By Michael Bielawski
This week lawmakers in the House will look at divestment from carbon fuels, new funding for school construction projects, and more. Agendas published weekly on the Legislature’s website are subject to change. The agenda for all the committees can be seen here.
Divestment from carbon-based fuels – S. 42 (Thursday, House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs) Sponsored by Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden.
This bill is to ”Require the Vermont Pension Investment Commission to 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.”
It continues that by July 1, 2031, it is expected that all carbon-based fuel investments will be finished.
Last year lawmakers were told by Thomas Golonka, chair of the Vermont Pension Investment Commission (VPIC), that it’s “not in the fiduciaries’ interest” to mandate investment decisions based on climate policy.
Money for school construction – H. 871 (Wednesday, House Committee on Education) Sponsored by the House Committee on Education.
This bill seeks to update state aid for school construction. It would create a “Facilities Master Plan Grant Program to support supervisory unions and independent career and technical education districts to support the development of a master plan that complies with State construction aid requirements.”
At the start of this 2024 session, state education officials told lawmakers they need about $6.3 billion over the next 21 years to keep school infrastructure properly updated. A copy of the latest School Construction and Taskforce Report can be read here.
Gun Serial Numbers – S. 209 (Wednesday, House Committee on Judiciary) Sponsored by Sen. Richard Sears Jr., D-Bennington, and others.
This bill would “prohibit the possession and transfer of unserialized firearms and unserialized firearms frames and receivers, also known as ghost guns.”
It’s going to see a lot of testimony for and against this week including Elisabeth Ryan who is policy counsel for Everytown for Gun Safety on Wednesday. On Thursday nine more speakers are invited and another is scheduled. Among those is Chris Bradley who is president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsman Club and Dr. John Lott who is president of the Crime Prevention Research Group.
Lott has spoken to the committee already this year stating that tracking serial numbers draws a lot of time and money away from policing but produces no tangible results in terms of solving crimes.
Education Spending (Thursday, House Committee on Education)
It will be a Joint hearing with the House Ways and Means Committee. Senior Fiscal Analyst for the Joint Fiscal Office Julia Richter, legislative counsel Beth St. James, and the director of education finance for the Agency of Education Nicole Lee will testify.
Education spending continues to be controversial with roughly a third of the state’s school budgets voted down on Town Meeting Day as the state predicts a 20% rise in property taxes.
Protection from evictions – H. 829 (Tuesday, House Committee on Environment and Energy) Sponsored by Rep. Thomas Stevens, D-Waterbury.
This bill would “restore, enhance, and supplement elements of Vermont’s pandemic-era housing policy that ceased with the termination of federal pandemic aid by implementing permanent upstream eviction protections and other rental housing policies to preserve housing stability for both tenants and property owners.”
Such would be achieved by creating a rental registry and “allocating resources for eviction diversion; modernizing policies on just cause evictions, rent increases, and security deposits; and creating programs for property owners to access funding to remediate damages created during recent tenancies.”
Security Briefing (Wednesday, House Committee on Education)
Seven other committees (spanning the House and Senate) will hear from Sergeant-At-Arms Agatha Kessler, acting chief for the Capitol Police Kevin Williams, and chief John Poleway also for the Capitol Police and the latest security updates concerning the Statehouse itself.
Statehouse security can be vital. For example, in 1935 presidential candidate Huey Long was assassinated at the Louisiana State Capitol.
Children’s healthcare for adults – H. 721 (Tuesday, House Committee on Ways and Means) Sponsored by Rep. Lori Houghton, D-Essex Junction, and others.
Rep. Robin Scheu, D-Middlebury, who is reporter for the House Committee on Appropriations, will speak.
This bill would “increase eligibility for the Dr. Dynasaur program and for Dr. Dynasaur-like coverage to include income-eligible young adults up to 26 years of age. The bill would increase the income eligibility thresholds for adults in the Medicaid program over time until they reach the same level as Dr. Dynasaur.”
It’s not clear how much it’s going to cost, but the study to find out will cost $250,000.
Land conservation H. 687 (Tuesday, House Committee on Ways and Means) Sponsored by Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, and Rep. Seth Bongartz, D-Manchester.
Rep. Trevor Squirrell, D-Underhill Center, who is reporter for the House Committee on Appropriations, will speak.
The bill states it is “to further assist the State in achieving the conservation vision and goals for the State established in 10 V.S.A. § 2802.
The law referenced states that this means in terms of land kept from development. It states the goal is to reach “30 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050 [and] shall include a mix of ecological reserve areas, biodiversity conservation areas, and natural resource management areas.”
PCBs in schools – H. 873 (Tuesday, House Committee on Ways and Means) Sponsored by the House Committee on Education.
This bill is to “provide that if a school is required to test for the presence of PCBs, the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) shall conduct the testing or pay for the testing.”
Political commentator Rob Roper has written how as the true cost of removing PCBs has come to light, lawmakers may have cold feet after all when it comes to financing this ambition. Agency of Natural Resources’ Secretary Julie Moore estimates the cost for the PCB program for the next two years to be between $30 and $70 million.
Medicaid for a Doula? – S. 109 (Friday, House Committee on Health Care) Sponsored by Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick, D-Chittenden Central.
This bill proposes to “require Medicaid coverage for doula services during labor and birth and for the prenatal and postpartum periods.”
It also sets the amounts to be paid. It states that “coverage available for doula services per pregnancy, regardless of the number of infants involved, which shall be billed on a fee-for-service basis, shall not exceed $850.00.”
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle