Leonine: Lawmakers all business, Shield Bill, School funding, Committee by committee

ALL BUSINESS

The Vermont legislature shifted into high gear this week, as committees increasingly focused on priority legislation with the Town Meeting break quickly approaching. Solid waste, data privacy, protections for health care workers and climate legislation had a lot of air time across various policy committees. The Senate began to work on legislation to expand childcare and the House continued to work through legislation to create a paid family and medical leave program. The money committees in the House dug into the FY2024 spending proposals, with the House Appropriations committee taking testimony from departments and agencies across state government regarding their budget requests. The House Transportation committee and House Institutions and Corrections committee continued to work through their respective spending bills that fund the state’s transportation and capital infrastructure. In the Senate, the Appropriations committee worked to finalize its version of the FY2023 Budget Adjustment Act (BAA). Senate Appropriations expects to finalize FY2023 BAA next week.

H.121 - DATA PRIVACY

The House Commerce and Economic Development committee began taking testimony on H.121, a bill that would regulate the use of biometric data in commerce along with other provisions aimed at consumer privacy. The bill is a priority for Attorney General Charity Clark and is sponsored by the chair of the committee, Representative Mike Marcotte (R-Coventry). The bill would expand the regulation of data brokers. In Vermont law data brokers are third-party companies that aggregate, buy and sell data without having a direct relationship with the consumer. H.121 would specify data breach protocols for data brokers and restrict the use of biometric data in commerce. Biometric data is the measurement of human characteristics such as fingerprints, eyes and vocal patterns.

While there is a concern on the part of the Attorney General and some lawmakers about the use of biometric data in commerce, it is increasingly common, such as using a face scan to unlock a smartphone or a fingerprint to enable the use of a credit card. Legislative counsel warned the committee of unintended consequences associated with the increased regulation of biometric and other consumer data. Many online services and apps are free because of the use of consumer data, and limiting access to services as a result of increased regulation would in many cases not be in the interest of the consumer.

H.121 as introduced has wide-ranging implications across all sectors of commerce. Chair Marcotte acknowledged the committee has a lot of work to do to better understand these implications. The committee is expected to continue to work on H.121 next week.

SCHOOL FUNDING

On Tuesday a bill was introduced in the Vermont Senate to restrict public dollars to independent schools. S.66 would prohibit most of the state’s independent schools from receiving public tuition money. This proposal is of particular concern to more rural parts of the state where towns can be too small to operate their own public schools. It’s unclear if this bill has a path forward in the Senate, but the House has indicated a willingness to dig into the issue, beginning their work on a committee bill that may mirror certain provisions of S.66. It’s likely to be a contentious issue in both chambers, with many lawmakers across the political spectrum representing districts that depend on independent schools to educate their children.

BOTTLE BILL

The House Environment & Energy committee took testimony this week on H.158, also known as the “Bottle Bill”. H.158 expands Vermont’s existing beverage container redemption program beyond beer and soda containers to include water bottles, wine bottles and sports drinks. The original Bottle Bill, passed in 1972, established a redemption system that charges consumers a small deposit when they buy certain beverages. This version of the Bottle Bill is nearly identical to last year’s version that failed to pass the Senate when the clock ran out at the end of the session. Stakeholders who oppose the bill say that it would increase the cost of recycling and create a hefty burden on distributors and redemption centers, among other businesses. One specific concern that has been highlighted is a provision which stipulates that there must be three redemption centers per county, at least one in any municipality with more than 7,000 people and one within a 15-minute drive of every person in the state, unless a waiver is granted.

SHIELD LAWS

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Dobbs decision in June, Vermont had been preparing for a post-Roe world. The Reproductive Liberty Amendment to the Vermont Constitution ratified overwhelmingly by the voters in November was the first step. Now lawmakers are busy working on two so-called “shield” bills to protect Vermonters assisting those who seek abortions or gender-affirming care in Vermont if the care is illegal in their home state.

The first of these bills, H.89, An act relating to civil and criminal procedures concerning legally protected health care activity, passed the House on Friday by a vote of 130-13. This bill focuses on the judicial aspects of “shielding” Vermonters from lawsuits from states where abortion is illegal, among other things. The second bill, S.37, An act relating to access to legally protected health care activity and regulation of health care providers, is under review in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. This bill focuses on protecting health care providers who perform abortions or gender-affirming care to those traveling to Vermont to obtain these services. It also requires health insurers to provide coverage for abortion and gender-affirming care without imposing any cost-sharing requirements, among other things. Both bills are a high priority for House and Senate leadership.

COMMITTEE SHUFFLE

When Rep. Kate Donnally, (D-Hyde Park), stepped down in January because of the competing needs of family and legislative work and being trolled by extremists online, she left a seat open on the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Joseph Andriano, (D-Orwell), a lawyer and educator, moved from the House Health Care committee to the House Judiciary committee. This leaves the House Health Care committee one member short. Governor Scott is expected to appoint a member to serve in the seat Rep. Donnally vacated in the near future.