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Messages - Barbara
16
« on: February 12, 2021, 03:17:47 PM »
The Franklin County delegation and municipal officials were invited to a meeting with Dr. Levine and Secretary Smith Thursday afternoon. As they said, this is not an invitation that anyone wants to receive. The purpose was to get the word out that cases of COVID-19 are on the rise in our county. We can still get ahead of it by being vigilant about taking precautions and testing. The precautions are straight forward; wash our hands often with soap and water, cover our nose and mouth with a mask and stay six feet apart from each other. There are several opportunities for access to testing and an area Representative who just experienced it offered his assurance they no longer ‘tickle your brain with the swab’. He thought it was important to allay fears of the test from the early versions that were so invasive. Kinney Drugs in St. Albans is offering testing Monday and Thursday from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. and NOTCH locations are offering testing including the office in Fairfax. For information on getting the vaccine click on this link https://www.healthvermont.gov/covid-19/vaccine/getting-covid-19-vaccine
Floor action this week was mostly occupied by the introduction of bills. The tally reached two hundred and fifty seven on Friday. J.R.S.13, providing for the election of a Sergeant at Arms, and Adjutant and Inspector General, and three Trustees of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College and J.R.S.14, establishing a procedure for the conduct of the election of UVM trustees by plurality vote by the General Assembly in 2021, were adopted by the House Tuesday. A Joint Assembly will be held Thursday, February 18th at 10:30 A.M. for the election. One bill H.20, an act relating to pretrial risk assessments and pretrial services was passed by the House.
The committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs voted out H.81, an act relating to statewide public school employee health benefits. It was committed to the Appropriations committee before returning to the notice calendar for floor action Tuesday, February 15th. Testimony was heard from members of the Administration to support areas of the Governor’s FY22 recommended budget the committee has jurisdiction over. J.R.H.2 Joint resolution sincerely apologizing and expressing sorrow and regret to all individual Vermonters and their families and descendants who were harmed as a result of State-sanctioned eugenics policies and practices, was introduced to the committee with an initial walk through by legislative legal staff as well as a sponsor. Committee members are reading a book that gives a history of the eugenics project in Vermont to gain an understanding of the State’s participation. Other committee time was spent on bill introductions for three more of the 14 that have been assigned to date and a walk through of the Joint Fiscal Committee’s motion to approve Grant #3034 $200,000,000 to the VT Agency of Administration from the US Dept. of the Treasury, Emergency Rental Assistance Program. https://ljfo.vermont.gov/assets/Meetings/Joint-Fiscal-Committee/2021-02-11/965c5c67c1/Final-Motion-to-Approve-JFO-Grant-3034.pdf
Representative Barbara S Murphy bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us 802-849-6545
17
« on: February 05, 2021, 04:37:40 PM »
It was appropriate that on February 2nd, Ground Hog Day the House had a do over on one of last week’s actions. The selection of members to the Judicial Nominating Committee requires a vote by the Representatives as stated in Title 4 of Vermont Statute. The neglected vote was taken and the prior announced members were elected. The Speaker went on to announce the appointments of members to fill seats in eight management and oversight committees. Two bills were passed out of the House to the Senate; H.151 an act relating to vital records, mausoleums and columbaria, and emergency health orders and H.18 an act relating to sexual exploitation of children. https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/RESOLUTN/HR0007/HR0007%20As%20Introduced.pdf H.R. 7 house resolution disapproving Executive Order 01-21 was introduced by the Committee on Government Operations and adopted on a Roll Call vote of 108 yeas to 40 nays. Floor debate and vote explanations included concerns that the Executive Order was not given sufficient consideration by the Committee on Government Operations and that the order made changes whose affects needed to be examined through the legislative process where each change can be considered independently of the whole. In responding to an Executive Order the Legislature must vote the whole up or down, there is no ability to edit. The full text of the Governors Executive Order 01-21 is available at this link: https://governor.vermont.gov/sites/scott/files/documents/EXECUTIVE%20ORDER%20NO.%2001-21.pdf Bill introductions for the week brought the total to date to 204 with 24 committed to General, Housing and Military Affairs. The committee did not hear from any new bill sponsors this week. A good deal of committee time was dedicated to the discussion and mark up of H. 81 an act relating to statewide public school employee health benefits, with the unmet goal of voting it out on Friday afternoon. That is now scheduled for Tuesday afternoon after edits and adjustments can be made. General G. C. Knight, Adjutant General, Vermont National Guard gave an overview of the guard’s structure and mission. Vermont is unique in its election of the Adjutant General by the Legislature, no other state does so. At least one bill has already been assigned to the committee to make amendments to the relevant statutes. The committee listened to testimony and presentations throughout the week that covered Mental Health Advocacy, Housing Safety and Housing is Health. The latter included testimony from Dr. Megan Sandel, MD, a pediatrician and Co-Lead Principal Investigator, Children’s Health Watch. The common agreement from all the witnesses was the fact that providing housing security is the least expensive solution for society at large in answering the crisis of homelessness.
