Vermont State motto “Freedom and Unity” was on full display this week at the State House as politicians from all three major parties joined together to announce an effort to protect Vermonters from President Trump’s Executive Order that cracks down on immigration. Governor Phil Scott, Attorney General TJ Donovan, Lt. Governor David Zuckerman, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, Senate President pro-tem Tim Ashe and other legislative leaders announced that companion bills will be introduced in the House (H.228) and Senate (S.79) titled “An act relating to freedom from compulsory collection of personal information.”
The bill, citing several provisions of the Vermont Constitution including the Common Benefits Clause, prohibits state or local officials from collecting information regarding the religious beliefs of any individual and disclosing that information to the federal government for the purposes of registering that individual on a federal registry. The bill further authorizes only the governor, and not other state or local officials, to enter into an agreement with the federal government to enforce federal immigration laws. The Governor made clear his belief that the bill complies with federal law. The law enforcement community and Vermont’s federal delegation support the effort. The House and Senate Judiciary Committees held a joint hearing on the bills on Friday morning. The bills are on the “fast track” according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Sears.
In other news, six weeks into the session lawmakers are starting to move bills. To date, a total of ten bills have seen floor action in the House or Senate. Three of the ten bills have passed both the House and Senate and will be heading to the Governor’s desk, the most significant being the FY17 Budget Adjustment bill that is strongly supported by lawmakers. One bill of particular interest to political observers that passed the Senate this week is S.8. The bill establishes a State Ethics Commission and sets certain standards of ethical conduct including a one year ban on a lawmaker or executive branch official becoming a lobbyist after leaving office and requiring legislative and statewide political candidates to file financial and other disclosures.
GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES NEW HEALTH REFORM INITIATIVE
Governor Phil Scott was joined at a press conference this week by legislators, Agency of Human Services officials and health care providers to announce a new initiative aimed at reducing the cost of health care. The initiative involves OneCare, an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), and four Vermont hospitals - UVM Medical Center, Porter Hospital, Central Vermont Medical Center, and Northwestern Medical Center.
The year-long agreement between the state, the ACO and the hospitals is designed to move away from the current fee-for-service treatment model and toward a system that reimburses providers based on quality of care and outcomes.
The initiative builds on an agreement made last year between the Federal Government and Vermont that allows the state to incentivize preventative healthcare measures instead of compensating providers for the number of procedures, consultations, tests, etc, that are conducted. The initiative will be specific to Medicaid, and include providers and patients in the regions served by the four participating hospitals.
At the end of the one-year agreement, the administration and legislature will have the opportunity to evaluate the results and decide whether to expand the program to a broader group of healthcare and insurance providers. While legislative action is not required it is likely the relevant policy and money committees will hold hearings to better understand the plan in the coming weeks.
PAID FAIMLY LEAVE BILL RELEASED
Members of the House this week introducedH.196, a bill that proposes to establish a paid family leave and medical fund at the Department of Labor. The funding mechanism is a 0.93 percent payroll tax, which would be split between employees and employers. The bill was referred to the House General, Housing, and Military Affairs Committee. Paid family leave advocates face a tough uphill battle. Governor Scott said last week that he would veto the bill if it would “raise taxes and fees.”
SENATE COMMITTEE REJECTS GOVERNOR'S LABOR PROPOSAL
Governor Phil Scott issued three executive orders designed to restructure the administrative branch. Theorderthat has received the most scrutiny is the one that proposes to combine the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the Department of Labor into a single agency called the Agency of Economic Opportunity (AEO). The order would remove workplace safety oversight from the Department of Labor and put it into the Department of Public Safety.
On Tuesday, the Senate Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs Committee voted 4-1 rejecting the Governor’s Executive Order. The committee was receptive of the presentation but wanted to make sure they were conscious of striking the right balance between workers rights and the needs of the Vermont business community. The committee started to review adraft billon Friday morning designed to address this concern while achieving the objectives of the Governor’s Executive Order.
HOUSE ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE TAKES UP TELECOM BILLS
The House Energy & Technology Committee took testimony this week onH.50, which would postpone theJuly 1“sunset” (automatic repeal) of 30 V.S.A. sec. 248a for another three years. Section 248a allows for the permitting of cell towers by the PSB, as opposed to Act 250 and local zoning. The wireless telecommunications providers support the renewal of section 248a while the Vermont League of Cities and Towns would like to see the statute sunset. The committee is likely to discuss and possibly act on H.51 next week.
STATES PIVOT TOWARD RENEWABLES AS FEDS PIVOT TOWARD FOSSIL FUELS
The following is an extract from our weekly blog. Clickhereto read the whole post.
States both red and blue are making efforts to expand clean energy programs despite a noted federal pivot away from renewables and towards fossil fuels and coal, according to a report byStateline.Recognizing that investing in renewable energy is not only a boon for the environment, but also for state economies, states are rolling out numerous initiatives all aimed at getting in on the fast-growing industry. In 2016 the number of total jobs in solar overtook the total number of jobs in the oil, gas and coal industries, according toBloomberg, and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace.
