by Guy Page
On the first day of the Legislature, 102 new bills were introduced and posted on the legislature’s website. These bills – plus the dozens more still to come and the 500 or so introduced last year in Year One of the 2023-24 biennium – are the raw materials for Montpelier’s legislative sausage-making-machine.
VDC examined the most recent 22 (all we had time for today) and boiled down the intent of each into a single, we-hope-comprehensible sentence. We’ve also included the lead sponsors (but none others, click on the link for more information). More to come…..
| 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. More information on bills below will be offered in upcoming issues….. |
| H.603 | the poultry slaughter exception to inspection |
| H.602 | prohibiting the use of plastics in certain technologies |
| H.601 | prohibiting the presence of toxic chemicals in plastic packaging |
| H.600 | nondiscrimination concerning a parent with a disability |
| H.599 | retroactively reinstating 10 V.S.A. § 6081(b) |
| H.598 | holding local hearings on hospital budgets |
| H.597 | the collection, sale, and possession of wildlife |
| H.596 | eligibility of reserve forestland for use value appraisal |
| H.595 | deer and bear doing damage to crops |
| H.594 | exempting Social Security income from income tax |
| H.593 | a tax credit for emergency responders |
| H.592 | tax benefits for school sports officiating |
| H.591 | an examination of State funding that supports public safety and correctional programs |
| H.590 | insurance protections and leave from employment for living donors |
| H.589 | aquatic nuisance control |
| H.588 | threatened or endangered species |
| H.587 | enforcement of fish and wildlife violations |
| H.586 | flood protection and climate resilience infrastructure and financing |
| H.585 | amending the pension system for sheriffs and certain deputy sheriffs |
| H.584 | jurisdiction in juvenile proceedings |
| H.583 | the Donor Intent Protection Act |
| H.582 | prohibiting possession of semiautomatic assault weapons |
| H.581 | bail and violations of conditions of release |
| 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 |