Lawmakers face crossover deadline, 'fast-track' COVID recovery bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee this week approved S.30, a bill that would prohibit an individual from knowingly carrying a firearm into a hospital. It also directs the Capital Complex Security Advisory Committee to report back on how firearms are currently regulated at the Capital Complex - where the statehouse is - and recommend whether and how the issue of firearms at the Complex should be addressed in legislation. The bill as introduced would have banned firearms from hospitals, childcare facilities and other government buildings but was ultimately scaled back after testimony from the Commissioner of Public Safety and pro-gun lobbyists.

On Friday the Senate gave preliminary approval to S.117, a committee bill sponsored by the Senate Health & Welfare Committee. The bill extends health care related provisions enacted last year in response to the COVID-19 emergency that were set to sunset on March 31, 2021 until March 31, 2022. The provisions are far ranging in nature and address issues such as regulatory flexibility for health care providers and health care facilities, health insurance coverage for diagnosing and treating COVID-19 and similar respiratory ailments, and access to prescription drugs. Additionally, the bill requires health insurers to cover the delivery of health care services by telephone beyond the end of the COVID-19 emergency at provider reimbursement levels established by the Department of Financial Regulation. The bill will be up for final approval in the Senate next Tuesday.

On Friday, the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development approved H.159, the omnibus economic development bill. The package includes $1 million for tourism and marketing, additional resources for workforce development programs within the Vermont State College System, the creation of a Better Places Program within the Department of Housing and Community Development, funding for Vermont’s technology sector, and an expansion of the existing Downtown Tax Credit program. The bill also appropriates $100,000 to the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) to hire a contractor that would convene BIPOC businesses, organizations, community leaders and representatives from state government to recommend legislation that would create a state BIPOC business network. ACCD is also tasked with implementing an Economic Advancement Program to cultivate and support BIPOC businesses. The bill also funds the services of a foreign trade representative for two years in order to begin the work of cultivating relationships with Canadian partners and developing prospects for attracting business relocation and investment in Vermont.

On Friday, the Senate Committee on Education approved S.13, a bill establishing a task force charged with creating an implementation plan to correct inequities in Vermont’s education funding formula, recommended in an educational research report conducted by the University of Vermont and Rutgers University. The 2019 report determined that equalized students (how students are counted for the purposes of allocating the resources needed to educate them) were undercounted in nearly 60 percent of Vermont schools. The student populations that are most significantly under-represented in terms of funding needs, according to the UVM and Rutgers report, are those including children living in rural districts, those that are English language learners, and children that come from economically disadvantaged households. This flaw has led to higher tax rates and fewer resources for schools with those populations. S.13 will go to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.