By Michael Bielawski
Senate bills under committee review this week include a ban on social media in schools, more government services for New Americans, more school equity, and criminalizing possession of guns without serial numbers. Agendas published weekly on the Legislature’s website are subject to change.
Banning social media/personal electronics in schools – S. 284 (Thursday, Senate Committee on Education) Sponsored by Sen. Terry Williams, R-Rutland, and others.
Lawmakers will discuss this bill that would prohibit “personal digital products and social media” in schools. This includes public schools, independent schools, technical centers, and pre-qualified private prekindergarten programs.
It further states that schools must come up with new non-technology based methods. It will “require the adoption of policies that would allow students to opt out of the use of electronic devices and online products, with schools required to provide alternative instruction methods.”
Government services for New Americans – S. 194 (Thursday, Senate Committee on Government Operations) Sponsored by Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick, D-Chittenden County, and others.
This bill seeks to create an “Office of New Americans” which will work on “the transfer or consolidation of existing governmental services for New Americans that would be more efficiently provided by a new Office of New Americans.”
Education Equity Team Pilot Project and Report – S. 282 (Wednesday, Senate Committee on Education) Sponsored by Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor.
Lawmakers will hear from Addie Lentzner and Emilie Maikoo, Co-Executive Directors of the Vermont Students’ Anti-Racism Network about their plan for an Education Equity Team Pilot Project to be created by an Equity Team Commission.
The bill states that “Equity teams will focus on antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion by reviewing equity related policies and curriculum and will each receive a stipend of $10,000.00 to support their work.”
Allowing online-only public meetings? – S. 55 (Wednesday, Senate Committee on Government Operations) Sponsored by Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Woodstock, and others.
Lawmakers will look at allowing public meetings “to meet through electronic means without designating a physical meeting location.”
Gov. Phil Scott signed Act 1 in 2023 which extended until July 1 of 2024 that Vermonters could hold public meetings without a physical location.
Serializing all guns? – S. 209 (Wednesday, Senate Committee on Judiciary) Sponsored by Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, and others.
Lawmakers will work on this bill that “would prohibit unserialized firearms and unserialized firearms frames and receivers.”
Last week lawmakers in this committee were told that gun serialization does not produce “any crime-reducing benefits” by Dr John Lott, an international expert on crime prevention. He did say that serialization could lead to future gun confiscations.
More carbon taxes – S. 259 (Thursday, Senate Committee on Judiciary) Sponsored by Sen. Anne Watson, D-Washington, and others.
Lawmakers will continue to hear about what essentially would be a retro-active carbon tax for businesses that use carbon-based energy. Revenue would establish a carbon-reduction Superfund controlled by the State of Vermont.
It states, “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.”
Bail and Conditions of Release (Tuesday, Senate Committee on Judiciary)
Legislative Counsel Benjamin Novogroski will discuss “Bail and Conditions of Release” according to the agenda. This could be important because there is a growing frustration among some Vermonters that the justice system is being too lenient by letting persons suspected or convicted of crimes back onto the streets.
In December of 2023 a legislative task force was looking into whether to eliminate cash bail.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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Categories: Legislation
No social media in school. Didn’t think you had to make a law. First the parents should ban it, then individual schools should ban it. We don’t need Big Brother telling us what to do or not do. I agree, they should not have distractions, but a law?
“New Americans”? Well, unless they entered legally and plan to stay here and be productive members of society, we shouldn’t be spending any money one them. Spend some on our veterans first.
Equity project. Anytime you use the word “equity” means someone is getting the shaft.
Serializing guns… because criminals are going to comply or are worried about it. How incredibly stupid are our lawmakers? Well, this shows you just how stupid they are. Stupid is as stupid does.
Our lawmakers aren’t stupid. They are braindead! Empty craniums!
Pam, I respectfully disagree. I definitely think we do need to ban social media in schools. The entire K12 school system has been captured by people with perverse incentives – incentives do not align with the success of our children. It’s long past time that lawmakers take action.
Regarding the serializing of all guns, I guess I might be in trouble by saying that Senator Sears really lives up to his name.
Remember Senator – when the right-to-carry, free state of Vermont was the safest state in the Union and gun crimes were nary an issue? Of course, that merely lasted only just over 200 years until you & your “party” decided to defund the police, forcibly “diversify” the state, and pander to out-of-state drug dealers & illegal immigrants.
Let’s just be ostriches and bury our heads in the sand about the invisible frequencies that our US Gov’t has been studying since the 40s, on uses for the military, now ubiquitous frequency by frequency from our phones, laptops, cell towers, antennae…and those ‘safety devices’ we give the elderly and our young to …rrrrrmmm…keep them safe.
I don’t like being treated like a mushroom and this article sidesteps that all these frequencies undermine LIFE itself…
The devil is in the details…literally…
But…we can’t see it so don’t worry about that tsunami off shore about…extinct ALL life on the planet…
Moooowwaaaaaahhhhh!
EHT Trust dot com is a great place to start your dedjucation and why children are being targeted: sterilization, diabetes, autism, immune deficiencies… you name it… Arthur Firstenberg is right.
Save the children! They only have US to do so. No gov’t will.
all these issues try to keep you confused///
“Office of New Americans”. 🤣
The only way we would need this is if our “New Americans” were here illegally. I was a “New American” 30 years ago back in 1994. I entered legally, worked hard, paid my taxes and took my citizenship in 2015 so that I could vote in the 2016 election – the first time I had felt compelled to vote. You really don’t need an Office or even an Attorney. The process is remarkably simple. Unless you’re an illegal maybe – then I could see how it could be a bit challenging.
Yes Jon, this office you speak of is specifically to beckon/pander to not only illegals, but the “migrants” the state keeps formally requesting from regions like sub-Sahara Africa in order to “re-settle” them here in Vermont since VT is “too white” or “too European” to be worthy of continuance without forced diversification.
FIVE HUNDRED “migrants” from Africa & Afghanistan are slated to begin receiving “free” social welfare benefits here in 2024 alone.
They then create this imaginary “housing crisis” in order to get VT taxpayers to spend yet MORE money to house these indigent & unskilled peoples who have either little- to-no interest in assimilation – after manipulating Vermonters into thinking that these housing initiatives shall somehow benefit their own heirs.
American culture is being torn asunder and the varied, intricate little distinctions that each of the states, over the course of two centuries, developed & celebrated, are being decimated.
Apparently of course – the cultures of all foreign entities are to be honored, while our own culture of “Americana” is to be shamed and disgraced.
A grand group of “fellow travelers” are these leftists occupying Montpelier & our purple mountains majesty.