Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Me again. Oh, can

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: It's on tape once.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Alright. Looks like we are alright, folks. We are live. Alright. Welcome back, everyone. Tuesday, 01/06/2026, first day back for house government operations and military affairs. So we're gonna take a few minutes right now just to chitchat a little bit about these priorities. And we got our first agenda kind of dialed in for the first few days here. But at first, I just wanted to say, did a lot of reflection over the summer. I'm really proud of the work that we did as a team. We moved a lot of heavy work. It was actually reflected today on the floor and down at, the House caucuses, where we were speaking to some of the priorities, which we'll get into later. And I was reflecting back on that big lift that we do at the Bennington pump thing right out of the gate. And I was like, wow. Thank God we don't have to do something like that. So, no, I just wanted to say, like, I'm really looking forward to the work that we're gonna do. We're gonna have some heavy work in front of us. But I know and trust that all of us will be diligent in making sure we can put out the strongest policy and the best product we can. With that, I just want to hand off Lisa for a moment.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: Thank you. You are. I too think we did a lot of great work last year. We had a lot of challenging times, but we came through it, and we came through it stronger, and we're all ready to work together this year. It's going to be a great year. It's going to go by really fast. Some of the priorities that we've already been made aware of, of course, we're working on our reports repeal, which will be in another ten minutes. We'll be hearing from Tucker. It would be great to wrap that up. We would probably be the first GovOps committee in several years to have wrapped that up. I'm also personally looking forward to hearing the outcome of that bill about Bennington I with the multi district town that came to us. So we'll hear more about that from the Secretary of State's office. And there are a couple of reports that were commissioned by us and the legislature that I'm really interested in hearing about, like the EMS advisory committee report, for one, also the Public Safety Communications report. Those are reports that are directly involving our committee and things that we can do to help Vermont be a better prepared place. So I'm pretty excited to hear about all that. And with that, the only other thing we've got a big well, we've got a lot of things on our plate. But one of the other big things is the election of the adjutant general. So we're going to be hearing from candidates. We're going to be hearing from Ledge Council about why we do this. And it's pretty interesting stuff, and we're unique in the nation. Looking forward to that as well. Chea?

[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: Hi, everybody. I just wanted to Yes, I think we're pretty dialed in on what our priorities are. I think as far as I just wanted to address the room and our interactions with each other and the way that we talk about things. And I just want to Lisa and Matt and I did some of the talking over the summer and the fall and winter. And I think we all This is the perfect time for you to disagree with me if you want. We are here to disagree, is what I'm saying. Not always, but you know what I mean? We are here to work things out. And part of that process is disagreeing. I just want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and not only comfortable, but encouraged to participate in discussions. Even if we are not all agreeing with each other, I think our input is all equally valuable in this room and that we are here to discuss and compromise and and also have a good time. So, you know, I mean, if we're miserable all day, we're not going to get anything done either. So I would encourage everybody to participate and use your voices. And, of course, raise your hand and wait for the chair to call on you. Then use your voice. And I hope we can just get some good, vibrant, robust discussion going. And of course, being mindful also that we all work together and have to spend all day together. So there's a balance. But think we are all hopeful that you will hear it from everybody multiple times a day as we move through the session. That's my takeaway.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Thank you, representative. No, and if you are getting frustrated, say something early. Like, does working it out sooner than later is always a better committee process? So, if you're feeling any aspects of frustration with, like, any event, subject matter, individual personalities, or anything like that, we are totally here to hear that in a very mindful way.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Big group hug.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: That's Yeah.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Bang. So And now I just want to open it up to the table to see if anybody has anything that they'd like to share with the group. As we start kicking things off, representative Hooper of Randolph.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Firstly, I'd like to say I appreciate all that. Yeah. That's a great thing to say. I'm curious about two things. One, before we left, we sort of said, let's put the AI election stuff on ice, because we'll get right back into it when we get back here. That's still true?