Representative Barbara S Murphy bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us 802-849-6545
18
« on: January 29, 2021, 03:00:11 PM »
Floor sessions continue to be mostly taken up with the introduction and commitment of bills to the appropriate committee for consideration. After Tuesday’s Floor the House adjourned until the Joint Assembly to hear Governor Scott’s FY22 budget address. The recommended budget allocates $6.83 billion over a wide area of needs in our state. Some of the revenue to support the expenditures is onetime money and the Governor was clear he has used these dollars for onetime expenses and is adamant that they should not be used to fund any new or ongoing need. Public is invited to give input by attending Joint videoconference public hearings through the links in the following Press Release: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/WorkGroups/House%20Appropriations/Highlights/Joint%20Public%20Hearings%20-%20FY%202022%20State%20Budget.pdf
As well as introducing bills on Thursday and Friday floor action included the appointment of members to the committees on Administrative Rules, Judicial Appointment Retention, the Judicial Nominating Board and H.138 the FY21 Budget Adjustment Act was taken up, considered and passed after approval of an amendment. https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2022/H.138 A few changes were made from the Governor’s version where House Appropriations saw adjustments that went beyond the intent of this annual moving of dollars, to introducing new expenditures. Those can be addressed as work gets started on the FY22 Budget.
Throughout the week the committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs took more testimony on H.81 and H.63. The decision was made to use H.81 as the base bill for moving forward but H.63 remains active in committee and the final committee recommendation will be an amalgam of the two. Friday the committee heard introductions of two bills by the lead sponsors, met with one of the staff attorneys who will interact with the committee on legislation around liqueur and lottery and had an opportunity to have questions answered by a member of the Legislative IT staff on the electronic tools being used this session. At noon members were invited to attend the fourth and final Tax Workshop offered by staff from the Joint Fiscal Office on Vermont’s Education Finance System.
On Wednesday, which was recognized by H.C.R.7 as Homelessness Awareness Day in Vermont the committee held a joint hearing with the committee on Human Services to listen to testimony from members of action groups who provide assistance and service to the community and from an individual with lived experience. The committees had the opportunity to join the virtual vigil held by the Coalition to End Homelessness at noon and a housing solutions webinar after the Floor hosted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. There is much being done to provide housing for our un-housed neighbors but still more to do and the Governor’s FY22 Budget recommendations offer opportunity to make inroads on that unmet need.
Representative Barbara S Murphy bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us 802-849-6545
19
« on: January 22, 2021, 04:44:05 PM »
The House Calendar has had little on the day’s agendas throughout the week. The few action items were J.R.S. 9 joint resolution to provide for a Joint Assembly to hear the budget message of the Governor next week, S.9 an act relating to extending certain workers’ compensation amendments related to COVID-19 and H.C.R. 7 designating January 27, 2021 as Homelessness Awareness Day in Vermont, all of which passed. The General Assembly held a joint training session with the Senate on implicit bias led by Vermont Human Rights Commission executive director Bor Yang and Vermont’s director of racial equity Xusana Davis. The training was compressed into less than two hours but packed full of thought provoking information. The members for House Ethics, Discrimination Prevention and Sexual Harassment Panels were announced and can be found by opening the Panel link in the committees list. https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/list/2022/House-Standing#House-Standing
The Rural Caucus hosted Paul Costello the executive director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development Thursday morning. The Working Lands Collaborative was discussed with its goal of assisting in the diversification of land use and the development of value added enterprises. https://workinglands.vermont.gov/ The grants bring value to the producer by allowing the highest end value to be captured rather than just the raw material price. It was stated that for every $10,000 invested through the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative a job is created.
