By Guy Page
A Putney lawmaker and three other Democrats have introduced a bill that would ban possession of ‘semi-automatic assault weapons.’
Under H582, police and soldiers would be exempt. The bill defines a ‘semi-automatic assault weapon’ as a semiautomatic rifle that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following features: “a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon” and several other features.
The lead sponsor is Rep. Mike Mrowicki (D-Putney). Other sponsors are Rep. Daisy Berbeco (Winooski), Melanie Carpenter (D-Hyde Park), and Leslie Goldman (Bellows Falls).
Flood control and resilience is clearly on the minds of lawmakers, including many who live in flood-ravaged central Vermont. And, they’re linking flood control with “climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience.”
H586, sponsored by Kari Dolan (D-Waitsfield) and 25 others, would create the Climate Infrastructure and Resilience Fund, including a board and staff. It would be funded by 2.5% of the state’s cash balance plus gifts from private or private sources. The Fund would “establish or authorize additional activities for the financing of climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience projects.”
H582 and H586 are among the 100+ new bills introduced on the first day of the 2024 Legislature. Yesterday VDC published a partial list, with more today (see both batches below). The titles and purposes of other new bills will be explained as time permits.
| H.603 | Poultry slaughter exception to inspection. Repeals “whole bird” requirement that small farms can sell only the whole slaughtered bird to restaurants, farmers’ markets, and farm stands. Suprenant (D/P-Barnard). |
| H.602 | Prohibits the construction or operation of any new facility that uses plastic in a regulated technology, such as energy generation, pyrolysis, or combustion. The bill also would ban any State incentive for a regulated technology that uses plastics. Satkowitz (D-Randolph). |
| H.601 | Prohibits toxic chemicals in plastic packaging, including PFAs, polystyrene, and polycarbonate. Satkowitz. |
| H.600 | Nondiscrimination concerning a parent with a disability. Prohibits using an individual’s disability as a reason to deny or restrict the rights and responsibilities of a parent, prospective parent, foster parent, or guardian unless doing so is in the best interests of the child. Conor Casey (D-Montpelier). |
| H.599 | Retroactively reinstating 10 V.S.A. § 6081(b). This original Act 250 subsection was repealed. It provides a ‘grandfather’ Act 250 review exemption for projects begun before 1970. Sheldon (D-Middlebury). |
| H.598 | Holding local hearings on hospital budgets. Requires Green Mountain Care Board to hold hearings on hospital budgets in the communities where the hospitals are located. Marcotte (R-Coventry). |
| H.597 | Collection, sale, and possession of wildlife. Authorizes Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife to regulate the sale or possession of reptiles and amphibians in the State. The bill also would amend provisions related to the sale of bear parts. Brennan (R-Colchester). |
| H.596 | Eligibility of reserve forestland for use value appraisal. Cuts in half the percentage of reserve forestland that must be composed of significant and sensitive conditions. Stebbins (D-Burlington). |
| H.595 | Repeals Department of Fish and Wildlife requirement to reimburse farmers for damage to crops from deer or bear. Brennan. |
| H.594 | Exempts Social Security income from Vermont income tax. Charles Wilson (R-Lyndon). |
| H.593 | Creates refundable $500 tax credit for volunteer emergency responders. Harrison (R-Chittenden). |
| H.592 | Tax benefits for school sports officiating. Excludes from taxable income the income received for officiating school sporting events and creates a sales tax exemption for tangible personal property used by officials in school sporting events. |
| H.591 | Examination of State funding that supports public safety and correctional programs. Creates study to shift more police, prison funding to General Fund. Squirrel (D-Underhill). |
| H.590 | Provides insurance protections and leave from employment for living donors. Noyes (D-Wolcott). |
| H.589 | Aquatic nuisance control. Creates a state policy of using pesticides as a measure of last resort in aquatic nuisance control after other nonchemical methods have failed. Bongartz. |
| H.588 | Tightens language regarding the taking of threatened or endangered species. Brennan. |
| H.587 | Tightens language regarding enforcement of fish and wildlife violations. Brennan. |
| H.586 | Flood protection and climate resilience infrastructure and financing. Creates Climate Infrastructure and Resilience Fund, including a board and staff. Funded by 2.5% of state’s cash balance plus gifts from private or private sources. Dolan (D-Waitsfield). |
