GOODBYE CERES
It was an extremely quiet week politically. There was a public hearing on minimum wage but aside from that, not much happened on the House or Senate floor. This is in part due to the fact that committees have been focused on the bills that they received after crossover and in part due to the heavy workload they have faced recently with gun safety legislation as well as the House passing the revenue and appropriations bills.
Obviously this will not be the norm between now and adjournment but a one week hiatus was well received by most. |
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NET NEUTRALITY
The House Committee on Energy and Technology continues to discuss S.289, the net neutrality bill passed by the Senate. In its current form, the bill would require internet service providers (ISPs) seeking to enter into contracts with the State of Vermont to certify that they are net neutral. It would also require providers to disclose their policies regarding net neutrality to either the Department of Public Service of the Office of the Attorney General, and would direct the attorney general to conduct a study and report back to the legislature in December, 2018 with a recommendation on what additional steps the state could take in the realm of net neutrality. Governor Scott issued an executive order earlier in the session that would also require ISPs to certify net neutrality if they wish to enter into contracts with the State. The bill and executive order both raise significant questions of preemption and there is a high likelihood that the state will be sued and lose in court.
Here’s a link to the most current proposal. |
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UNCONSCIONABLE CONTRACTS
This week the House Judiciary Committee took testimony on S.105, which addresses contract provisions between businesses and consumers. Under the Senate passed bill certain types of contract provisions, such as requiring disputes to be adjudicated in an “inconvenient venue" (i.e., location) or a waiver of one’s right to seek punitive damages, would be presumed to be unconscionable. A court would then be permitted to void the particular provision or the entire contract. In addition, under the bill the existence of a such a provision in a contract would constitute a violation of Vermont’s consumer protection law and a consumer could sue and obtain a judgment for $1,000 even if there otherwise was not dispute between the consumer and the business. The committee is also considering adding language that would authorize people to act as a “private Attorney General,” i.e., bring lawsuits backed by the same authority that the Attorney General has. |
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TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEES
This week the Senate Transportation Committee continued its work on a draft strike-all version of H.917, the transportation bill. Section 11 extends the criminal penalties for furnishing alcohol to a minor that presently apply to motor vehicles to snowmobiles, vessels and ATVs. Sections 19 and 20 relate to electric charging stations for electric vehicles but the committee adopted a substitute amendment that is not available online yet. The committee also plans to add abandoned vessel language to the bill when it is drafted. The House Transportation Committee spent most of this week working on S.272, the Miscellaneous DMV bill. |
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MENTAL HEALTH
The legislature continued to grapple with capacity challenges this week in the state mental health system. The challenge centers around a facilities shortage for acute and subacute psychiatric patients. The House and Senate Institutions committees have been considering a variety of proposals on how to address the need for more psychiatric beds in the state including the possibility of building new state facilities or contracting with regional hospitals like UVM Medical Center (UVMMC) and Rutland Regional Medical Center (RRMC.) UVMMC offered a proposal this week to build a new acute psychiatric facility on the campus of Central Vermont Medical Center, a UVMMC affiliate. The proposal has been well received by the Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates hospital budgets and health insurance. The proposal would also convert the existing state psychiatric facility in Berlin into a subacute treatment center known as a “secure residential” facility. RRMC has also offered a proposal to build a new secure residential facility in Rutland. The House Institutions Committee included $2.5 million in H.923, the state capital bill, to begin the process of constructing a secure residential facility. The Senate Institutions committee is now considering the capital bill. |
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TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES
Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) are asking the state to implement a statewide regulatory structure. Most people know TNCs as Lyft or Uber. Both companies have been operating in Vermont for a few years now and are looking to expand their operations. Lyft is seeking to operate statewide in addition to its current robust operation in the greater Burlington area. In order to do so successfully the companies need the predictability that can not be achieved with a patchwork of regulation that differs from one municipality to the next. With consistency throughout Vermont, Lyft will be able to provide low cost and efficient transportation options to Vermonters who are currently struggling to find affordable options. |
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