Tom Golonka (Chair, Vermont Pension Investment Commission (VPIC)) thanked the House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday for listening to VPIC and the pension boards.  He noted that what they do is a tremendous obligation, and they take it very seriously, including the climate change problem. There is a 5-point plan that VPIC did which is on their website which he encouraged the Committee to read.

Golonka cautioned that the decisions of the Legislature do have an impact on the underfunding of the pension funds.  As an example, in 1970 the Legislature underfunded the pensions by $1M which today would be valued at $150M.  He reiterated that seemingly little changes matter and impact the funding status of the pension plans.

The Senate Government Operations Committee spent their committee time listening to twelve individuals who were slated to testify on H.875.  Chairwoman Hardy also noted the numerous written testimonies that were on their webpage with comments on the bill.

Chairman Stevens introduced Chris Cochran (Director of Community Planning Revitalization, Department of Housing and Community Development) on Thursday morning, stating that he has relied on him for many years. Cochran agreed that they have a good working relationship.

Chairman Conlon introduced the concept before the House Education Committee on Tuesday, which was “to put the right people in a room together to talk about the vision for education… the problems that exist and how to address them… local control versus state control… all of the big topics we have heard and heard,” he stated.

Chairwoman Kornheiser opened the House Ways and Means Committee meeting on Tuesday by saying, ”we have put a bunch of big ideas out into the world because that is the only way can get work done right? Someone has to put something on paper for people to react to… and it’s fairly intense…. It does not mean these are hills we want to die on. It’s a necessary part of the process.” She noted that the draft yield bill has “multiple decision points” that range through FY2027.

The House Government Operations Committee heard from several presenters Thursday morning speaking on S.42, which would seek to divest public pension funds of fossil fuel investments.

The Senate Government Operations Committee returned to the ethics bill, H.875 on Thursday afternoon. Chairwoman Hardy noted that they have been given an overview from Legislative Counsel and that Christina Sivret (Executive Director, Ethics Commission) would be the first individual testifying on the bill.  She introduced TJ Jones, an ethics expert consulting for the Commission. Sivret noted that it is a very long bill and provided several documents of written testimony, including highlights of areas of interest, quick summary of, and unfunded mandates.  She also provided a report from January on the proposed municipal ethics framework for Vermont.

The Senate Education Committee reviewed adult education on Wednesday afternoon. Testifying first was Senator Westman who brought Representative Mihaly with him. Chairman Campion noted that the discussion before the Committee deals with the 60/40 split for adult education between the Education Fund and General Fund for adult education programs. Westman noted that going back before last year and over a period of some time there has been a large and targeted shift from the Education Fund to the General Fund, but he argued that regardless of age they are all students trying to get their high school degree. Last year a summer study was put together to review this issue and to make recommendations which they did this legislative session.

Senator Weeks presented the bill, S.304, to the House Education Committee on Wednesday morning. To introduce the topic, he showed them a picture of a cruiser.  He said that while he served as a U.S. Naval Captain, 90% of the crew did not have any post-secondary degrees.  They were technicians, electricians, etc.  But many of them did take advantage of CTE and GED programs to better prepare themselves for the future.  Weeks noted he had a great deal of respect for them.  He noted that there was a wide range of ages among the sailors who wanted to get their GET and CTE certificates.