By Michael Bielawski
This week lawmakers in the Senate will look at the police Code of Conduct, declare overdoses an emergency, new protections for the homeless, and more. Agendas published weekly on the Legislature’s website are subject to change. The agenda for all the committees can be seen here.
Police Reforms? – H. 872 (Tuesday, Senate Committee on Government Operations) Sponsored by the House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs.
This bill makes “updates to the powers of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council and the duties of law enforcement officers.”
Among other initiatives, it seeks to modify officers’ “Code of Conduct.” It states, “This Code effectuates the principle that law enforcement officers serve the communities of Vermont and protect all persons against illegal acts in a manner consistent with the high degree of responsibility and respect for human dignity required by the profession.”
Law enforcement in Vermont and liberal policymakers have often been at odds over what constitutes professional vs. inappropriate conduct.
Another section might make things easier to keep officers out in the field when they miss training. It allows “permitting its Executive Director to grant up to a 60-day waiver to a law enforcement officer who has failed to meet his or her the officer’s annual in-service training requirements.”
More rights for the homeless – H. 132 (Friday, Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs) Sponsored by Rep. Thomas Stevens, D-Waterbury.
This bill will make it illegal for an employer to explicitly require having a home as a requirement for the work. It states, “For any employer, employment agency, or labor organization to harass or discriminate against any individual because of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, housing status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, place of birth, crime victim status, or age or against a qualified individual with a disability.”
Another part of the bill states that there are scenarios where specific qualifications may require having a home. It states, “It shall be unlawful employment practice, except where a bona fide occupational qualification requires persons of a particular race, color, religion, national origin, housing status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, place of birth, age, crime victim status, or physical or mental condition.”
Overdoses a Public Health Emergency – J.R.S. 44 (Friday, Senate Committee on Health and Welfare) Sponsored by Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden-Central, and others.
This is a joint resolution “declaring the increasing number of drug overdose deaths in Vermont to be a public health emergency.”
It highlights some concerning stats including that “87 percent of opioid-based drug overdose deaths in 2022 involved at least two substances, and 25
percent involved four or more.”
It also breaks down which drugs are causing the overdoses. It states, “overdose deaths in 2022 included cocaine (49 percent); heroin (nine percent); gabapentin (13 percent, up from two percent in 2021); methamphetamine (eight percent); and xylazine, which the FDA has only approved for veterinary use (28 percent, up from 13 percent in 2021).”
Repeat retail thefts to be addressed? – H. 534 (Wednesday, Senate Committee on Judiciary) Sponsored by Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, and others.
This bill permits “the aggregate value of stolen property to be used to determine the criminal penalty for retail theft when it is committed by a person acting in concert with another person, to increase the penalty for retail theft if a person commits more than one violation within a 14-day period and the aggregate retail value of the merchandise taken away exceeds $900.00, and to decrease the felony penalty for retail theft when the value of the stolen property exceeds $900.00.”
This time law enforcement will be testifying, among others. Sheriff Mark Anderson, president of the Vermont Sheriffs’ Association, and Shawn Burke who is Chief of the South Burlington Police Department will speak.
Save the bees? – H. 706 (Tuesday, Senate Committee on Agriculture) Sponsored by Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman, P/D-Middletown Springs, and others.
This deals with banning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.
It states, “Neonicotinoids are a class of neurotoxic, systemic insecticides that are extremely toxic to bees and other pollinators. Neonicotinoids are the most widely used class of insecticides in the world and include imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, acetamiprid, dinotefuran, thiacloprid, and nithiazine.”
Other pesticides may also be more regulated due to this bill. It states, “Every economic poison that is distributed, sold, or offered for sale within this State or delivered for transportation or transported in intrastate commerce or between points within this State through any point outside this State shall be registered in the Office of the Secretary.”
American Immigration Council (Tuesday, Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs)
Victoria Francis, the Deputy Director of State and Local Initiatives for the American Immigration Council is invited.
Francis has done extensive work in immigration policy.
“Victoria has worked on state-level initiatives, including in-state tuition for refugees and Special Immigrant Visa recipients, codifying state participation in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, creating an Office of New Americans, and occupational licensing and workforce access for internationally trained healthcare professionals,” her bio states.
The organization itself appears to advocate for more, not less, immigration. For example, on their site’s main page, they highlight that they are working on “Challenging Florida’s Unconstitutional Anti-Immigrant Law.”
Can’t judge people by looks? – H. 363 (Tuesday, Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs) Sponsored by Rep. Kevin “Coach” Christie, D-Hartford, and others.
This bill prohibits “discrimination based on certain hair types and styles.”
The bill includes a definition of “race”. It states, “Race includes traits associated with or perceived to be associated with race, including hair type, hair texture, hairstyles, and protective hairstyles. As used in this subdivision, the term “protective hairstyles” includes hairstyles such as individual braids, cornrows, locs, twists, Bantu knots, afros, afro puffs, and other formations, as well as wigs, headwraps, and other head coverings.”
Attracting new workers – H. 10 (Friday, Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs) Sponsored by Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, and Rep. Michael Marcotte, R-Coventry.
An act relating to amending the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive Program. It states, “On or before September 1 of each year, the Vermont Economic Progress Council and the Department of Taxes shall submit a joint report on the incentives authorized in this subchapter to the House Committees on Ways and Means, on Commerce and Economic Development, and on Appropriations, to the Senate Committees on Finance, on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, and on Appropriations, and to the Joint Fiscal Committee.”