House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs continues to have an array of topics under discussion. H.63 https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/BILLS/H-0063/H-0063%20As%20Introduced.pdf and H.81 https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/BILLS/H-0081/H-0081%20As%20Introduced.pdf are being testified to in tandem as they both attempt to make changes to the recent statewide public school employee health care benefits. The committee will hear more testimony next week but is looking to move the bill(s) without delay. The committee heard from the CEO of the Vermont Veterans Home as well as the VSEA Executive Director who provided an update on its operations and COVID response from both the management as well as staff perspective. Commissioner Greshin from the Department of Finance and Management spoke to the committee on the anticipated property transfer tax which has been positively affected by the property sales that have occurred over the year. This tax is a source of funds for the Housing and Conservation Fund. The state has a low vacancy rate for available housing and can use this money to generate or make habitable new housing. The committee offered an opinion on areas of the Budget Adjustment Act that it has policy oversight of with a letter to the Appropriations committee, reviewed H. 93 an act relating to establishing a homeless bill of rights and prohibiting discrimination against people without homes, took testimony from a staff member of the Joint Fiscal Office on the Basic Needs Budget and on Vermont Unemployment Insurance from Commissioner Harrington and Director Wood of the Department of Labor.
Representative Barbara S Murphy bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us 802-849-6545
20
« on: January 15, 2021, 04:10:50 PM »
The first full week of the 2021 Session saw 33 more bills introduced on the House floor and assigned to committees as well as a few recommitted for transfer to other committees. H.48 https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/BILLS/H-0048/H-0048%20As%20Passed%20by%20Both%20House%20and%20Senate%20Official.pdf an act relating to authorizing alternative procedures for 2021 annual municipal meetings in response to the COVID-19 crisis was passed by the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Thursday, allowing it to reach the Governor’s desk Friday. The fast passage of this legislation gives municipalities the opportunity and authority to make timely decisions for Town Meeting hearings and votes. The House received two Executive Orders from Governor Scott and they were referred to committees of jurisdiction. Throughout the week the House was given harassment training, tax overview and security information. Special interest caucuses are getting to work on specific areas of interest and focus on legislation agendas. A few include the Rural, Social Equity, National Guard and Women’s caucuses which all met with members identifying shared goals and specific bills that are being offered. The political party caucuses meet regularly after the Floor on Tuesday.
General housing and Military Affairs Committee lived up to its reputation of having an eclectic body of subject matter to cover. Throughout the week testimony was taken up on the CRF dollars dedicated to programs for homeless individuals focusing on how to meet the restrictions on the new funds while meeting the needs of Vermonters. Much of the help needed is to maintain home ownership or weatherization and repairs of fragile housing but the new program is more narrowly targeted to meet rent deficiencies. Tenant/Landlord issues were highlighted by the Vermont Apartment Owners Association director and attorneys from Vermont Legal Aid. Witnesses also gave testimony on bills regarding statewide public school employee health benefits, Vermont’s unemployed data and Major General Knight of the Vermont National Guard spoke to responsibilities and readiness for local and national security. Two joint committee hearings were held due to cross committee interest on topics; one hearing was with House Education and the other with House Commerce and Economic Development.
The Legislative website is a source of many links to information and the action of the General Assembly.
https://legislature.vermont.gov/
Representative Barbara S Murphy bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us 802-849-6545
21
« on: January 08, 2021, 04:27:11 PM »
Wednesday, January 6 the opening ceremonial events for the first year of the 2021-2022 biennium were conducted electronically for all but a handful of the elected members. After a roll call to affirm there was a quorum the elections and swearing in of the Speaker and Clerk were conducted in the Well of the House by Secretary Jim Condos with the leader of each of Vermont’s three major political parties physically present and the remaining members via remote access. Five House Resolutions and six Joint Resolutions originating in the Senate were adopted that spoke to the State of Emergency, Rules and Procedures for this biennium. The newly elected members were “seated” in the afternoon by the stating of their district and seat number when their name was called. Once all members had been welcomed to their seats the committee assignments were announced with several changes for the new session. After the House adjourned for the day members of the General Assembly who had been elected to be on the canvassing committee met to certify the election to the statewide offices.
A Joint Assembly met Thursday morning to accept the report of the Canvassing Committee and a second Joint Assembly in the afternoon was called to order to receive the welcoming message from Governor Phil Scott. After the Governor’s message the House reconvened and took up and passed J.R.H. 1: “Joint resolution condemning the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 as an attack on democracy”. https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/RESOLUTN/JRH001/JRH001%20As%20Introduced.pdf The resolution was taken up and adopted by the Senate on Friday.
