The Senate Committee on Natural Resources took up S.100 on Wednesday, with written testimony from Dr. David J. Weissgold.

This week the Senate Health and Welfare Committee confirmed the appointments of a number of the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) members.

Legislative Counsel presented an amendment, recommended by the Treasurer, on Friday. The amendment adds a new definition of de-minimus exposure which means holding less than 2% of the overall investment. The language recommends that VPIC develop a plan which identifies stocks and securities are carbon-heavy and make suggestions on how to divest by the end of 2030 with minimum exposure of funds.

Tom Cheney presented Advance Vermont’s budget to the House Commerce Committee on Thursday. They are requesting $350,000 in FY2024 through their fiscal sponsor, the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), to continue their workforce development efforts in concert with state partners.

The House Government Operations Committee took up potential changes to their elections bill, H.429, on Thursday. Chairman McCarthy had an amendment to offer on the bill which would cap contributions from statewide candidates to political parties at $60K.

The House Health Care Committee took up H.206, which is entitled “An act relating to miscellaneous changes affecting the duties of the Department of Vermont Health Access,” on Thursday. Stephanie Winters of the Vermont Medical Society (VMS) shared the perspective of the VMS on Section 3 of the bill pertaining to the Vermont Prescription System (VPMS) and the use of the data in this important registry. She reiterated that “VMS was involved in the design of VPMS at its inception and has always been our position that the focus should be clinical improvement and coordination and not enforcement purposes.”

Action Alert!

Friends, the Senate is voting TODAY on a bill to introduce a carbon pricing scheme for home heating fuels that the Scott Administration says will increase the cost of heating fuels at least $0.70 per gallon. This morning I sent the letter below to all our Senators, but we need you to speak out as well. NOW is the time to make your voice heard. If carbon pricing on heating fuels will hurt your family's financial stability, Senators need to hear from you!

Victoria Biondolillo (Executive Director, State Workforce Development Board) testified to the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday, saying that the data collected by the Workforce Development Board illustrates two major issues:

• The current shortage of labor and need to fill jobs.
• Long term trends and demographic decline.

The House Education Committee returned Wednesday morning to the bill that does away with Vermont’s public tuitioning system. Chairman Conlon opened the meeting, indicating that this would not likely be taken up again before the town meeting break. However, on Friday they will take another look at their committee bill on this topic.

On Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee took up the latest draft of their miscellaneous education bill. One of the major components of the bill is study on the compensation and staffing levels for the State Board of Education (SBE).