By Guy Page

The attempted veto override of S.5, the so-called Affordable Heating Act, will take place in the Vermont House later this week, a spokesperson for the Speaker of the House said today.

VDC called the Speaker’s Office at 10 AM this morning. The respondent said the House will do a full day’s work beginning at 1 pm today, but that the S.5 override won’t happen until later this week – which day, she couldn’t specify. 

An S.5 veto vote is on today’s Senate calendar. That agenda item was passed over during this morning’s session.

Last week, State House scuttlebut had the S.5 veto override vote happening in a separate session on June 20-22. But when Gov. Scott issued his official veto late last week, House and Senate leaders instead decided on a prompt override vote. 

S.5 in effect taxes fossil fuel heating oil consumption and spends the tax/fee revenue on subsidies for weatherization and electric-powered heat, including heat pumps. Supporters say it will reduce carbon emissions and make heating prices more stable, because electricity rates are regulated by the State. 

Opponents say it will do little to reduce global carbon emissions but will jack up the cost of heating homes with both fossil fuels and electricity, in a way that most of the burden will fall on the lower-and-middle income homeowners living in older, rural houses. They also say that the labor force lacks enough workers to weatherize and retrofit Vermont homes.

Gov. Scott vetoed S.5 because the supposed ‘check back’ provision – intended to delay any action for two years while a thorough study of economic and environmental impacts is conducted – is confusing and contradictory and won’t, in practice, stop early implementation.

Vermont legislators may be contacted about S.5, or any other legislation, on their legislative email addresses:

House of Representatives