| H.585 | Amending the pension system for sheriffs and certain deputy sheriffs. Offers sheriffs and qualified deputy sheriffs an opportunity to join Group G of the Vermont State Employees’ Retirement System. Mrowicki (D-Putney). |
| H.584 | Jurisdiction in juvenile proceedings. Extends implementation date for the Raise the Age juvenile justice initiative from July 1, 2024 to the date that the Secretary of Human Services provides. Requires proceedings against persons ages 14–21 charged with serious crimes originate in criminal court. Goslant (R-Northfield). |
| H.583 | Donor Intent Protection Act. Provides legal recourse to individual charitable donors when their giving restrictions are not followed by a recipient charitable organization according to an endowment agreement. Burditt (R-W. Rutland). |
| H.582 | Prohibits possession of semiautomatic assault weapons. The bill defines this weapon as a semiautomatic rifle that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following features: “a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon” and several other features. Mrowicki (D-Putney) |
| H.581 | Bail and violations of conditions of release. Increases amount of bail that may be imposed. Sibilia (I-Dorset). |
Explanation and sponsors of the bills below were published yesterday:
| H.625 | Study Committee on Dam Emergency Action Planning. Moves emergency planning responsibility from municipalities to regional organizations. Lead sponsor: Mihaly (D-Calais). |
| H.624 | Providing financial assistance to the forest economy. Pays loggers to implement water quality protection and climate adaptation practices. Sims (D-Craftsbury). |
| H.623 | Access to public transit in rural Vermont. Provides sufficient public transit service to rural Vermonters in a manner sustainable by rural public transit providers. Carpenter (D-Hyde Park). |
| H.622 | Emergency medical services. Expands Medicaid payment for more ambulance services, pays for training, creates statewide ambulance planning infrastructure. Sims. |
| H.621 | Health insurance coverage for diagnostic breast imaging. Requires health insurance plans to cover diagnostic breast imaging services without cost sharing. Sibilia (I-Dover). |
| H.620 | Health insurance coverage for diagnostic tests used for screening purposes. Similar to H621. Carpenter. |
| H.619 | Creating reciprocal rights to landlord-tenant attorney’s fees and expenses. If lease says landlord is entitled to recovering legal fees, tenant must have same coverage. Andriano (D-Orwell). |
| H.618 | Expands definition of a mobile home park to include a community of mobile home owners who own their own lots. Arsenault (D-Williston). |
| H.617 | Residential rental application fees. Defines “application fees,” which existing law prohibits residential landlords from charging to prospective renters. Stevens (D-Waterbury). |
| H.616 | Bans no-cause eviction of residential tenants and defines just cause for eviction. Stevens. |
| H.615 | Transfers safety jurisdiction over certain hydroelectric dams from Public Utilities Commission to VT Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Mihaly. |
| H.614 | Land improvement fraud and timber trespass. Creates the crime of land improvement fraud, including forestry operations. Requires posting a surety bond or letter of credit with the Attorney General for a person who commits multiple violations of land improvement fraud. Mihaly. |
| H.613 | Disclosure of a sexually explicit depiction without consent. Establish a private civil right action if a person creates or discloses a digitized depiction of another person in sexually explicit material without that person’s consent. Burrows (D-Windsor). |
| H.612 | Miscellaneous cannabis amendments. Redefine some hemp products as cannabis products depending on the product’s intoxicating effect, eliminates THC caps on cannabis flower and solid and liquid concentrates, reduces cannabis production and retail fees and regulations. McCarthy (D-St. Albans). |
| H.611 | Creates study committee for the uniform sales and use tax revenue for all municipalities. Beck (R-St. Johnsbury). |
| H.610 | Creates personal tax credit for home modifications for safety and livability. Stone (P-Burlington). |
| H.609 | Repeal the Motorboat Registration Fund and establish the Lake Protection and Access Pass, which owners or operators of motorboats and nonmotorized vessels would be required to annually obtain and affix to vessels in order to operate on state waters. Stebbins (P-Burlington). |
| H.608 | Nonresidential property tax surcharge. Allows municipalities to create a nonresidential property tax surcharge to support the rehab of blighted property and fund public safety. Howard (D-Rutland). |
