Leonine: Pension reform sidelined, eugenics regrets, COVID economic relief

ZOOMED OUT

Leonine Public Affairs House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, announced on Friday the decision to table a proposal to address the unfunded liability in the state pension system. The proposal, which was being considered in the House Government Operations committee, included a one-time state investment of $150 million and reduced benefits and raised costs for teachers and public employees paying into the fund.

The pension system is estimated to have an unfunded liability of about $3 billion and pressure has been mounting for the state to address the shortfall. But the House proposal was met with stiff opposition from teachers, public employees and unions, and legislators of all parties have been receiving increasingly high volumes of communication from constituents opposing the plan.

With increasing concern among Democratic lawmakers in the House, and signals the Senate would not support the draft plan, Krowinski opted to shelve the proposal and create a task force of stakeholders to develop options for a path forward. Krowinski said on Friday the House would still consider legislation to revamp the pension system’s governance structure to better oversee the fund and improve returns.

On Thursday, the Vermont House unanimously supported J.R.H.2, a joint resolution with the Senate apologizing and expressing regret to individual Vermonters, their families and descendents who were harmed as a result of state-sanctioned eugenics policies and practices. The resolution calls out state-sanctioned eugenics policies which were implemented and practiced in Vermont throughout the 19th century. These practices targeted Vermonters of Native American Indian heritage, including French-Indian and Abenaki families, persons of mixed ethnicity and French-Canadian heritage, as well as persons with disabilities, among others.

On Tuesday the Senate Rules Committee voted out Proposition 2, which would remove references to slavery from the Vermont constitution and Proposition 5, which would enshrine people’s personal reproductive rights in the constitution. Both constitutional amendments will sit on the Senate Calendar until April 9, when the body is expected to approve them. Once approved by the Senate, they will go to the House and if passed, to the voters for a referendum. Prop 2 and Prop 5 were introduced and passed by the Vermont legislature in 2019. Amending the constitution is a four-year process.

House committees spent the bulk of the week working on Senate bills and Senate committees did the same with House bills. The House Appropriations Committee finalized a strike-all amendment to H.315, the expedited COVID-19 relief bill, and if it is approved by the House, the Senate is expected to concur early next week in hopes of getting it to the governor’s desk as quickly as possible. The Senate Appropriations Committee spent the week taking testimony on H.439, the FY2022 budget. The Scott administration is expected to unveil its updated budget proposal in the near future. The late-session budget proposal will address federal funds that were made available as a result of the American Rescue Plan Act, which passed Congress in the middle of March.