By Michael Bielawski

This week lawmakers in the House will look at divestment from carbon fuels, a retroactive carbon tax, and more. Agendas published weekly on the Legislature’s website are subject to change. The agenda for all the committees can be seen here.

A retroactive carbon tax? – S. 259 (Thursday, House Committee on Environment and Energy) Sponsored by Sen. Anne Watson, D-Washington County.

This bill proposes to “This bill proposes to establish the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program at the Agency of Natural Resources. Under the Program, an entity or a successor in interest to an entity that was engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2019 would be assessed a cost recovery demand for the entity’s share of fossil fuel extraction or refinement contributing to greenhouse gas-related costs in Vermont.”

Burlington also has a carbon tax in effect as of this year. “The ‘carbon pollution impact fee’ applies to developers seeking permits to work on new or existing buildings of 50,000 square feet or larger, with an exception for existing housing and historic buildings. The fee is set to be $150 per ton of emissions,” VDC reported.

Divestment from carbon fuels – S. 42 (Thursday, House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs) Sponsored by Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden, and others.

This bill would “require the Vermont Pension Investment Commission to (1) on or before August 15, 2023, review the assets of the Vermont State Employees’ Retirement System, the State Teachers’ Retirement System, and the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System to determine the extent to which they are invested in the fossil fuel industry.” 

The text continues that all divestment from carbon-based fuels must be complete by Dec. 31, 2030.

According to an analysis by Forbes, using politics to guide investments is a costly policy.

“Over the past decade, climate and environmental activists have pushed organizations to divest fossil fuel investments. According to Gofossilfree.org — an organization that describes itself as “A global movement to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all” — to date 1,552 institutions have divested. The total value of the institutions divesting is estimated to be $40.5 trillion,” they wrote in 2022.

More payouts for car accidents? – S. 150 (Wednesday, House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development) Sponsored by Sen. Richard Sears Jr., D-Bennington, and others.

This bill deals with changes to car insurance requirements. It states, “First, the bill increases the statutorily required minimum coverage for uninsured and underinsured motorists.”

It continues, “Second, it prohibits an insurer from deducting from the underinsurance motorist coverage available to a claimant any payments the claimant receives through the at-fault driver’s liability insurance policy.”

Harder to stay out of jail? – S. 195 (Tuesday, House Committee on Corrections and Institutions) Sponsored by Sen. Brian Collamore, R-Rutland, and others.

This bill would require judicial officers to offer more consideration to the nature of the crimes committed when determining the conditions of a release. It states, “This bill proposes to add the number of offenses with which a defendant is charged and the recent history of pending charges against a defendant as explicit factors a court considers in imposing conditions of release.”

It further states, “In determining whether the defendant presents a risk of flight from prosecution, the judicial officer shall consider, in addition to any other factors, the seriousness of the offense charged and the number of offenses with which the person is charged.”

More help with reading – S. 204 (Tuesday, House Committee on Education) Sponsored by Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick, D-Chittenden Central, and others.

This bill would have the Agency of Education approve “universal reading screeners” for both public and independent schools. It would further allow “school districts and approved independent schools to provide reading interventions for students who exhibit substantial deficiencies in reading.”

VDC covered the concerning situation in Vermont regarding students’ falling reading performances.

“The VT SBAC Reading chart (below) shows the percentage of students in grades 3 through 9 who performed at or above proficiency in reading from 2018 to 2022. In 2022, just over 40% of 3rd-grade students (bottom line in chart) were considered proficient or above in reading. That means 60% of students were reading below grade level, a full year after returning to in-person schooling.”

Education Spending (Thursday, Joint hearing of the House Ways and Means and House Committee on Education)

Julia Richter, the Senior Fiscal Analyst for the Joint Fiscal Office, and Legislative Counsel Beth St. James will speak.

Commissioner of Taxes Craig Bolio has been one of several government officials warning that the state faces around 20% in new property taxes next year.

“This forecast predicts an unprecedented property tax increase next year, with very real financial impacts at a time Vermonters are already struggling to pay for housing,” he said in November.

A constitutional amendment for collective bargaining – PR. 3 (Wednesday, House Committee on General and Housing) Sponsored by Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, and others.

It proposes that “That employees have a right to organize or join a labor organization for the purpose of collectively bargaining with their employer through an exclusive representative of their choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions and to protect their economic welfare and safety in the workplace.”

Political commentator Rob Roper has sounded the alarm that this is not going to help workers in the end. He wrote, “– the First Amendment already guarantees the right to peaceably assemble, often interpreted as freedom of association – this so-called ‘right to collectively bargain’ effectively strips, in key cases, one’s right to individually bargain on one’s own behalf. That’s not a good thing.”

A right to collective bargaining – S. 102 (Wednesday, House Committee on General and Housing) Sponsored by Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden, and others.

In addition to a Constitutional amendment, this bill would also like to codify their new ideas for collective bargaining into law.

This bill would, “This bill proposes to establish a good cause standard for termination of employment, require employers to provide severance pay to terminated employees, and permit employees or representative organizations to bring an enforcement action on behalf of the State for violations of the good cause termination requirement. This bill also proposes to prohibit employers from taking adverse employment actions against an employee in relation to the employee’s exercise of free speech rights.”

Public meetings without a location –  S. 55 (Tuesday, House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs) Sponsored by Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, and others.

“This bill proposes to amend the Open Meeting Law to authorize public bodies to meet through electronic means without designating a physical meeting location.

Lawmakers have seen testimony already this year warning them that this is not the standard long-held for public meetings. According to the First Amendment Coalition, “A quorum of members must meet in one publicly accessible physical location inside the jurisdictional territory. Individual members cannot participate remotely for more than three consecutive months, 20 percent of regular meetings or twice in a calendar year for bodies that meet fewer than 10 times per year.”