| H.607 | Business owner transparency. Helps consumers more easily determine if a business is owned and operated by a person in Vermont or by an outside entity. Pearl (D-Danville). |
| H.606 | Professional licensure and immigration status. Enables individuals who meet the requirements for professional licenses to be granted those licenses regardless of their immigration status or lack thereof. Cole (D-White River Junction). |
| H.605 | Prostitution. Eliminate offenses related to the location of prostitution while retaining the offenses of aiding or abetting, engaging in, or procuring or soliciting prostitution. Casey (D-Montpelier). |
| H.604 | Statewide grid resilience plan. Requires Vermont Climate Action Office, in consultation with the Department of Public Service, to study the costs and benefits of implementing a statewide grid resilience plan applicable to all Vermont electric utilities that would reduce impacts due to extreme weather and natural disasters. Sibilia. |
| H.580 | the types of evidence permitted in weight of the evidence hearings |
| H.579 | organized retail theft, aggravated retail theft, and retail theft with the intent to resell |
| H.578 | requirements for the pay plans of certain law enforcement officers and firefighters employed by the State |
| H.577 | providing legal assistance to the Access Board |
| H.576 | studying supplemental funding for the Unemployment Insurance Program |
| H.575 | the Community Media Public Benefit Fund |
| H.574 | residential service upgrades for beneficial electrification |
| H.573 | the Rare Disease Advisory Council |
| H.572 | enacting the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact |
| H.571 | requirements for operator’s license reinstatement following a conviction of driving under the influence |
| H.570 | attorney’s fees in civil actions |
| H.569 | use of administrative use controls at contaminated sites |
| H.568 | the Municipal Planning and Resilience Grant Program |
| H.567 | the sale of dogs, cats, and wolf-hybrids by pet shops |
| H.566 | consideration of community impact at sentencing hearing |
| H.565 | technical amendments to the child support statutes |
| H.564 | entering a vehicle without legal authority or consent |
| H.563 | attempted auto theft |
| H.562 | the temporary use of automated traffic law enforcement (ATLE) systems |
| H.561 | prohibiting firearms at polling places and requiring that lost or stolen firearms be reported to a law enforcement agency |
| H.560 | making technical corrections to workers’ compensation rulemaking requirements |
| H.559 | a voluntary license to purchase firearms |
| H.558 | operating a motor vehicle without consent of the owner |
| H.557 | monitoring the homeowners insurance market in Vermont and protecting consumers |
| H.556 | requiring mobile home park flood risk disclosure |
| H.555 | enclosing the Vermont State Hospital cemetery |
| H.554 | approval of the adoption of the charter of the Town of South Hero |
| H.553 | the right of entry following a tax sale |
| H.552 | statements made by a child victim of an offense involving serious bodily injury |
| H.551 | wakesports zones on State waters |
| H.550 | expanding eligibility under the local foods grant program |
| H.549 | the siting of outdoor cannabis cultivation |
| H.548 | the landfill disposal of solid waste |
| H.547 | the repeal of the automated license plate recognition (ALPR) system statutes and the enactment of laws allowing for the use of automated law enforcement |
| H.546 | administrative and policy changes to tax laws |
| H.545 | utility property valuation |
| H.544 | regulating products containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances |
| H.543 | Vermont’s adoption of the Social Work Licensure Compact |
| H.542 | speed limits in State-designated centers |
| H.541 | State education property taxes and flood-related damage |
| H.540 | the siting of tiny houses |
| H.539 | amending Vermont’s disorderly conduct statutes |
| H.538 | student application of sunscreen and car seat safety |
| H.537 | access to employee restrooms for individuals living with an inflammatory bowel disease |
| H.536 | homeowners’ insurance and dog breed discrimination |
| H.535 | public health outreach programs regarding dementia risk |
| H.534 | retail theft |
| H.533 | enhancing food allergen awareness in food service establishments |
| H.532 | health insurance coverage for biomarker testing |
| H.531 | criminal penalties for burglary |
| H.530 | increasing the property tax credit housesite value exclusion |
| H.529 | publishing storage unit availability during a state of emergency |
| H.528 | the historical review and study of burial grounds |
| H.527 | requiring retail businesses to accept cash |
| H.526 | the redesign of Bridge 9 in Barre City |
| H.525 | ordinances governing the possession of firearms in a municipal building |
| H.524 | prohibiting cosmetic animal tests |