by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Late night sessions can be dangerous fuel, especially when it comes to controversial legislation, and such was the case Monday when the Vermont House became more of a tinderbox than usual.The issue that inflamed lawmakers was a highly combustible labor bill — legislation that prohibits businesses from discriminating against employees who use paid sick time.
The trouble is, the Legislature is targeting one business — Sodexho, a company that provides meals at local colleges and other institutions, and which has been accused of unfairly pressuring workers to continue working even when they are sick.
The legislation in question,S.213, is broad,and a faction of lawmakers — many of whom are blue dog Democrats or Independents — say the provisions in the bill could ensnare businesses that offer fair sick pay policies.
The spark started earlier in the day in House General, Housing and Military Affairs Committee. Rep. Will Stevens, I-Shoreham, introduced a strike-all amendment that gutted S.213, the so-called “Sodexho” bill. A study of discrimination related to employee use of sick time remained in Stevens’ amendment.
Stevens is concerned that the proposal has broad implications for businesses that have functional paid sick leave policies and could punish Sodexho at the expense of all employers.
Shap Smith, Speaker of the Vermont House. Photo by Roger Crowley/for VTDigger
The committee voted down Stevens’ proposal. Then Rep. John Moran, D-Wardsboro, struck Stevens’ amendment and inserted language from the Senate bill, returning the legislation to its original form. The committee unanimously approved Moran’s proposal.
When S.213, also known as the “Sodexho bill” was brought to the House floor, long after the dinner hour, a volatile back and forth ensued.
Stevens introduced another amendment that struck the prohibition language from the bill, and within short order, Moran offered his own amendment as a substitute.
What happened next was partly the result of hours-long arguments on the House floor over childcare unionization, which narrowly passed, and what happens when a caucus with a supermajority begins to fracture.
A small faction of blue dog Dems that night went against the caucus and the speaker and nearly scuttled the bill.
That would have been a first for House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, who in his tenure as the chief executive officer of the House, has never lost a vote on the floor.
Smith and his deputies usually count all the votes ahead of time, but the Sodexho bill wasn’t perhaps as crucial as some of the other items on the very full docket on Monday. After all, Smith was focused on the tough fight to pass childcare unionization.
Around 10 p.m., it appeared that the blue dog Dems, led by outgoing Rep. Paul Ralston, D-Middlebury, who gave a persuasive speech about why the bill wouldn’t be effective, soon had almost enough votes to kill the Moran amendment.
The tally was 60-62, and victory for the Ralston faction was imminent when Rep. Kathleen Keenan, D-St. Albans, changed her vote, creating a 61-61 tie, and enabling House Speaker Shap Smith to break the tie and carry the day for the Moran amendment.
It was the first time the Speaker has cast a tie-breaking vote on the floor.
Ralston then called for a roll call to divide the question, or break the Moran bill into two parts. Realizing they might not have the votes for a second round, Rep. Helen Head, D-S. Burlington, sent the bill back to the drawing board — her own committee.
The next day, smoke from the intra-caucus drama lingered.
The implicit rule of the Democratic caucus was violated. Members are supposed to show unwavering support for any union bill, as Rep. Tony Klein, D-East Montpelier, and others in the House made clear at a caucus meeting on Tuesday. Members who remember what it was like to be part of the minority (just six years ago) chastised newer representatives who voted their consciences instead of the party line.
After all, the Dems wanted to get another labor bill — that allows childcare providers to form a union — out the door on Tuesday.
Klein told his colleagues he could see erosion in the caucus.
“That troubles me … because we are the last line of defense. And not every bill that we put out there is perfect,” Klein said. “But when it comes out, that’s the labor bill, that’s the issue that is on the floor. And when we don’t support it, we’re turning our backs on the very people who I think the Democratic Party has always represented and the very people who have sent most of us here.”
A few hours later, the Dems passed the childcare unionization bill 78-59.
The hijinks of Monday night were over. Order was restored. Tuesday was another day in the House with lawmakers in their seats, the Democratic leadership back in control, and a steady stream of victories for the majority.