By Guy Page
House leaders will announce the legislative schedule for June this afternoon, VDC was told today by an aide to House Speaker Jill Krowinski.
Both House and Senate both went late Friday night, without officially adjourning, after failing to reach consensus on H.454, the transformation of school financing bill aimed (presumably) at reducing property taxes. The Senate-House conference committee on H.454 likely will meet long before a proposed reconvening on June 16, but it’s not meeting today.
DUI process changes – Gov. Phil Scott has signed a bill that changes the DUI investigation process, imposes new penalties, and calls for further study. Also, a longtime Addison County legislator has announced she’s moving to Canada.
On June 2, Governor Scott signed into law:
H.44, miscellaneous amendments to the laws governing impaired driving:
- Requires suspects of impaired driving to provide blood sample when police have warrant. Includes penalties for hindering blood sample collection.
- Adds ‘or serious injury’ to crime of DUI – death resulting.
- Creates the Impaired Driving Processing Task Force to study the concept of implied consent during impaired driving investigations with the objective to recommend approaches that minimize the duration for which impaired driving suspects are held during investigations and to streamline the processing and paperwork associated with such investigations.
H.401, exemptions for food manufacturing establishments, requires training for food production and exempts operations grossing less than $30,000.
H.505, Removes auditors as elected officials in the Town of Barre.
Lincoln rep leaving – Rep. Mari Cordes (D-Lincoln) has announced she will resign her seat in the Vermont Legislature in order to take a job in Canada. Cordes, a lawmaker since 2019, serves on the Health Care Committee. The longtime nurse announced this week on Front Porch Forum: “Thank You, and So Long – I have received an excellent job offer in Canada, and will begin working July 7th. I will continue serving until the end of June. It has been a great privilege to serve the Addison 4 district as a legislator over the past 7 years. I love this community and know that you will all continue to work well together. I am leaving a big piece of my heart here. I wish you all well.”
As an RN, Cordes has had a distinguished career. According to her State House bio, she co-led a nationally recognized multi-year project to reduce central line bloodstream infections at UVM Medical Center, and has presented nationally on topics in medicine. She organized and led medical teams providing disaster relief after earthquake in Haiti, and provided medical relief in Greece to refugees fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Cordes was a founding organizer and 2nd president of her union, Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, AFT local 5221. Prior to being elected representative, Mari worked on numerous state policy-making initiatives. She led a coalition that improved VT law by eliminating loopholes that had allowed health insurance companies to continue to discriminate based on gender identity. She was a member of coalitions that worked to pass Act 48, the Universal Health Care bill, and Paid Sick Days legislation. She also served on the Green Mountain Care Board.
VDC readers may recall Cordes for her State House hallway confrontation with VDC editor Guy Page in April. “You’re despicable,” she said several times, also accusing him of ‘child abuse,’ a charge she later denied. The discussion followed VDC coverage of trans activists shutting down an informational seminar on de-transitioning held in a public room at the State House.
Gov. Scott will appoint someone recommended by the town/county Democratic Committee to fill her seat until the November 2026 election.