The Speaker opened Friday’s Floor session with the listing of the names of House members who have passed and the terms they served. Representative Bernard Juskiewicz of Cambridge and Representative Steve Beyor of Highgate Springs, both having served from 2013-2018 were two of the eight recognized with a moment of silence. Three bills were introduced to join the fifty introduced by number only yesterday and referred to the appropriate committee. With the fall of the gavel the members disbursed to join committee meetings. In the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs testimony was taken from several witnesses on an update to Homelessness in Vermont. It was stated that ‘housing is health care’. Being homeless or housing insecure is a health risk in the best of times but in a pandemic it can be deadly. Many Vermont agencies worked together on behalf of tenants and landlords to keep Vermonters in secure housing. Housing stock was created and some dilapidated stock was renovated to increase the units available to house the homeless. There is more work to be done but the CRF dollars invested in these programs has made progress in the goal to end homelessness.
Rep. Barbara S Murphy
bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us
22
« on: September 25, 2020, 06:25:16 PM »
A token session held Monday allowed for the rapid movement of bills and positioned the General Assembly to close the 2020 Session on Friday. Throughout the week rules were suspended to facilitate the exchange of action on bills between chambers and message completion of bills to the Governor. The bills that crossed the finish line this week included S.352 an act relating to making certain amendments to the Front-Line Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program, S.354 an act relating to using Australian ballot for municipal meetings in the year 2021, S.24 an act relating to a report on racial equity and bias in the Department of Corrections, S.119 an act relating to a statewide use of deadly force policy for law enforcement, H.607 an act relating to increasing the supply of nurses and primary care providers in Vermont, H.673 an act relating to tree wardens, H.833 an act relating to surface water diversions and financial surety requirements for holding tanks, H.611 an act relating to Older Vermonters Act, H.926 an act relating to changes to Act 250 and last but not least H.969 an relating to making provisions for the support of government. The Committee of Conference on H969 did yeomen’s work ironing out the differences between the House and Senate versions. These differences were in both language and money. The Report of the Committee was accepted in both chambers and is available through this link: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2020/Docs/CALENDAR/sc200925a.pdf HR24 House resolution expressing sincere appreciation for the extraordinary legislative staff support provided during the COVID-19 pandemic passed Friday with full support as did JRS65 Joint resolution relating to final adjournment of the General Assembly in 2020. The gavel fell at 6:33 PM Friday on Vermont General Assembly’s 2020 session after the Governor’s address and member’s farewell speeches.
23
« on: September 18, 2020, 02:51:08 PM »
Action taken on Tuesday during a brief House Floor session included the passage of two bills in concurrence with proposal of amendment, S. 220 an act relating to professional regulation and S. 234 an act relating to miscellaneous judiciary procedures and was messaged to the Senate. Two more bills were taken up and considered during Floor on Wednesday. H. 967 an act relating to the provision of child care at family child care homes during remote learning days was passed with the agreement to the Senate proposal of amendment and this action was sent to the Senate and the Governor. The bill and its amendment changes statute to allow students to be in their day care settings on remote learning days with the effective date set to the first day of school. H. 880 an act relating to Abenaki place names on State park signs was considered and again the vote was to agree with the Senate proposal of amendment.
Thursday the House took action on the Governor’s veto letter of H. 688 an act relating to addressing climate change. On a roll call vote to determine ‘shall the bill pass the failure of the Governor to approve notwithstanding?’ the decision was to override the veto on a roll call of 103 Ayes and 47 Nays. The Senate now has the deciding vote. S. 54 an act relating to the regulation of cannabis was the next order of action and the question whether the report of the committee of conference be adopted was agreed to on a roll call vote of Yeas 92 Nays 56. The last piece of legislation passed out of the House during the afternoon was H. 962 an act relating to the duration of temporary relief from abuse orders with the Senate proposal of amendment agreed to.
During a marathon Zoom session on Friday the House took action on H. 952 an act relating to the charter of the City of Burlington, H. 99 an act relating to trade in covered animal parts or products, H. 663 an act relating to expanding access to contraceptives, S. 352 an act relating to making certain amendments to the Front-Line Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program, S. 353 an act relating to expanding the Front-Line Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program and S. 237 an act relating to promoting affordable housing. There was much discussion and several amendments on all of these bills. At the end of the afternoon rules were suspended and our actions were messaged to the Senate on H. 663, S. 352 and S. 353. The Speaker of the House, Representative Mitzi Johnson shared the news that of the twenty-two legislative staff members selected to be honored nationwide by the National Council of State Legislatures three were from Vermont. The Vermont General Assembly is served by a great team of professionals.
