Chairman McCarthy noted that the House Government Operations Committee would be reviewing Draft 3.2 of the state ethics bill on Wednesday morning and asked Legislative Counsel to review the changes made to previous draft. 

Joyce Judy (President, Community College of Vermont) told the House Education Committee on Wednesday that CCV is one of two institutions which make up the Vermont State Colleges. They complement each other and present a strong system where 95% of students are Vermonters. They actively serve about 10,000 Vermonters – some are full time and some are just taking one course.

On Tuesday afternoon, Chairman Conlon kicked off the House Education Committee by stating “we are at a major inflection point, crisis point, crossroads, whatever we want to call it, and we need to start having pretty broad conversations in this committee with people who are big thinkers in this area.” He indicated that they should be thinking about the tools they have available to deal with the major increase in spending on education.

On Monday afternoon, the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) walked the House Appropriations Committee through a fiscal note of H.850, which would remove the 5% property tax cap in Act 127 and replace it with a step-down mechanism to phase in the property tax hit from 2025 over the next five years. They were unable to calculate the impact of repealing the previous transition mechanism because of its “complex and circular nature,” but the new mechanism will cost the Education Fund $30M in FY2025. JFO pointed out that the property taxes will need to absorb this cost unless another funding source can be found.

The House Ways & Means Committee pushed through an adjustment this week to Act 127 that would remove a 5% tax rate cap and instead put in a graduated 'step-down' program that phases in the tax rate impact of the legislation over a five year period. This is the first in a series of actions that the Committee is considering to address the historic school spending and property tax increase this year.

The Senate Economic Development Committee spent most of the week working on their draft bill titled 'BE Home'. The bill would overhaul the current Act 250 framework and development designations into a new mapping structure.

Tom Golonka (Chair, Vermont Pension Investment Commission) introduced himself to the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday and noted that the portfolio has done well when compared to pension plans in other similar states.  Vermont has always been in the top quartile when the market was both up and down. He highlighted S.42, which is a bill that was passed out of the Senate last year and is currently in the House. The bill proposes to require the Vermont Pension Investment Commission (VPIC) to review the assets of the three retirement systems to determine the extent to which they are invested in the fossil fuel industry and submit plans to divest from the fossil fuel industry by 2030.

Legislative Counsel started reviewing Section 15 of H.719 for the House General Committee on Tuesday afternoon. This section creates some time limits on and on venues where they can be brought.

Under the current language, appeals must be brought within 60 days following the case being filed with the Environmental Division in the court system. Legislative Counsel worried that this may be a first for courts (having time limits imposed) and worried there may be some constitutional issues here. They will continue investigating and report back.

Charles Becker (Staff Attorney, Office of Health Care Advocate (HCA)) testified before the Senate Health & Welfare Committee on Thursday morning about S.98, an act relating to GMCB authority over prescription drug costs. He specifically addressed Copay Accumulator Adjustment Programs, considering them to be a problem in need of a solution. He believes at least part of the problem is that we have a system based on hidden discounts and rebates that incentivizes high drug list prices.

The first witness that the House General Committee heard from on Thursday was Chris Donnelly (Director of Community Relations, Champlain Housing Trust) who lead by saying that “the biggest risk we can take is not acting.” He called for “permit reform, Act 250 reform and more in the form of resources to really help low- and moderate-income people.”