Legislative Report Card & Conference Committee Role 5/20/08

Prior to the last week of this Legislative session, I wrote that the session would be measured by how well we were able to balance the needs of our citizens in a tight budget year, with the state’s limited ability to raise revenues to meet those needs. Although the last week of the session may have appeared to resemble something that was planned by the Marx Brothers and carried out by the Three Stooges, the process worked as intended. The final report card is now in and the results were very good. We were able to prevent cost shifts onto health care premiums or onto property taxes. We expanded our award winning energy efficiency utility to include heating fuels in order to save Vermonters money and create new jobs. We provided incentives to encourage affordable housing, made a commitment to bond for road repairs, protected groundwater supplies, and made the initial steps to protect children from lead poisoning caused by toys or old paint. Increased investment in workforce training was substituted for tax breaks for companies giving Vermont increased dividends over time.

These accomplishments were out in the open for all to see. They were debated on the House and Senate floor or given extensive coverage by the media. Others were not as public as they were brought to fruition, not by floor debate, but by the actions of the Committees of Conference: A device used to force a decision when the Senate and House have different versions of the same bill.

   H.711 was a bill that was open 24 hours a day, a place at the table for everyone, and a constantly changing menu. The bill left the House entitled “Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture” and came back from the Senate with a “Dissection” component. During the last week, this was the only bill to emerge from the Senate related the least bit to Education. Those opposed to repealing the two-vote provision (Act 82) had prevented other Education related bills from coming to a vote, which put several good ideas at risk.

   H.711, the Agriculture Bill, was the only game in town. The Conference Committee added several provision from other bills that had only been addressed by the House or Senate, but not both. These additions included:

§   Repealing 27 education related reports that were not useful;
§   Suspending and planning to make special education audits more timely and useful;
§   Streamlining the formation of union school districts;
§   Updating No Child Left Behind compliance regulations;
§   Exempting districts that tuition all students from the excess spending penalties for 2 yrs;
§   Investigating whether school districts should be permitted to designate public schools as their receiving school to reduce costs; and
§   Investigating alternative education programs to address dropouts.

The House and the Senate then accepted the Conference Committee’s recommendation by voice votes. And in the end, the system worked as intended with good legislation emerging though in an unusual manner. I may get frustrated at times, but something interesting is always happening in Montpelier. This was one small example.

I can be reached during the summer, by E-mail at ggilbert@leg.state.vt.us, or at my home answering machine at 849-6333.

Gary Gilbert
State Representative
Fairfax/Georgia