In 2021, Vermont initiated a comprehensive inventory and assessment of all public school buildings through Act 72, aiming to address long-standing issues stemming from the suspension of a school construction aid program in 2008. The subsequent creation of the School Construction Aid Taskforce in 2023, mandated by Act 78, aimed to analyze the assessment results and formulate recommendations for a new statewide aid program.

Chairman Bray kicked off the Senate Natural Resources Committee meeting on Thursday by acknowledging that Legislative Counsel has done great work producing a “very long bill,” S.308, based on the Natural Resource Board (NRB) recommendations. The core bill concepts were presented to the Committee, but they did not do a full walk-through because of the length of the legislation. The “advocates who are in this morning” were encouraged to respond to the draft with comments and concerns about the draft.

The House Government Operations Committee returned to two draft ethics bills on Wednesday. Jaye Pershing Johnson (General Counsel, Governor's Office) was up first, speaking to the good working relationship the Administration has with Ethics Commission. The Administration has no opposition to draft except to note that the Sheriffs already have a financial disclosure requirement. They believe these requirements should be equal and apply to all. Pershing Johnson had one caution however, which was that historically requirements for financial disclosures have a tendency to discourage folks from serving if the burden of disclosure is too great. She suggested that the  Legislature might want to avoid giving the appearance of ‘weaponizing’ the Commission.

Chairman Kornheiser on Tuesday asked Legislative Counsel to walk the House Ways & Means Committee through the new education finance mechanism in Act 127. It sounds like there were some side conversations after last week’s hearings about tweaking the implementation of the legislation.

The law generally redistributed taxing capacity from wealthy and urban districts to poor rural districts. Under the new distribution, two thirds of districts would benefit while one third would see an increase in their tax rate for the same level of spending. A hold harmless mechanism as added that would trigger if a school districts property tax rate increased by 5% or more in FY2025 over FY2024. If a districts tax rate is capped in FY2025, in subsequent years (up to FY2029) they would continue to be capped.

Representatives from the Vermont National Guard showed a slide show with a map of July rainfall in the State clearly showing the devastation. It was noted that municipalities made some changes following Tropical Storm Irene which held up during this event. The Guard did not have to respond as much as might have been anticipated because of this. They explained how the ‘chain of command’ works with Department of Public Safety and Vermont Emergency Management (VEM). The 15^th Civil Support Team responded with 54 pieces of equipment.

Joyce Manchester (Senior Economist, Joint Fiscal Office) presented a wealth tax proposal to the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. The bill is also referred to as the "Fair Share for Vermont" proposal. The proposal is to increase taxes on the wealthiest Vermont residents to "build a better Vermont." The proposal will increase taxes on the top 2% of Vermont taxpayers, and raise nearly $100M each year in state revenue. According to Manchester, a wealth tax is usually defined as an annual tax levied on the net worth, or total assets net of all debts, of an individual or household above an exemption threshold.

The Committee returned to their draft BE Home bill on Friday morning to review the latest draft with Legislative Counsel. The bill is 86 pages long, but a helpful overview document was also provided.

Chairwoman Ram Hinsdale indicated that she to move toward a consensus vote for the inclusion of each of any stand-alone bills that should be included in their committee bill. February 9^th was the date given for when proposals needed to be submitted by.

The House Education Committee heard from Scott Farr (Director, River Valley Technical Center) on Friday, speaking to a letter he wrote which was previously reviewed by the Senate Education Committee as part of their testimony on S.207.

Elizabeth (Beth) Mauch (Chancellor, Vermont State Colleges) introduced herself to the House Education Committee on Friday and talked about her excitement about taking on her new role. She  has spent a quarter century in higher education and is excited that the Vermont Legislature has made such a "strong commitment" to the state system and is looking forward to the future at the state Colleges (VCS).