24
« on: September 11, 2020, 03:50:50 PM »
The House concurred with the Senate in adopting two joint resolutions this week; JRS 62 the weekend adjournment resolution and JRS 63 a resolution scheduling the Joint Assembly vote on the retention of six Superior Judges. This vote has been scheduled and postponed and needs to occur during the 2020 Adjourned Session of the General Assembly. The Joint Assembly will be held on Monday, September 14 at 5 P.M. and available to view via a link on https://legislature.vermont.gov/ as are the House, Senate and Committee sessions.
H.969, the Budget Bill was voted out of Appropriations on Tuesday and as it makes its way through the legislative process will set the timeline for ending the 2020 Session. The final vote was on Friday but during the week action was taken on several other bills. H.968, an act relating to the Vermont Coronavirus Economic Stimulus Equity Program passed, offering eligible Vermonters who were deemed ineligible to receive the CARES Act stimulus payment the ability to be awarded grant payments. S.187 an act relating to transient occupancy for health care treatment and recovery passed in concurrence with proposal of amendment to move the effective date to ‘on passage’. The Senate proposal of amendment to H.578 an act relating to proof of financial responsibility and H.688 an act relating to addressing climate change were agreed to. Three roll calls were requested this week. One was on H.688 and the vote was 102 yeas to 45 nays. A common concern stated by members who requested to explain their vote was that the Legislature was ceding its authority to the Vermont Climate Council being created. The bill states that the “General Assembly may repeal, revise, or modify any rule or amendment to any rule, and its action shall not be abridged, enlarged, or modified by subsequent rule.” The second and third Roll Call for the week was on H.969 .The result was 140 yeas to 4 nays to allow a third reading, and on an amendment to appropriate funds set aside for H.688 should it pass, the vote was 100 yeas to 42 nays. H.969 an act relating to making appropriations for the support of government will provide “steady state” funding for FY21 and leaves reserves in place for use by the next General Assembly to mitigate the potential revenue needs of FY22.
25
« on: September 04, 2020, 01:23:00 PM »
Tuesday the House took up S.233 an act relating to uniform licensing standards for its third reading and it passed in concurrence with proposal of amendment. Other floor action this week included debate on S.337 an act relating to energy efficiency entities and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the thermal energy and transportation sectors before it passed in concurrence with the Senate and H.683 an act relating to the protection of migratory birds was passed on a vote to concur in the Senate proposal of amendment with a further amendment. The further amendment tidied up the effective date to be on passage rather than retroactive to July 1, 2020. Three bills were taken up to allow the committees of jurisdiction to be relieved of them and have them committed to others and J.R.S.61 was passed to allow weekend adjournment.
The Transportation committee continued to review the applicable portions of the Governor’s recommended FY21 Restatement budget and draft a recommendation to House Appropriations. Appropriations determined the General Funds that had been proposed to be used were able to be swapped out for COVID-19 funds. This allowed the Transportation committee to work on the prioritization of budget changes proposed from the first quarter bill. Changes were made to the Governor’s recommended to restore a few of the General Assembly’s original allocations from July. Testimony was taken from a representative for Vermont League of Cities and Towns that supported a recommended one year suspension of two of the annual grant programs and in their place a supplemental payment through the General Town Highway Aid program to all. Additional funds are also being allocated to the Paving and Leveling program and for a DMV IT modernization project. Thursday afternoon the committee agreed on a recommendation and it was accepted by Appropriations.
26
« on: August 28, 2020, 02:47:32 PM »
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mitzi Johnson brought down the gavel to reconvene the 2020 session Tuesday morning. H.R. 23 was passed to extend the state of emergency to September 30 which allows members to continue to work and vote remotely. Other actions taken during floor time this week included the introduction of H.967 an act relating to the provision of child care at family child care homes during remote learning days. Action on this bill was permitted through the suspension of rules voted Friday which also were suspended to permit it to be messaged directly to the Senate after passing the House. A strike all amendment to S.233 an act relating to uniform licensing standards was offered and passed. The bill supports reciprocal endorsement of military and other U. S. jurisdiction's licensure held by Vermont residents across several fields of employment. J.R.S. 60, a joint resolution relating to weekend adjournment was passed to permit the body to adjourn and meet again no later than Tuesday, September 1.
