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.

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.

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.

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). 

On Wednesday the House Ways & Means Committee dug into education finance with the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) with some hypothetical situations facing school districts. Chairwoman Kornheiser cast the topics for the day as surrounding property valuation and the Common Level of Appraisal (CLA) and understanding what the impacts of those actually look like for taxpayers. This is meant to be a bit of a prelude for Thursday’s joint hearing on education finance.

The House Ways & Means Committee reviewed income tax analysis and the potential for a “wealth tax” on Tuesday with the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO). Chairwoman Kornheiser started the meeting by pointing out the Governor has not proffered a “revenue package” which, according to her, required by statute. When asked, she added that she has never seen one in his time in office.

The first person to testify on the draft ethics bills in front of the House Government Operations Committee was Ted Brady (Executive Director, Vermont League of Cities and Towns).

NOTE: Brady had submitted a letter to the Committee which we had read when preparing our last newsletter. In my mind, the letter did not clearly present the League’s position on a statewide ethics bill. In listening to this week's presentation, it became very clear what his position is.

Legislative Counsel presented an overview of a new strikeout to H.707 to the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday. The bill overhauls the governance of the states workforce development system. The primary change in the system is that the Commissioner of Labor will no longer be the leader of workforce development. The newly created Executive Director of Workforce Expansion and Development will now be the leader of workforce education and training in the state.

On Wednesday the Senate Government Operations Committee did a walk-through of a new bill, S.224, that would increase legislative pay to 110% of the statewide median wage and add a benefits package.

The latest version of the bill would create a new Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for healthcare expenses that would mirror what is available to state employees.