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: I have an intention of, like, looking at that stuff again. Like we said as it was wrapping up, and that kind of got stalled in the process, right, that that sector, that technology moved so fast that we were going to have to look back at it again when we got back in here. And I'm very true to that intent.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: What is what was our timeline? What is it now?

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Can you

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: be Like, remember the secretary of state saying, like, k, if you don't pass one this session, the first session of the biennium, we're not really gonna be in a position to, like, inform the the electorate. That probably hasn't changed. Right? So, like

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: I think we have the Deputy Secretary coming in shortly. Yeah. That's a wonderful question.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Yeah. The other one,

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: do you want to

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: guess what I'm going ask about?

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: I have an inkling, but the stable is yours, or

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: a piece of words.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Math governance, how do

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: we remember begin

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: just a few minutes, maybe it was like three and a half minutes ago, you were saying, you don't feel frustrated, know, just let us know. That I remember feeling pretty frustrated about. And I'm gonna try not to -It's so much. I'm gonna try I'm try not to operate on that mode only this session, but, like, still kind of wondering what the story is.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: We haven't been promised anything yet, so we're really in the same boat that you are. We don't know what our role is going be, But we'll let you know as soon as we know, right?

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: We need more out of that room first, I think.

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: Is it

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: only the county? Is that what

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: it is?

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: No, that's 73. 70 is the multi district town audit.

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: Redwater's Evans.

[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: We don't currently have any maps.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Right.

[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: So I believe that our role would be creating the voting works if there were maps. But in the absence of maps, there's nothing that we can do.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Right, right.

[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: Yeah. I mean, because those maps could look a million different ways. I think there's hope that there will be maps.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Oh, definitely. But I remember as even this week, last year, I, among other people, was saying, if we don't get to work on this stuff right now, January 2025, we are going to be exactly in this position next year, and I am right about that right now. So, I guess I think I've said what I'm trying to say.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: You've heard me.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: Technology and rightness.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Yeah. And if I may, we understand what our role and duty is. We understand what our job is at a jurisdictional level. But we need this one piece for that to start.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Right. Right.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: So, like, let's get that piece last year, but let's get it this year.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: No. We're in a holding pattern until

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: I shouldn't say it again. Anyone else?

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Just to pile on to that, I, you know, I said sorry, stepped out of term, but there's a lot hanging with the education committee right down the hall from us. They've since, whether you agree or disagree with what occurred or transpired since we broke session and what happened since then, I think you probably know where I stand on that, but I don't think we've done a better collective job done. That's my opinion. But as a result, I think there's a lot of onus on them to put a product out, that can be utilized to move forward, and I hope they do. So I think I'm with you. It has to be, actually, number one priority in this building right now.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: And, Rutland, I also wanna be conscious of other members and might wanna speak to the others to take that.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Because I I will give you and whoever else credit for a year ago this week, complying with my with our among other people, you know, our our sort of insistence that we do meet as often as possible with as many people as possible, joint joint Senate, House hearings about maps on a weekly basis. I remember we were sort of like, we wanna do it once a month. No. Think we should do it every two weeks. I could have it my way every Friday. We did that, I think, two or three times, and then we just stopped. And so, I guess, being again in early January, this is as strong a footing, I figure, as anybody could campaign for early and often action on that question again. So let me just third, you seconded me, right? I'm a third mute. Sort of, but I'll clarify

