Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: You're left.

[Senator Brian Campion (Chair, Senate Education Committee)]: We are live. This is the h four fifty four conference committee on June 13, reconvening after a break to the floor. And we're back with I won't describe it yet. We can hear from Kirby first.

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: Yeah. So I really appreciate your consideration of our proposal from this morning. Have a final piece of language that we would like to share with you to make sure that the property tax classifications are aligned with all of the other pieces of work. It's just as if we did not have enough contingencies in this bill. We've added just a couple more to make sure that implementation is aligned. And Kirby, I wonder if you could share that with us.

[Kirby Keaton (Office of Legislative Counsel)]: Good afternoon. Kirby Keaton, office of legislative council. As representative Cornhus has just mentioned, some language here. We have a version 7.1 or draft 7.1 rather. So we have a new section 61 D that would be a perspective repeal of the tax classification sections of the bill. So this the classifications would be repealed under this language, if these, if new tax rate multipliers are not enacted by 07/01/2028. So if you take no further action, then the classifications will go away. And then we have some effective date changes. Subdivision F10 is the effective date for the costification sections. By repealing that they We'll be taking a look at that in a second. Okay. So the other changes are in the effective dates. We have an effective don't pay any attention to the the misnumbering there. Did we catch that job? Anyway, before you sign up, these numbers will be in the right order. 61 d that we were just looking at would be effective on passage. We have a new effective date for 61A, which is the transition implementation of the classification system that the Department of Taxes would have to do in 2027. So there's a contingent effective date now for that. So if the general assembly does not enact new school district boundaries, maps, in other words, between the enactment of this act and 01/01/2027, the Department of Taxes won't have to do that work to transition over.

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: And we've worked very closely with the administration, the tax department on this language up until the last minute, and they are comfortable with it. Don't do our setting, then we can't do the other things. And we don't adopt the map and move this forward, then the classifications go away. Mhmm. And if you could view it sort of in the opposite way, order for the classifications to stay, we need to take affirmative action on a number of issues.

[Kirby Keaton (Office of Legislative Counsel)]: Finally, have, so the classifications effective dates previously were for 07/01/2028. Throughout this process, we've included a lot more contingencies. And so we're putting the classifications in with that as well. So the actual statutes that would take effect are now linked to the contingencies of the entire system operating.

[Senator Brian Campion (Chair, Senate Education Committee)]: Seven copies for the yeah.

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: I think sometimes we just do one. I think sometimes we just do To sign. One.

[Senator Brian Campion (Chair, Senate Education Committee)]: Oh, oh, I see.

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: For signing.

[Senator Brian Campion (Chair, Senate Education Committee)]: Oh, for signing. Yeah, guess sign one and then make copies, right? Yeah. That's fantastic. Although Scott wants to have a Okay. Make three. Those

[Kirby Keaton (Office of Legislative Counsel)]: are the changes. Thank

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: you. Also, there are a couple of things that we caught. Know, Beth pointed out sort of since she'd rephrase that, but also we accepted some of your recommendations about there was sort of two places where we had accepted using SU, and that's there. Well, I think of it as weather, and I know that's not how weather. Yeah. This is weather. Yeah. Yes. And so those are in there. Two of those were caught. Sorry about that. Thanks, Kirby. Well,

[Senator Brian Campion (Chair, Senate Education Committee)]: I think ending the careful review of the final. We have worked out an agreement.

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: Thank you.

[Senator Brian Campion (Chair, Senate Education Committee)]: It's been for everyone, starting with all of our committees, respective committees, this process that hasn't maybe gotten the attention that it should have It didn't get the attention, but the public didn't see much as we wish they had, how much this has been focused on kids. It hasn't been the numbers have been talked about the most probably, but there's also just as much work as what's brought in the house actually improves education across the world. And the goal that the monitor in our in the Senate Education Committee and I assumed we had something similar, figuratively speaking, written on the wall was excellent educational opportunity for every Vermont child. And that's what we were trying to achieve. And by the way, and the point has been made several times, this is step one of many. And the work next year and the year after, we've got summers, falls, winters of work ahead of us to bring all of this to true fruition. And we all know all the parts, I won't go into them, and all the things that we need to consider and all the ways we need to. One way that we've described this is that there are at least a thousand moving pieces in these bill bills with about 100 of them. Very true. There's a lot more to go and a lot more thought to be given to how this all fits together in the end. But I did happen to hear the governor say this at a press conference, that this is a necessary step in order for any of that, the rest of this work to happen. So while I think And I do appreciate, by the way, I think we'll save them for all of us that all of us compromised a lot to get here, which the conference committees are about. And there's probably things that every one of us wishes were somewhat different, but overall, hopefully we have achieved something that is gonna be a good foundation for our next steps. Well said, thank you. So I don't know how we're going to do the next We're going to wait for the puppies, take a little time to do a careful review just to make sure that it's right. And Frank, we'll run that through this on until, why don't we say, thirty? Four four? To four? How much how much time do you

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: We're just reading.

[Senator Brian Campion (Chair, Senate Education Committee)]: I'd say thirty minutes, Todd. Okay. Okay. So 04:00. Okay.

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: 04:00. Come here and sign at 04:00?

[Senator Brian Campion (Chair, Senate Education Committee)]: Uh-huh. Alright. That's the

[Representative Emilie Kornheiser (Chair, House Ways & Means Committee)]: plan.