The Transportation committee took testimony from Secretary Flynn and members of the Agency of Transportation on the agency’s portions of the Governor’s recommended FY21 budget restatement. The new revenue projections did provide for an uptick in the anticipated revenues from what was forecast in June, but there is still a deficit in what was the January forecast. The stand out challenge seen by the committee is that the Governor has recommended the use of $7.2 General Fund dollars to support the recommended budget and that is not tenable. The Appropriations Committee has made it clear that the Transportation budget must be balanced within the dedicated funding sources. The committee will look to resolve any differences between the recommended budget and the priorities of the legislature by the end of next week. The work of the reconvened session is on a fast track.
27
« on: June 26, 2020, 07:57:36 PM »
The goal for the week has been to adjourn the General Assembly on Friday to meet again August 25th. That meant a fast and furious pace of Bill action and frequent suspension of rules to allow the same all week. HR 22 House Resolution allowing for the House of Representatives to vote remotely to extend the House Declaration of Emergency was taken up and passed in preparation of the August return.
Numerous Bills were passed with amendments being proposed or concurred with between the House and Senate. Agreement was reached between the House and Senate on many and the August return provides the opportunity to continue debate on others. Legislation was passed to set the groundwork for the Administration to spend the COVID-19 funds and operate Government through the first quarter of FY2021 which starts Wednesday. The remainder of the budget will be drafted after the August revenue forecasts are in.
The gavel fell on the virtual Floor at 8:43PM placing the session in temporary adjournment.
I offer my deep gratitude to each and every one of you who are being cautious in contact but taking care of and serving our community. I can be reached at bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us or 802-849-6545.
Use the following link for the most current updates to the Governor’s Be Smart, Stay Safe Order
https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19 The Northwest Regional Planning Commission has an extensive listing of informative links as well https://www.nrpcvt.com
28
« on: June 19, 2020, 03:30:18 PM »
The House Transportation committee met Thursday morning to take testimony on amendments to S.339 an act relating to miscellaneous changes to laws related to vehicles. The committee supported the amendments and the bill as amended passed third reading on the floor later that morning.
Tuesday through Friday Floor sessions encompassed the passage of much legislation. Three resolutions; J.R.S.58 joint resolution relating to weekend adjournment, J.R.S.54 Joint resolution relating to the annual land transactions and H.R.21 House resolution commemorating the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth and recognizing our State’s and Nation’s continuing struggle for racial equality were taken up and passed, two on Roll Call votes; J.R.S.58 due to a glitch in the voting platform and for H.R.21 a member’s request made and sustained.
H.435 an act relating to the Board of Medical Practice and the licensure of physicians and podiatrists, H.788 an act relating to technical corrections for the 2020 legislative session and H.936 an act relating to sexual exploitation of children were all passed in concurrence with Senate proposals of amendment. The changes for each bill were deemed minor or based on action taken by other legislation and supported by the committee presenting the legislation. Two other bills permitting local option taxes on select services, H.943 an act relating to the charter of the City of St. Albans and H.946 an act relating to adoption of the Charter or the Town of Elmore were both passed with an amendment to each from the Appropriation Committee which clarified the permitted use of the tax to be collected.
H.611 an act relating to the Older Vermonters Act, H.607 an act relating to increasing the supply of primary care providers in Vermont, H.963 an act relating to judiciary procedures and H.962 an act relating to the duration of temporary relief from abuse orders were all passed after floor debate. Amendments were made in some cases to respond to changes since they were drafted prior to the COVID-19 crisis.
H.965 an act relating to healthcare-and human services- related Appropriations from the Coronavirus Relief Fund and H.966 an act relating to COVID-19 broadband connectivity and housing initiatives were both passed the latter with two substantial amendments. One amendment was offered by members of the Committee on Human Services and the other by members of the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development. Roll call votes were requested and sustained for both of these bills.
I offer my deep gratitude to each and every one of you who are being cautious in contact but taking care of and serving our community. I can be reached at bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us or 802-849-6545.