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: after that.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Alright. Well, we we've got three more minutes on this before we pivot over to counsel.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: The third on it? I said, in all honesty, seriousness is again, I go back to I'm and I'm not saying it the the bonus is entirely on them, but I think there is still quite a bit squarely in their corner because for lack of action, whether they were just viewed what the committees and the subgroups or whatever you wanna call them, did or did not do in the off session, there's a lot of burden placed on them right now to be blunt, in my opinion, to do something that would have been allow us to have profitable discussions. Because right now, I don't think we could have a profitable discussion. I think that's what the chair and the vice chair were saying about that. Not not not saying we couldn't be thinking about it, but I don't but we otherwise, we're just second guessing them. But I agree with you up to that point that we need but we still need something done that wasn't done.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: I just To close.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: If you alright. I'll close. You know, do you mind if I go? Please, please. I've hey. Listen. We had the same kind of set of, like, k. Who's going first? Like, how many different conversations are we having? How often are we having those conversations? Are they gonna be parallel? Is it parallel planning that we're doing with the senate? With the how many house committees? My argument from the beginning, actually two Februaries ago, was that we need to put this material in front of as many committees as possible, even ones that are not of jurisdiction, just so that they can familiarize themselves with the extremely complex, layered set of crisis type issues. And there's no single issue in Vermont's economy. Like, Vermont's economy is defined by like, there's no issue that this doesn't touch. So with all due respect, I don't know that I agree that we should be waiting, as I didn't then, for something to come to us. I said, why don't we talk about what we can? Most people agreed with me until all of a sudden, nobody wanted to talk about it.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: There's something to that.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: That was not as mysterious as it was obviously political, I'm not impressed with how that went, but, like, we have an opportunity not to let that happen again. In closing.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Alright. And that gets us right to 01:30. Are you any other comment from anyone? Alright. Council, good to see you, sir.

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: It's great to be back. Good afternoon. Chuck Anderson, Legislative Counsel for the record. The committee asked me to come in this afternoon and provide some updates on the reports repeal bill process, and to update the full committee on what has been happening so far. So to catch you up on the last couple months, I have been sending out surveys and memos to individual committees containing the list of reports that are due to expire that relate to that committee's jurisdiction. So, I saved the most complicated for first, and, those were the natural resources and technology energy committees. The reason being is that the composition and jurisdiction of those committees has changed frequently over the last six years, and the reports database wasn't updated quickly enough to match, for example, changing jurisdiction, changing names. So they were the most difficult to compile, but they are done and they are out there. Another important thing to relay to you all is that the background database and system that legislative council uses to track reports, the agencies that are supposed to be submitting them, the due dates and whether or not they are exempt from reports for PLD review changed. And it changed in a way that made some of that information less accessible to me and to legislative counsel generally. And updates are still happening to bring us back to where we were even just a year ago, with our ability to filter that information. But it has made the process of developing the lists and getting them out to the committees more cumbersome, and that I have to do research for each individual act to find some of that information before adding it to the lists. The committees that have been covered so far, already talked about natural resources, energy, and technology committees in both the house and senate. Government operations committees have received their lists. You all received your list first in last session, and the money committees have received their lists. And those were, the largest volume of reports in an individual survey. I think that, senate appropriations was the longest, and it was 60 plus individual reports that need to be reviewed. The process moving forward from here is things will move a little more quickly now that we've gotten through the big bites. And the deadline that has been set by your committee leadership for the other committees in the general assembly to respond is January 23. So by January 23, committee chairs in the House and the Senate will have to have delivered their completed surveys. Otherwise, all of the reports that are due to those committees will be presumed to be unimportant and will be revealed. So there's a drop dead deadline. And if I haven't received their responses, then the first draft of the bill for the committee will repeal those reports, or at minimum, that committee from the list of committees that received the report.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Representative Hango.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: Quick question for clarification. So that will come to us in a bill form. Repeal isn't going to happen until we, a legislature passes that bill. That is correct. So there's going to be opportunity for each committee to say, woah, wait a minute, we didn't know you were going to repeal the bills.

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: That's correct. And it has to go through the normal legislative process. So the committees will get multiple bites at the apple here, both in their own chamber, but as it passes through the other chamber, they'll have an opportunity to say, why is this being repealed? Don't we need this report?

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: Great. Thank you for your hard work, Tucker. I know how time consuming it's been for you. Thank

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: you for having me in. I'm sure this is exactly the sort of spicy testimony that you wanted for the first day, a nice invigorating shot on the first day of the session.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: Actually prefer this over the past year.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: That's fair point. Yeah. No. No. No. What I mean is, like, you know, we're we're doing work on government to kind of be in this false word. It is not, like, a bumper sticker type of policy, but it is important work to stay on top of the things that members in previous bienniums had put forward. And if there's unnecessary reports out there that are occupying time with different agencies and departments and aspects of the government that need to be evaluated and maybe discontinued. I mean, it's not the glitziest accountability, but it's still accountability, right? Any other questions for Tucker Owens?

