ENTERING THE HOME STRETCH
This week guns dominated the conversation in the State House once again. Later in this newsletter is a summary of these discussions. Beyond both chambers’ extended debates on gun legislation their respective committees spent time digging into the details on many of the bills that made the crossover deadline. We are now heading into week 13, which theoretically means there are six weeks remaining in the 2018 legislative session, which in turn means committees face a countdown clock to finish their work. This is even more important for the Senate “morning committees,” which will have only a few more weeks to meet. At this point in the session no one issue has presented itself as something that would result in the session running longer than 18 weeks. While the gun control bills are very controversial, it appears they have been fast-tracked and are likely to be wrapped up well in advance of adjournment. Last year the legislative session ran long because the House and Senate were involved in a stand-off with the governor over teacher healthcare plans. The House-passed revenue bill could create such a stand-off as the governor does not support it because it creates $60 million in new income taxes to pay for the Education Fund. However, the Senate still has an opportunity to offer a different proposal. Another outstanding question is what the governor will do with the bills he identified as likely to be vetoed because they include new taxes or fees. If those bills move forward it will be interesting to see if they are modified to meet the Governor’s concerns. |
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GUNS CLEAR SENATE
On Tuesday the House held a marathon floor session to give final approval to S.55, a gun safety bill. The bill would ban “bump-stocks,” limit the capacity of ammunition magazines, require background checks for private gun sales and increase the age at which one can purchase a firearm from 18 to 21. After considering numerous proposed amendments the House approved the bill on a 89-54 roll call vote. The bill went back to the Senate and on Friday afternoon after an acrimonious floor debate the Senate signed off on the changes made by the House on a 17 to 13 roll call vote.
Both chambers also passed two additional gun safety bills this week. The House approved S.221, which creates a legal process for police to seize firearms from a person deemed a danger to themselves or others. The Senate approved H.422, which allows police to seize firearms from a person arrested for domestic violence. Both bills will now go to the Governor, who has indicated he will sign them into law. |
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CAPITAL BILL
On Wednesday the House gave final approval to the FY19 Capital Construction Bill, which appropriates $159.4 million for investment in infrastructure projects across the state. The project includes $4 million in funds that will be invested in school safety, $24 million in clean water funding for municipal pollution grants and conservation projects and additional appropriations for mental health and corrections beds. The bill does not contain the governor’s controversial proposal to start the process of building a 925-bed correctional facility in Franklin County. |
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CHEMICAL BILL
The House voted on Thursday to concur with the Senate’s version of S.103, a bill that gives the Department of Health unprecedented authority to regulate and ban children’s products. S.103 would allow the Commissioner of Health to ban a product marketed to children that contains a chemical “of high concern.” The bill allows the commissioner to regulate or ban a product without considering exposure levels. It also removes the requirement that the commissioner consider the “weight” of evidence when regulating or banning a product. This would give the commissioner discretion over which scientific studies are reviewed when banning products instead of being required to review the bulk of available evidence. The bill now goes to the governor’s desk. It is unclear whether he will sign the bill. |
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HOSPITAL BUDGETS
The Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates hospitals and health insurers, moved this week to lower the rate by which hospital budgets are allowed to grow on an annual basis. The growth target for previous fiscal years had been set at 3.4 percent. The Board lowered the target to 3.2 percent for FY2019. This change is not as large the Board’s initial proposed reduction, which would have lowered the target to 2.8 percent, but could still have a significant impact on hospital budgeting and services. |
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VEHICLE INSPECTIONS
The House Transportation Committee worked on the Senate-passed version of S.272, the Miscellaneous DMV bill, this week. Sections 18 and 19 make significant changes to Vermont state vehicle inspections, which DMV weighed in on this week. The committee approved Section 17 of the bill that removes the “cash price” column from the Dealer Vehicle Record form (VD-125). The auto dealers requested that the “cash price” to be removed from the form to ensure consistency with a Department of Financial Regulation. |
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ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS
The Senate Transportation Committee continues its work on the House-passed version of H.919, the annual Transportation Bill from the Agency of Transportation. The committee, and the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee, are focused on Sections 19 and 20 that propose to have the Public Utility Commission regulate electric vehicle charging stations. A group of interested parties, including the Agency of Transportation, have been working on compromise language on this topic that they intend to present to the Senate Transportation Committee next week. |
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