Use the following link for the most current updates to the Governor’s Be Smart, Stay Safe Order
https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19 The Northwest Regional Planning Commission has an extensive listing of informative links as well https://www.nrpcvt.com
29
« on: June 12, 2020, 03:02:48 PM »
The week started with the completion of the passage of H.961 an act relating to making first quarter fiscal year 2021 Appropriations for the support of State government, Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) appropriations , pay act appropriations and other fiscal requirements for the first part of the fiscal year. The bill was taken up and amended to include a section that creates and directs a select committee on the future of public higher education in Vermont. Discussion as to the inclusion of students identified that several of the categories for selecting the 22 members permitted the person selected to be a Vermont State College student but there was not a space reserved specifically. After the third reading of the bill further debate ensued over the request to offer an amendment specifying a student from each of the Vermont State Colleges would be seated on the committee. The House rules don’t permit offering amendments after a bill has been read a third time without a vote on that request. The vote was asked to be taken by roll call and was “decided in the negative” Yeas 73, Nays 74. The bill was passed as originally amended.
Other bills passed this week and ready for Senate response include H.960 an act relating to miscellaneous health care provisions, S.301 an act relating to miscellaneous telecommunications changes and S.128 an act relating to physician assistant licensure. Bills passed by the House in concurrence with the Senate were S.338 an act relating to justice reinvestment, S.350 an act relating to creating emergency economic recovery grants and S.348 an act relating to temporary elections procedures in the year 2020. Two amendments proposed to S.348 were decided in the negative by roll calls after substantial debate. They both addressed a concern that the collection or return of ballots by a candidate in the election should not be permitted. If the Secretary of State does order or permit the mailing of 2020 General Election ballots to all registered voters the mailing will include a stamped pre-addressed envelope for ease of return. The final vote to pass in concurrence was decided by a roll call vote of Yeas 115, Nays 29.
The House Transportation Committee completed its work on S.339 an act relating to miscellaneous changes to laws related to vehicles and will present it on the Floor next week. Any schedule for further committee meetings will be based on a need to respond to Senate amendments to either this bill or H.942 the T-Bill. That response may also be handled by a Committee of Conference rather than the full committee.
Use the following link for the most current updates to the Governor’s Be Smart, Stay Safe Order
https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19
I offer my deep gratitude to each and every one of you who are being cautious in contact but taking care of and serving our community. I can be reached at bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us or 802-849-6545
30
« on: June 05, 2020, 03:13:29 PM »
The House Transportation committee heard from Legislative and Joint Fiscal Office members on the sections of the FY21 first quarter Big Bill during committee sessions. On Friday this bill was presented on the Floor as H.961, an act relating to making first quarter fiscal year 2021 appropriations for the support of State government, federal Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) Appropriations, pay act Appropriations, and other fiscal requirements for the first part of the fiscal year. The Transportation committee had concerns in regards to the allocation for Town Highway formula aid. The Appropriations committee considered and accepted the language drafted to ensure municipalities would get the first quarterly payment in the amount that was statutorily proscribed. Towns receive a formula driven amount from the State for their Highway budgets and plan accordingly.
S.339, the miscellaneous DMV bill continues to be reviewed by the Transportation committee. Time constraints pose a challenge to the ability to receive sufficient testimony on some sections and there is work being done to offer expanded language for others. The committee has taken testimony from the Agency on the bill and heard from outside witnesses as well. The Committee has been asked to move recommendations on Transportation specific expenditures for CRF phase 1 spending and S.339 by Wednesday and Friday respectively, of next week.
This week’s Wednesday and Friday House Floor sessions saw action on five bills in addition to H.961. H.959 an act relating to education property tax came to the Floor last Friday with language that was permissive to future deficits. Wednesday it was amended to limit the language that addressed a potential deficit and the intent to address it to the fiscal year 2021. After much debate on other amendments that were refused on Roll Call votes the bill passed and was messaged to the Senate. H.716 an act relating to Abenaki hunting and fishing licenses, S.347 an act relating to suspension of time frames for civil license suspension hearings for certain DUI offenses and H.948 an act relating to temporary municipal proceedings provisions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak all passed the House and the actions were messaged to the Senate. Third reading was ordered for H.960 an act relating to miscellaneous health care provisions with an amendment to section 5 that clarifies intent language for conditions of state funding for the Brattleboro retreat.
Use the following link for the most current updates to the Governor’s Be Smart, Stay Safe Order
https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19
I offer my deep gratitude to each and every one of you who are being cautious in contact but taking care of and serving our community. I can be reached at bmurphy@leg.state.vt.us or 802-849-6545
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