By Guy Page

A House/Senate conference committee decision on S.325, the Act 181 reform bill, come come as soon as 4 PM today, sources say.

The six member panel will meet at 3:30 PM. It must decide how much to keep of the reforms in the House version, including repeal of the proposed Act 250 road rule that critics say would restrict development of rural land. 

Once the conference committee revision emerges (by 4 PM, according to one prediction) – with or without a Road Rule repeal – it must be voted on a straight up and down, yes or no vote in both House and Senate. 

Gender equity in prisons – H.550, requiring gender equity within Vermont’s correctional facilities, received initial approval from the Senate today.

Third and final reading is scheduled for tomorrow. The bill recognizes that “the Department of Corrections system was built within a traditional gender framework that solely recognized the male and female genders, gender diverse, intersex, and transgender incarcerated individuals are at a higher risk for abuse, harassment, and sexual violence.”

While allowing DOC to deny some requests for biological males to be housed with women, “the Department’s decision not to accommodate a transgender, gender-diverse, or intersex individual’s search, classification or housing placement request shall not be based solely on the individual’s anatomy, including the genitalia; other physical characteristics; or diverse gender expression.”

Fuel dealer registry approved in Senate – The Vermont Senate yesterday voted to repeal the Clean Heat Standard by a 26-4 vote but also voted to approve, on a party line vote, H.740, the Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Registry, which gathers data for a future carbon tax on fuel dealers.

No budget without school reform approval, Guv warns – Gov. Phil Scott has said the Legislature cannot approve a state budget and go home until it first passes a school organization and funding bill, as promised by last year’s Legislature. While the General Assembly’s Democrats would accept a voluntary merger program, the governor wants a school framework requiring more administrative mergers. Sen. Scott Beck this morning told VDC the governor’s framework would result in little to no closures of local elementary schools. 

Continuing resolution of month-by-month budget funding a possibility – It’s not likely, but leaders in the Legislature say that if the Legislature doesn’t pass a budget by July 1, the governor could impose a month-by-month continuing resolution to keep the doors open. This hasn’t happened since 1961, however. 

Cell tower, forensic facility siting reform hopes dim – H.527 would allow communities more say in cell tower siting. S.193 would fund a ‘forensic facility’ to hold mentally ill suspects of violent crime. Both bills appear caught in the end-of-the-year bottleneck. Advocates are pushing hard for but are concerned their efforts won’t be enough.