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Protecting Vermonters
With overwhelming support, two important bills passed out of the Senate this week that give Vermonters and law enforcement officers the consistency and safety we expect. S.208 creates standards for law enforcement agencies, requiring identification and putting limits on masking during policing. To ensure safe access to essential services, S.209 creates safety zones at schools, courts, hospitals, shelters and health care facilities. These bills are now with House Judiciary Committee. Budget crafting
Our House Appropriations Committee is doing the heavy lifting on how to meet the many budget requests of state agencies and partners doing critical work keeping Vermonters of all ages safe and healthy. Every other committee is helping in this process by drilling down into agency requests and asking hard questions, but the difficult job of divvying up the pie will ultimately rest with Appropriations in the House and Senate. If you have strong opinions on spending priorities, consider joining next week’s public hearing (see details in next section). And please keep in touch with me, your other legislators and the Governor in the weeks ahead. Education impasse
There’s no consensus yet on where to go next with Act 73, the comprehensive and controversial education reform effort passed last year. As the Education Committee continues taking testimony on a draft district map (a starting place for discussion) and reviewing reports, school boards around the state are sharing lean budgets that reflect tough decisions. Cell tower/telecommunications siting (H.527)
As we considered whether to keep the current streamlined cell tower siting process in place (known as Section 248a), my committee heard many suggestions on how the process needs to improve and become more citizen-friendly. We voted out the bill this week, keeping the current siting policy in place for now and requiring the Public Utilities Commission to make recommendations for changes after conducting multiple public workshops. The bill is now in the Senate.
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