S.181

Walkthrough of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the House Committee on Government Operations.

On Wednesday, the House Government Operations and Military Affairs committee had a walkthrough of S.55 from legislative counsel and began taking testimony on the bill. During the bill walkthrough, Representative Hango asked many questions about hybrid meeting requirements, in person location requirements, and how the bill would practically be put into effect. The committee then took testimony from Lauren Hibbert, Deputy Secretary of State; Ted Brady, League of Cities and Towns; Carol Dawes, Clerk-Treasurer of Barre City; Catherine Dimitruk, Vermont Association of Planning & Development Agencies; Devon Neary, Rutland Regional Planning Commission; and Wendy Mays, Vermont Association of Broadcasters. Each witness largely supported the bill as passed by the Senate but expressed a desire to refine certain language (testimony linked below outlines exact asks - Lauren Hibbert did not submit testimony). Chair McCarthy said the committee would continue to take testimony on the bill next Tuesday, including diving into sections related to the working group. He also said the committee may choose to break into smaller working groups or subcommittees and do outreach to other stakeholders - he anticipated the committee would continue doing work on this bill for many coming weeks. Below are links to the bill as passed, a chart showing requirements for the different kinds of public bodies, written testimony, and a start of walkthrough and testimony.

S.55: As Passed by the Senate:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/BILLS/S-0055/S-0055%20As%20Passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20Unofficial.pdf

Discussion of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees at the House Republican Caucus.

On Tuesday, the House Republican Caucus met and briefly discussed Representative Peterson’s amendment.

H.657 Amendment:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Gabrielle%20Stebbins~Stebbins%20Amendment~3-26-2024.pdf

Review of VAN FY25 Request at the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

On Tuesday, Chair of House Appropriations, Representative Lanpher, was in the Senate Appropriations Committee to give an overview of the House passed version of the budget. During her overview, Chair Lanpher noted VAN as a “good thing” in the budget. Later in the meeting, Chair Kitchel said she wanted to get a better idea of what VAN “actually needs” and whether the $1million in one-time actually covers it on not.

Discussion of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees on the House Floor.

Late on Thursday, H.657 was on the House Floor for presentation and debate, which lasted about an hour. Rep. Sims presented the bill, and 3rd reading was ordered for Friday on a voice vote. The main opposition to the bill came from Rep. Art Peterson, who asked a number of questions about different provisions in it. One topic in particular he wanted to know about was about pole attachments - where in the bill they were mentioned, how inventoried or assessed or taxed, etc. Rep. Sims clarified he might be referring to a previous iteration of the bill, in which there was a pole attachment fee intended to support the Vermont Access Network. She noted that the fee is now per linear foot, and there is nothing about pole attachments in the bill. On Friday, action on the bill was postponed until next week. 

H.657 Amendment:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Gabrielle%20Stebbins~Stebbins%20Amendment~3-26-2024.pdf