It’s got money appropriations attached. It states, “The Executive Branch State economist shall consult with the Joint Fiscal Office or its agent concerning the performance of the cost-benefit analysis and the operation of the cost-benefit model for each application in which the value of potential incentives an applicant may earn equals or exceeds $1,000,000.00.”
Rebuilding our Schools – H. 871 (Wednesday, Senate Committee on Education) Sponsored by the House Committee on Education.
An act relating to the development of an updated State aid to school construction program. It would create a “Facilities Master Plan Grant Program to support supervisory unions and independent career and technical education districts to support the development of a master plan that complies with State construction aid requirements.”
The Vermont Agency of Education put out a report earlier this year suggesting that at least $6.3 billion in construction will be needed over the next 21 years to keep schools properly safe and functional.
The group would disband at the end of this year. They would get $15,000 from the general fund for travel expenses, the bill doesn’t have additional information on other costs.
Vermont/Ireland Trade Commission – H. 667 (Tuesday, Senate Committee on Government Operations) Sponsored by Rep. Conor Casey, D-Montpelier.
This bill seeks to create a “Vermont-Ireland Trade Commission to advance bilateral trade, investment, and cultural exchange.”
The bill seems to suggest that funding will be done from within. It states, “The Vermont-Ireland Trade Commission is authorized to raise funds, through direct solicitation or other fundraising events, alone or with other groups, and accept donations, grants, and bequests from individuals, corporations, foundations, governmental agencies, and public and private organizations and institutions, to defray the Commission’s administrative expenses and to carry out its purposes as set forth in this chapter.”
According to EU data, Ireland is the 27th largest economy in the world.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
Discover more from Vermont Daily Chronicle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Legislation, State Government
Every town know where all the drug dealers are. The State lets them operate with impunity, they could at the very least give them the same treatment as a normal business, you need a permit.
You need a permit to operate a pharmacy and a license and an education. Without such they should be fined every day and arrested just like they did for someone who wants to open a constitutionally protected right for militia……
The state loves promoting drug use, gambling, pornography……should tell you something right there.
Good Lord. Can our legislators slow down a little bit? How can anyone keep up with this plethora of busy-body-ness. Most people understand that adjusting dozens of policies to fix one or two issues leads to chaos. Make one change at a time. See how it works. Adjust if necessary. When changing dozens of policies at the same time, no one will ever know which policies were effective, and which ones weren’t.
Of course, I’m assuming that the intent of these policy changes is to be more and more effective in improving our standard of living. Perhaps it’s possible that that isn’t the intent at all.
Actually, the legislature isn’t doing a thing as a result of JRS 44. Nothing but ink on paper, with a bunch of Whereas statements and a Therefore, directing somebody to send a copy to phil scott and the Health Dept.
So, vyhovsky et al has declared a public health emergency regarding overdose deaths- at the same time pushing for a legalized, subsidized shooting den.
Of note, yesterday Oregon’s governor signed a bill re-criminalizing drug possession due to skyrocketing overdose deaths resulting from a 2020 bill de-criminalizing ‘hard’ drugs.
Frank, there may be another motivation/result. Whether the proposed ‘cures’ are sinister or benevolent remains to be seen. Certainly, there are no guarantees that the purpose of these proposed bills will “be of more service to community than the money would be if not collected.” After all, while decriminalizing drugs and drug use may increase drug overdoses and death for those incapable of making better decisions with regard to their propensity for addiction, the phenomenon will be self-correcting, in that those who act irresponsibly will die and no longer be an issue for others to mitigate. Yes, it’s legislated suicide. And Vermont’s legislators are clearly headed down this ‘dubious’ (sociopathic) path… perhaps intentionally. Caveat emptor.
The democrat/progressive-minded legislators typically look to “root causes” of society’s problems. Would they care to consider that the root cause of the overdose “state of emergency” is a wide open southern border, that is under the control of human and drug trafficking organizations? Would the democrats care to admit that it is the President, holding the top echelon of their party who has enabled this chaos single-handedly through executive action?
Would they care to consider the effects of a dystopian education monopoly that attacks parental rights and the traditional family while bankrupting everyone? Would they care to consider the dysfunctional healthcare system they’ve created and the Covid scam? Would they care to consider the cost of living exacerbated by the costs of mitigating the CO2 charade?
If they are considering these issues, they aren’t telling us their logic. Transparency is non-existent. They are ‘the teachers’ in Milgram’s behavioral experiments, with their thumbs on their electric-shock authoritarianism. Their ‘very kindness stings with intolerable insult.’
Want proof?
Why are we seeing only the comments of reasonable elected representatives like Anne Donohue here on the only comment driven outlet in Vermont? Why aren’t Welch, Sanders, and Balint, PUC Commissioner Cheney, Pro Tempore Baruth, House Majority Leader Long, and the other ‘omnipotent moral busybodies’ in the legislature engaging our criticisms?
Because they don’t have to. When it is two wolves and a lamb setting the table for lunch, we already know what’s on the menu.
the state is run by a cult/// this gang supports every thing that is perverted////
They are actually making hair law. Think about that
.