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Legislative Update: Montpelier heats up

Submitted by tim on

Through a special arrangement with VBM,Leonine Public Affairsprovides a summary of legislative activity in Montpelier for week ending March 17. 2017.

BUDGET MOVES

As expected, things are starting to heat up in the Vermont Statehouse. After a relatively tame start to the session, it was only a matter of time before controversy broke out. Week 11 was that time. Over the course of the week, the House had a couple of intense policy debates and wrapped up the budget and miscellaneous tax bill. On the Senate side it was not nearly as intense although the Finance Committee did pass a two dollar surcharge on overnight accommodations, which drew a swift and strong rebuke from Republican Governor Phil Scott.You can read the Governor’s statement here: Finance proposes, governor slams $2 a night room tax.

There were lengthy and intense debates onH.230, an act relating to consent by minors for mental health treatment related to sexual orientation and gender identity andH.422, an act relating to removal of firearms from a person arrested or cited for domestic assault. The bills passed the House by votes of 125-12 and 78-67 respectively. The vote on seizing firearms was clearly the closer of the two but strong opinions were expressed on the House floor and in the media on both bills. Partisan support for the gun bill was mixed while the mental health bill split along party lines.

With these contentious debates in the rearview mirror and the budget, marijuana bill (more on that later) and tax bill scheduled for action on the House floor next week, it is safe to expect the controversy to continue. It is likely the marijuana bill will end up being the most contentious as the House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the budget.

We are 11 weeks into what is scheduled to be an 18 week legislative session. The budget will soon move to the Senate, which will put forward its own plan on how to address the budget gap. We should expect this week to be the first of many weeks of fireworks between the political parties and the legislative and executive branches of government.
HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE ADVANCES FY18 BUDGET
On Friday, the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY18 Budget Bill. Following the Governor’s budget address in January, the legislature rejected several parts of his proposal that would have shifted General Fund spending and made other changes to the Education Fund. Having dismissed the Governor’s proposal, the House Appropriations Committee faced a roughly $72 million gap. On Friday, the committee voted 11-0 on a spending plan that closed that gap and made investments in mental health, the Vermont State Colleges and home health agencies. The committee found savings in CHIP (children’s health insurance), made a 20 percent cut to “disproportionate share” payments to hospitals and made cuts to the budgets of agencies and departments across state government. The House Ways and Means Committee helped close the gap with nearly $5 million in revenue, coming from enhanced tax compliance, rather than new or increased taxes. The full House will consider the FY18 Budget Bill next week.
MISCELLANEOUS TAX BILL
The House Ways and Means Committee voted to advance a miscellaneous tax bill on Friday. The bill raises a modest $4.98 million in revenue most of which comes from increased enforcement of existing tax law. The Vermont Tax Department is on board with the bill.Here is a linkto the summary of the bill.
PAID FAMILY LEAVE
Late last week, the House General, Housing and Military Affairs Committee advanced H.196, the paid family leave bill, by a 7-4 vote. ByMonday, it was clear the bill was unlikely to pass this year. Governor Scott immediately issued a statement opposing the bill after the committee moved it because it imposes a new payroll tax. Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, stated she expects the bill to pass the House this year but not the Senate since it did not meet the crossover March 24th deadline. However, if the bill does pass the House in 2017, the Senate will be able to take it up in 2018. The bill is pending in the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill does the following:
  • Eliminates the small employer exemption in Vermont’s existing family leave law
  • Defines "employee" as someone who has been employed in Vermont for at least six of the previous twelve months
  • Creates a Family Leave Insurance Special Fund to pay for up to 12 weeks of paid family leave during any 12-month period for: an employee's pregnancy; the birth of a child; the initial placement of a child by adoption or foster care; or a serious illness of the employee or person under the employee’s care
  • Imposes a $0.93 payroll tax on wages raising about $80 million. Employers may elect to pay all or a portion of the contributions on behalf of their employees
  • Sets up a process to increase the $0.93 percent payroll tax in future years
  • Allows a self-employed person to elect to obtain coverage under the Family Leave Insurance Program by paying into the fund for an initial period of 3 years that can be extended under certain circumstances.

The full text of the bill advanced by the House General, Housing, and Military Affairs Committee can be found on theHouse Calendar for Tuesday, March 21 starting on page 442.

Link to the Fiscal Note for H.196.
PREGNANCY LEAVE
This week, the House passed H.136, a pregnancy leave bill, by a 97-44 vote. This bill would require an employer to provide "reasonable accommodation" to a pregnant employee unless the employer can show that the requested accommodation will place an "undue hardship" on the business. Examples of "reasonable accommodation" in the bill include "more frequent or longer breaks, time off to recover from childbirth, acquisition or modification of equipment, seating, temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position, job restructuring, light duty, assistance with manual labor, modified work schedules, or the provision of unpaid leave" under other state or federal laws. “Undue hardship” is defined in the bill as "an action requiring significant difficulty or expense to the employer." The overall size of the employer and the cost of the accommodation are two factors that a court may consider when determining if there is an "undue hardship." The bill was referred to the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee. The House-passed version of the bill is not online as of this writing.
CONSUMER PROTECTION BILL
Late last week, the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee passedS.136, a consumer protection bill. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The bill contains provisions related to residential home improvement contracts, home loan escrow account analysis and fantasy sports contests. With regard to fantasy sports, the major players in the industry, FanDuel and DraftKings, are asking to be regulated. The bill imposes a 6 percent tax on the annual net revenue of fantasy sports operators from fantasy sports players in Vermont. The bill is pending in the Senate Finance Committee due to this tax.
BILL PROTECTING EMPLOYEES' AND JOB APPLICANTS' PRIVACY ON SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY PASSES HOUSE
On Thursday, the House gave final approval to H.462, which prohibits employers from requiring employees or job applicants to provide the employers with access to their social media accounts. There are exceptions for, among other things, investigations into the possibility that an employee improperly transferred an employer’s proprietary information or engaged in sexual harassment or discrimination. Additionally, the bill provides for more latitude in accessing the social media accounts of law enforcement personnel and applicants for law enforcement positions.
MARIJUANA
The House Judiciary Committee approvedH.170, a bill that would allow adults over the age of 21 to possess up to one ounce of recreational marijuana. The bill also allows adults to cultivate marijuana and to be in possession of two mature plants and four immature plants at a time. The bill does not allow for a regulated commercial market, in part due to concern over statements from the Trump administration about cracking down on states that have legalized marijuana.

H.170 missed the mid-March crossover deadline for bills to pass out of committee, which means the bill is unlikely to pass the legislature in 2017. It is eligible to carry over to the 2018 legislative session. It remains to be seen how many votes the bill will receive on the House floor. If H.170 passes the House, it is unclear if the Senate will support including a regulated commercial market in the legislation.
AUTOMATED VEHICLES
The Senate Transportation Committee continued consideration of the House-passed version ofH.494, the Transportation T-Bill this week. The committee revised the section on automated vehicles (AVs). The House bill included an AV study committee that would report annually on AV issues over a number of years. The current Senate Transportation Committee draft requires the Secretary of the Agency of Transportation to convene a meeting of public and private stakeholders on or beforeDecember 15, 2017, to gather information related to AVs and identify policy areas requiring further research or possible legislation. The Secretary is required to report byJanuary 15, 2018to the House and Senate Transportation Committees on the meeting and any AV recommendations, including any proposed legislation. The committee also spent time this week working on language related to utility relocation or adjustment orders involving utility right-of-ways in highway projects. The committee's bill drafts are not online, but below is a link to House-passed version of the bill:
TOP #VTPOLI TWEETS