-
Wednesday, May 17, 2023Vermont Legislative Session Summary 2023
On May 12th, the historic 2023 session came to a close. The best way to summarize the session is “adjourned, but not done.” The Legislature has been planning since early in the session to come back for a veto session where the Democratic supermajority squares off against the most popular Governor in America on possibly up to five or six (the budget, childcare, firearm reform, juvenile justice, and perhaps the bottle bill legislation) pieces of vetoed legislation on June 20, 21, 22 with the start of a new
Friday, May 05, 2023Vermont Legislative 2023 Update: Week 17
There is a lot of confidence in a May 12th adjournment date, however, you don’t see the expected corresponding hustle in the State House to meet that date. Things feel like they are going at a casual pace. Additionally, this week brought new business to the legislative session as Governor Scott made good on his promise to veto the clean heat standard, and Speaker Krowinski announced the beginning of impeachment proceedings for the Franklin County State’s Attorney. That said, even if it is not in the
Friday, April 21, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 15
If you read last week’s update, you might have felt it was a little slim. You’re not wrong, last week was a week where the committees were heads down, sifting through testimony and many different iterations of potential legislation provided by staff. This week, the image of the final iterations of some legislation started to take shape, potentially. That final caveat of “potentially” is there because while there are four to five weeks to go, a lot can happen, and there is a lot of distance to close
Friday, April 14, 2023Vermont Legislative update 2023: Week 14
This legislative session, and perhaps legislative biennium, can be seen as a 100-year storm. The confluence of last biennium’s great resignation, which means that one-third of the legislature is new and three-quarters of the chairs, are now also together at a time when one party achieved a supermajority in both chambers of the legislature has made for an incredible flurry of activity. This week saw steady continued work on issues as leadership makes plans for the final weeks of the session. This leaves us
Friday, April 07, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 13
The Legislature is working towards adjournment, with only about 14 legislative days left for the Senate’s morning committees to finish their business before shutting down. Traditionally, that puts the adjournment about two weeks after or around the 12th or 13th of May this year, however, the discussion is starting to foreshadow a slightly later adjournment. As we’ve highlighted in previous updates, this session is unprecedented in a number of ways. It has the largest class of first-year legislators in
Monday, April 03, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 12
When the dust settled from the last election, it became very clear that this session would be very different due to the supermajority that the Democratic caucus was able to secure. Governor Scott has not been shy in using his veto pen over the past six years, however, this session, we’re still waiting to see if a veto threat has any merit. This year, the Legislature took it slow and steady from the start. Welcoming the largest class of new legislators in history, with many of the returning legislators
Friday, March 24, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 11
Yesterday, the University of New Hampshire released a poll covering the areas of most concern to Vermonters. Coming in at number 1, “housing” (32%), which should come as no surprise, and numbers 2 & 3 were “cost of living” (9%) and “taxes” (9%). The news comes in a week in which there is contention around how best to create more housing while legislators discuss what could conservatively be estimated as more than $400 million in new taxes. This year is shaping up to be an expensive one. The Chair of
Friday, March 17, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 10
Legislators were back in Montpelier this week after their weeklong recess for Town Meeting. It’s crossover week, meaning legislation needs to be out of the committee of jurisdiction by the end of today, or the legislation is done for the session… at least, that’s how it is supposed to be. Crossover has never been a hard and fast deadline, despite whatever leadership says. There are some ways around it; a committee can seek a waiver from the rules committee, legislators or a committee can add a piece of
Friday, March 03, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 9
Democracy is a participatory sport, so it’s time to get off the sidelines and participate in your town meeting day and contact your legislators about all of these issues. Town Meeting Day is important for the legislative process because the week serves as the halfway point and mid-session recess that many legislators need by this time. Certainly, around the building this week, it was apparent that many people wanted and needed such a break. This recess is also important because this is a good time to get
Friday, February 24, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 8
We’ve got a very long update for you this week, so we’ll jump right in. In this week’s update:Join us for our next legislative breakfast on March 13thHOMES Act passes first senate committee; tough road aheadGovernor calls for local match for federal infrastructure fundsHouse Commerce still pondering VEGI revisionsSenate Committee passes bill giving State Auditor authority over state contractsJoin Us for Visitor Economy Day in the State HouseSenate Economic Committee looks to end “at-will” employment,
Friday, February 17, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 7
This week major legislative conversations picked up speed with the passage of a few large initiatives. The legislature is now exactly one month away from the crossover deadline (with a one-week break for town meetings in there), which is their deadline to have legislation out of the committee of jurisdiction. Of course, in the legislature, deadlines are often deadlines to make new deadlines by, and we’ll see if crossover matters much this year. In this week’s update:Childcare discussion picks up in the
Friday, February 10, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 6
As they finish week six of the 2023 session, things are starting to feel as you’d expect from any other session. The Committees are in the thick of the legislative process, which consists of hours taking testimony to refine their proposals. As the common, old Vermont saying goes, “there’s plenty of grist for the mill.” While they’re milling that grist, there is less to report, so this week, we have some rapid-fire updates. In this week’s update:Quick updatesLegislators look to lessen liquor liability to
Friday, February 03, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 5
Our economy follows the same rules as a natural ecosystem. If you hope to harvest anything from a natural ecosystem, you must be mindful not to do so at a rate greater than it can be regenerated. Hunt too many deer in a herd, and the herd reaches an inflection point where it can not recover. Those who manage trusts or endowments experience this as well; they extract the interest from the fund, leave some to account for inflation, and never dip into the principal. Such focus on sustainability is
Friday, January 27, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 4
On a cold, dark Vermont evening, many of us turn to puzzles as a relaxing past-time. The first step to puzzling, after securing your favorite Vermont brew or spirits, of course, is dumping all of the pieces out on the table and taking stock of them. You likely find the corners and edges, then some distinct color patches, and work inward from there to build the final product. The legislative session is a little bit like that, however, not all the pieces are on the table yet, and the unique thing about this
Friday, January 20, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 3
This week, the Legislature could be described as a scenic Vermont river; on the surface, the river seems calm and slow, however, just beneath the surface, a heavy current carries material downstream, depositing it in certain places until it’s piled up enough for those on shore to notice it. On the surface, there have not been many bills introduced, and no final solutions are evident, however, just beneath the surface, bills are being finalized, co-sponsors arranged, and strategies for negotiations already
Friday, January 13, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 2
This week, Committees got to know the relevant Agencies and Advocates that they will be working with over the next two years. LCC’s Director of Government Affairs sat down with three separate committees to have an initial, official connection. In this week’s update: Join us for our Legislative BreakfastPaid Family and Medical Leave ReturnsVermont’s Sole Economic Growth Program ThreatenedReturn of Clean Heat StandardGovernor Rolls out BAA, More to ComeProspective Property Taxes Rates a Pain Point for
Friday, January 06, 2023Vermont Legislative Update 2023: Week 1
Welcome to a new legislative biennium. LCC’s advocacy team each week pulls together disparate notes from the State House’s many committee meetings and hallway conversations to cut through the static and give you a holistic picture of what is happening under the Golden Dome. For this first update, we want to set the stage. These are some statistics to remember as you read legislative updates for the next four to five months. As we look ahead in 2023, four fractions will come to define legislative
