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 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 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.

Chairwoman Cummings started off the Senate Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon by introducing three superintendents who were going to speak to them about cost drivers in the current budget cycle and things they could do long-term to reduce costs.

Kristin Warner (Public Policy Manager, VBSR) spoke to the Senate Economic Development on the creation of a new flood relief program called FRAP (Flood Relief Assistance Program). This program was originally in H.723, but was not taken up by any committee.  An amendment containing the language creating FRAP was proposed on the House floor but was defeated. VBSR is asking the Committee to take testimony on this bill. 

The Senate Finance Committee convened on Friday to hear from Julia Richter (Senior Fiscal Analyst, Joint Fiscal Office)) about the current state of the Education Fund. She noted that the most recent data they have is from March 27^th. The Education Fund Outlook shows a projected education spending of roughly $1.9B and an average property tax bill increase of 17.7%.

Beth Anderson (President and CEO, Vermont Information Technology Leaders (VITL)) testified at the House Health Care Committee on Friday to review the purpose and activities of the organization. VITL was founded in 2005 and operates the Vermont Health Information Exchange (VHIE). The plan was approved by the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB). The GMCB has the authority to approve VITL’s budget.

Chairman Conlon introduced the topic of the day, which was to solicit ideas from legislators about how to address the education crisis.