Leonine: In January, it's all about November

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

Leonine Public Affairs The 2020 legislative session started with a bang. The second year of the biennium usually ramps up faster than the first year - committees are already appointed and many bills are already introduced and on the schedule for consideration - but week one of 2020 was all about the November election. On Tuesday reports came out that Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman intends to run for governor. That news alone creates a huge dynamic shift in the legislature. That shift was magnified by the prospect of an open seat in the lieutenant governor’s office, which prompted an announcement by Senate President Tim Ashe that he intends to run to succeed Zuckerman. The ripple effect (and the speculation about who is running for what) was immediate.

Others quickly voiced interest in running for lieutenant governor, including Senator Corey Parent, R-Franklin, Senator Debbie Ingram, D-Chittenden and Assistant Attorney General Molly Gray. Senator Ingram has served in the Senate since 2016 and Senator Parent is one of the Vermont Republican Party’s top rising stars. Assistant Attorney General Gray is a newcomer to electoral politics. Other names rumored for LG were Representative Sarah Copeland-Hanzas, D-Bradford, Representative Sam Young, D-Greensboro, former Democratic Representative Kesha Ram and former Republican House minority leader Don Turner - but none have announced. Other notable politicians who were rumored to be running for lieutenant governor have indicated they are unlikely to join the race, including former Democratic House Speaker Shap Smith, current Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero and House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington.

In the Senate two candidates to replace Senator Ashe as President pro-tem emerged - Senate Majority Leader Becca Balint, D-Windham and Senator Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden. And finally, with one and maybe two senate seats from Chittenden County being vacated there were a number of House members from Chittenden County considering their prospects.

Of course, all of the above is contingent on Lieutenant Governor Zuckerman running for governor, which he has not officially announced. He plans to make an announcement on Monday, January 13. Governor Phil Scott has not officially announced whether or not he will seek a third term in office but speculation is that he will. Former Education Secretary Rebecca Holcomb is also running for the Democratic nomination for governor and will face Zuckerman in the primary.

While the electoral fireworks dominated headlines, high profile policy debates picked up where they left off last year.

A large group of supporters of a regulated market for recreational cannabis held a press conference to call on the House and the governor to support S.54, a bill that would establish a retail market. Attorney General TJ Donovan, Senator Dick Sears, D-Bennington, Representative Copeland-Hanzas and Matt Simon from the Marijuana Policy Project headlined the press conference. Senator Sears and Representative Copeland-Hanzas said they are confident S.54 will pass the legislature this year and expressed hope the governor will sign the bill.

Democratic leaders resumed work on two of their top priorities from last year, paid family leave (H.107) and minimum wage (S.23). Both bills were referred to conference committees. Leaders in both chambers expressed confidence the bills would pass and be sent to the governor’s desk in the near future. The governor is expected to veto both measures. If that happens, it remains to be seen whether the legislature will be able to override.

The Institutions, Health Care and Appropriations committees in both chambers moved quickly to address two urgent institutional issues - the financial struggles at the Brattleboro Retreat and the abuse and mismanagement reported at the women’s prison in South Burlington. The Brattleboro Retreat is in danger of partially closing as a result of budget pressures, which would have a profoundly negative impact on the state’s mental health system. The Scott Administration and legislature have stated they are committed to working to keep the Retreat open. It remains to be seen what steps each will propose and ultimately take to make that a reality. Reports in late 2019 that the Chittenden Regional Corrections Facility had been grossly mismanaged and that abuse and corruption were prevalent led state corrections commissioner Mike Touchette to resign. The legislature and Scott Administration have both said reforming the operations at the prison is a top priority.

Another policy theme that will dominate the 2020 legislative session is climate change. Last year the legislature passed initiatives to promote efficiency in the transportation sector. The transportation committees in both chambers have already started hearings on how the initiatives are being implemented and where they should go from here. Environmental groups have been very vocal about the need to combat climate change and climate activists interrupted Governor Scott’s state of the state speech with protests.

It will be interesting to see how the new dynamics around the 2020 election affect debate in the legislature going forward.

Governor Phil Scott delivered the fourth state of the state address of his tenure on Thursday. The speech was interrupted in the first minute or so when climate activists from Extinction Rebellion started protesting in the House Chamber. The protest resulted in a delay of about 20 minutes and a recess was called so the protesters could be escorted out.

When the speech resumed the governor highlighted topics that have been priorities since he first took office. Affordability, battling opiate addiction and warning of a demographic crisis were themes. The governor proposed a universal afterschool program that he highlighted as a continuation of his “cradle-to-career” education initiative. He proposed investment in affordable housing and Act 250 reform as well as increased incentives for electric vehicles and clean energy storage.

The governor did not provide detail on how he proposes to pay for the priorities outlined in the speech, those details will be included in the budget address in a couple weeks.

Medicaid Expansions Come Down To Voters Vs. Legislators

Medicaid expansion has been one of the hottest topics in state legislatures for nearly a decade now, following a 2012 Supreme Court decision which, among several other key provisions, ruled that the Medicaid expansion provisions of the Affordable Care Act were opt-in only, meaning that individual states themselves could choose whether to expand the program or not. The main method for adoption in most states has been the legislative process.

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