By Guy Page
The following bills were voted out of House committees last week ahead of the Crossover deadline of adjournment Friday.
These bills are among the many House bills now eligible to be passed out of the House and sent over to the Senate for consideration this year. Bills that did not pass Crossover may still be resurrected through various parliamentary means.
H. 476 tightens restrictions on domestic abuse committed by on-duty or off-duty law enforcement officers, including surrendering weapons if under a relief-from-abuse order.
H. 31, the ‘Lake Bomoseen Bill’ introduced as a moratorium on the use of pesticides to control aquatic nuisances, passed the Environment and Energy Committee after it was amended to be a ‘study bill.” It creates an Aquatic Nuisance Control Study Committee to submit to the Vermont General Assembly recommendations regarding whether and when pesticides, chemicals other than pesticides, or biological controls should be used to control aquatic nuisances in Vermont.
The Lake Bomoseen Association tried unsuccessfully to remove eurasian milfoil, a particularly virulent and noxious form of seaweed. Frustrated, it sought state permission to use pesticides. Pesticide opponents pushed back with H.31.
H. 102 The Art in State Buildings Program, allocates $75,000 to purchase art for state buildings and creates a per-diem advisory council to oversee its administration.
H. 158, revision of the Bottle Bill, increases recycling center fee from four cents to five cents, expands beverages to include teas and juices and others, and requires the beverage industry to set up and pay for the recycling system.
H. 213 creates a study committee on mobile homes and mobile home parks, including converting to cooperative ownership.
H. 222 titled “Reducing overdoses,” provides kiosks for opiate overdose treatment, studies needle exchange programs, and relaxes permitting for sober houses and does not require sobriety as a condition for living there.
H. 230, “Implementing mechanisms to reduce suicide,” has had suicide-reduction aspects moved to other legislation, but does include (at least) the following gun control restrictions: 1) jailtime for allowing youth to access guns for lack of gun storage; 2) family members may seek extreme risk protection orders (not just the authorities); 3) 72 hour waiting period for transfer after buyer clears federal background check.
H. 276 Creating a rental housing registry and state housing inspectors; all rental housing owner identity and contact information, unit location, number of units, school tax info, and any other information deemed necessary will be collected by the State from municipalities and building owners.
The list above does not include all of the bills voted out on the House Friday, nor any by the Senate. More information on Crossover survivors will be published all week long.