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: So next step, we'll have you in after the January 23 to give us an update on where we are and start drafting a bill, a committee bill?

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: Yes. So the after the twenty third, we compile all of these surveys that have been returned into a single spreadsheet. It records what the votes were and what the final determination for that statutory provision is going to be, whether it's going to be, made permanent, aka exempted from reports for appeal review, extended for four years, or yeah. And then we'll put it in a committee bill, and there you go. You all will direct where that bill goes and whether the reports persist in the future.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Okay. Representative Hooper.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: This isn't about policy and this about talk to you. How's your family? Growing.

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: We're taxpaying. So,

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: yeah. That means there's a baby?

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: Well, I would never discuss that on the record because there are AI systems that now record every single word that I say and turn it into newspaper articles that get published on Google. So I would never discuss anything like that. But, yeah, the family is growing and happy. Great. Henrik is tall.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: He's tall.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: He

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: can reach everything.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: I wonder where you get set from.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Who stole your cookies at?

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: Early session compliment, I walked in and immediately noticed that everybody has amazing shoe wear game in this committee. Woah. That's

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: that's the interesting problem.

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: Everyone's everyone has fancy shoes, in my opinion. In my humble country lawyer opinion, this committee has fancy shoes. MKK. That's for sure. That would sound the record. I mean, that

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: was the most glaring floor. That story

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: is the first time.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: The Parton made

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: so much. I'm probably be in if there are no other questions, I'm going to depart. Thank you.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: No, thank you very much, Tucker.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: Thank you, Tucker.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Any other comments from the committee on this subject matter?

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: Yes. Representative Nugent has been really in charge of our reports. And I think I would suggest that if you're missing anything, which I think we might be contact individuals offline and just see where we're at with those. But I think we might only be missing one or two.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: I think so.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: Do you have anything else to add?

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: Nope, but yes.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: No, but yes. I'll think door number two.

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: We have 90% compliance success rate. So folks that I need stuff from now would be great. Great. If you can check-in, or if I missed it, I'm very sorry. If you could remind me when you sent me the information, I'd greatly appreciate it. And that's basically it.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: That would be great. And if for some reason somebody didn't have time to work on it and just said, oh, let's keep it to the next round and you'd like to revisit that, there still are a few days left to do that.

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: I'll send out the sheet again with them, so everyone can see it. Great. It's tough period looks.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Remember to say

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: that, Marty?

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Yeah, so it sounds like I'm the deadbeat, I get it. That's fine.

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: Actually, I think you're okay.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Am I the only two left?

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: No, I think you're cut up. And no. I believe so.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Had a couple of points. This still says outstanding stuff to me, but you think, okay, I'll take

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: offline if you don't want to talk about it on the rack.

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Oh, if I'm wrong and I didn't get my j o b done, can come in all day online. I don't care. I'm good. I just want to make sure. Defer to the spreadsheet. We could dock it offline if you'd rather. Bring it in spreadsheet.

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: Up to our leadership folks.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Please proceed.

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: Nope, I have notes from all of the reports that you've

[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: signed. So you're satisfied with personally. I'll double check. Thank you.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: And thanks everybody for working on those. It wasn't the most exciting thing. And I'm sure we'll hear from others. Well, maybe Rutland really enjoyed it.

[Kate Nugent (Member)]: He's like organizing your closet.

[Lisa Hango (Vice Chair)]: And I think Rutland and Rutland and Rutland really enjoyed theirs too, because they jumped right into that.

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: I just want to be done with it.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Well, you got there. Okay, well, we're moving along at a brisk pace here. So if there's nothing else on this, we'll take a break until we have our next guests coming

[Tucker Anderson (Legislative Counsel)]: in.

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Yes. So, take us off

[Philip Jay Hooper (Member)]: until

[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: we reconvene.