clean Heat Standard, which incentivizes home heat electrification at the expense of homeowners who burn fossil fuels. He promised he would try. North defeated longtime Democrat lawmaker and House Appropriations Chair Diane Lanphere. It was one of the biggest upsets in a statewide election that overturned the House supermajority.
The Clean Heat Standard only passed in 2023 after supporters promised a ‘checkback’ vote this session, the sooner the better. Holding their feet to the fire, North and almost every other Republican on January 9 co-sponsored H.16, “repealing the Affordable Heating Act.”
And they waited. January, February, and March passed.
Today, with April almost gone, H.16 continues to collect dust on the wall of the House Energy and Digital Technology Committee. Committee leadership told members early on that the CHS repeal bill would go nowhere. They’ve been true to their word.
Over in the Senate, Republicans sought a straight up-and-down CHS repeal vote. Despite some high-profile parliamentary maneuvering and committee discussion, repeal hasn’t happened in the Upper Chamber, either.
But tomorrow, the Senate could see a CHS repeal roll call vote, of sorts. Minority Leader Sen. Scott Beck (R-Caledonia) told VDC today he may try to “poke in” an amendment to strip CHS funding from the 2025-26 budget. If the amendment vote happens, and if the roll is called, voters will have a good idea where their senators stand on repealing the Clean Heat Standard.
Constituents may contact senators at the State House by phone at 802-828-2228 or by email (see below).