Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Speaker 0]: Okay. Good afternoon, folks. Thanks for being here. This afternoon, we are scheduled to vote on 08/05/1945. If you want to open up your committee webpage, you can take a look at draft 5.1 on today's committee webpage. Mark Clark has all of his info needed there? Mhmm. Okay. Yep. This is the same exact thing we looked at on Friday. You still see yellow, just the the version we'll get back from Katie afterwards. We'll have that taken out. But and, that yellow is really only oh, in that one place? One place? Two places. Okay. Nope. There we go. I see it. Alright. With Doug's eagle eye, represent Bishop's eagle eye, we changed through to until.

[Rep. Eric Maguire]: Where is that?

[Speaker 0]: It was reader assistance. It's the things that are highlighted in yellow. Thank you so much. And it's not really part of the law. It's reader assistance. What do you call it? Reader assistance what, Katie? Just reader assistance. Okay. Okay. So before we get to a vote, I just will ask one more time. Are there any questions or clarifications Just to remind people that this bill does not change anything. It does not impose any mandates whatsoever. I know we heard some testimony about that, and I just want to be clear that this does not impose any mandates. Vaccines are still at the discretion of the individual under this bill, or their parents or guardians, their minor child. Okay, anybody have any questions about that? Okay, so I would entertain a motion to approve draft 5.1. We don't get seconds. Yeah, seconds aren't wired Yeah, okay. So Representative Eastes is moved that we approve 5.1. Is there any discussion? Okay. The clerk please call the roll.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Representative Bishop? Yes. Representative Cole?

[Speaker 0]: Yes.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Representative Donahue? Yes. Representative Esme? Yes. Representative Garofano? Yes. Representative Maguire? Yes. Representative McGill? Yes. Representative Nielsen? No. Representative Noyes? Yes. Representative Steady?

[Speaker 0]: Yes.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Representative Wood?

[Speaker 0]: Yes. Thank

[Rep. Eric Maguire]: you. +1 010.

[Speaker 0]: Okay, yes. Can I ask something? So,

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: Commissioner of Health's Immunization recommends you for H545, it doesn't impose any mandates vaccines are still at discretion of the parent and or guardian. I just, I'm a constituent.

[Speaker 0]: I don't want to mess up. Yeah, I know. Okay, so that's okay.

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: Okay, I just don't want to mess up.

[Speaker 0]: Don't? That's accurate information.

[Rep. Jubilee McGill]: I had some people who

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: were confused about that as well. Apparently

[Speaker 0]: there was one of those email blasts out. Don't know. Is that what it was? I think so. Yeah. I got four different people that

[Rep. Jubilee McGill]: are very similar. I think that it

[Speaker 0]: was one of those where everybody signs on to one thing and they haven't read the bill yet. Okay.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Which can be done on our webpage. Right.

[Speaker 0]: Okay. So that is H five forty five. So representative Eastes will be reporting on that bill. We've heard from the clerk's office that they're being ultra conservative about they may have it go to house appropriations. Not really sure why. There is no appropriation in it. Doesn't change anything that the insurers do now. And the same with ways and means, because it says financial regulation and the insurers already pay a fee, but we didn't change that. We didn't change anything about that. So if the chairs of those two committees don't believe that they need to see that, then it'll just move along on the regular schedule. If they do need to see it, then the schedule will change, obviously. But right now, we would anticipate this being on the floor on Thursday for third reading second reading, excuse me, and on Friday for third reading. Okay, great. Okay, two bills out of our committee already this year. This one definitely probably has more impact than the previous one. Your was excellent, Dan. Your report was excellent. So we are now waiting. We are going to be hearing from the KIPP governor, who was recognized by the Secretary of State, I think last week in a ceremony. Some of you may have been able to go. We were all invited. Her name is Rosalynn Horton. It And says the Secretary of State is going to be She's going be on video. Thank you, Katie. Oh, she's on. Okay. Oh, Sarah. Is Sarah on? Yeah. Oh, hey, Sarah. Hey, Sarah. I mean, Secretary Copeland Hansis.

[Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas]: Very good to see you all.

[Speaker 0]: Thank you. Thank you for being here. And are you with Rosalynn or is she going to be joining separately on Zoom?

[Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas]: It is an in service day off of school. So Rosalyn is home with her mom, and she will be jumping on, I'm sure, momentarily.

[Speaker 0]: Okay. Great. Thank you so much. We were delighted to hear that her platform was around homelessness, and that's something our committee obviously has been working on for a long time, even when you were back here with us in the body. And so we really look forward to understanding how she came about to choose that as her platform and some of her ideas. So it'll be great. Maybe just before she jump oh, she's coming on mute. No. No. Have her come in. But, secretary, maybe because I'm not sure how many of us were actually able to go to the ceremony. Could you just explain a little bit about this new program that you've instituted to select the Kid Governor and how that was done?

[Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas]: Yes, so Kid Governor is a program that was developed in Connecticut by an entity that is focused on civics and civic education. We are at the point now in the country, hi guys, where I think there are five or six states who have signed on to do the Kid Governor program. Kid Governor as a program really fits into our offices focus on civic engagement and voter education, because it is our goal that in a democracy that is intended to be of the people, for the people, by the people, increasingly we have too many people who don't know how those levers of power work, don't know how to get things done, don't know how to even vet the candidates who are on their ballot and voting being one aspect of civics and civic engagement. And so the kid governor program is really an opportunity to work with fifth grade teachers from across the state. And the teachers are using the curriculum to help these young people identify problems that they see in their community that they'd like to fix. And then it guides the kids in how do you put together a platform of ideas of things that you would do to address this problem. So in a moment when Rosalyn has a chance to talk with you about her platform and how she chose to work on homelessness, you'll be able to see some of the work that fifth graders have done across the state to identify a myriad of issues. It's been really refreshing for us in the Secretary of State's office to understand how closely the things that fifth graders are worried about really tracks with the things that you and I are, and all of the members of your committee are worried about. And so it's nice to see that your committee wanted to hear from Governor Rosalynn Fortin, KidGov. Rosalynn is going to share a little bit of information with you about why she chose homelessness. And so if you have other questions about why KidGov and how KidGov, I'm happy to answer them. And otherwise, happy to step aside and let the governor share her thoughts with you.

[Speaker 0]: Okay. Thank you, secretary Culpechanzas. So welcome, Rosalyn and Madam Kidd Governor to the House Human Services Committee. And we're gonna take just a moment to introduce you to the people who are in the room because sometimes when you're on Zoom, it's difficult to tell who's in the room. So what we normally do is we go around the table, and you'll get to meet who are the representatives on the House Human Services Committee. And then we also go around the outside of the room so you understand who are the sort of other onlookers today that you're speaking with directly. And I'm sure you know this, but you'll also be on YouTube, and you will be able to All of our testimony, that's part of public access since COVID. All of our testimony is on YouTube. So you will be able to show your teachers and your friends and your family about sharing testimony here today. So let us start by just introducing ourselves. I'm Theresa Wood, and I am from Waterbury, but I also serve Bolton, Buell's Gore, and Huntington. Hi, I'm Anne Donahue. I'm from Northfield and also serve Berlin.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Hi. Good afternoon. I'm Daniel Noyes. I represent Wolcott, Hyde Park, Johnson, and Belvedere.

[Rep. Eric Maguire]: Hi. Good afternoon. Eric Maguire, representative from Robin City.

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: Representative Steady from Westburg East Milton.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Hello, congratulations. I'm Doug Bishop, one of the representatives for Colchester. Representative Nielsen, President Brandon Powers now.

[Rep. Zon Eastes]: Hello, yeah, congratulations. My name is Zon Eastes and I live in Guilford and I also represent Vernon.

[Rep. Esme Cole]: Hi Roslyn, good to see you. Welcome, my name is Esme Cole and I represent Hartford I think we might be closest in age here.

[Speaker 0]: Representative Cole, I think you're stretching.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: It's actually a pleasure.

[Rep. Jubilee McGill]: Fall on you. Hi, Roslyn. I would also like

[Speaker 0]: to echo my congratulations. I'm Jubilee McGill. I'm from Bridgeport, and I also represent Middlebury, New Haven, and Cambridge. Hi, Rosalind, welcome. I'm representative Rey Garofano. I live in Essex, and I also represent part of Essex Junction. Hi, Rosalind over here. Lori Morse, committee assistant. And Lori, tell two sentences about your role as a teacher in teaching. For twenty three years, I taught social studies to middle schoolers. So I would have loved to have been your teacher. Go ahead, Beverly.

[Rep. Esme Cole]: Hi, I'm Beverly Golrang Rey Garofano, and I an advocate with Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance.

[Speaker 0]: Hi, I'm Katie Rey, and I work with Action Circles. I'm Brenda Steadle. I'm the Executive Director of End Homelessness Vermont. Christina McLaughlin. I'm here on behalf

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: of Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont. And Jessica Chittenden, Policy Director of

[Speaker 0]: the Vermont Department of Health. So that's the formalities. Now, we would love to, one, have you It's customary for the witness to introduce themselves and tell us a little bit about yourself. And then we're really interested about how you chose homelessness as your key platform idea. And I've we I think we've all heard a little bit about, you know, some of the things that you thought would help people who are homeless. But I am really interested about how you came to make the decision the beginning when you had to decide on a platform to run on. So the floor is all yours, Rosalyn.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Okay. Thank you. And wait. Can you hear me?

[Speaker 0]: Yes. We can hear you very clearly.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Okay. My name is Roslyn. I'm 10. Wait. What do I have to do? Where are you from? Oh, I'm from Highgate. And Highgate I go to Highgate Elementary School, and I'm in fifth grade. And oh. Choose to run. And why I chose to run for kid governor is because I had the opportunity, and I also wanted to help people. And How did you come to your club? So I made the decision because it's a very local it's a very local problem, and I wanted to, like, solve like, not, like, solve it, but, like if that makes sense.

[Speaker 0]: You wanted to help people. I heard you say you wanted to help people.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Yeah. And, like and it's because it's a very local problem, and I wanted to, like, solve it. Does that make sense? I don't know. What did you

[Speaker 0]: It does. It does. How did you learn about homelessness? What how did you how did you even think about it as a 10 year old?

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: How I thought about it is because, like, whenever me and my mom or me and my like, whenever I go to, like, the store, like, Walmart or something, like, I see homeless people. And, also, like, it's a very it's it's like a very big problem too. And

[Speaker 0]: yeah. So you you see people in your community that you thought you might be able to help. One of the things that's been really nice to hear is that as our youngest governor, that you are thinking about the things that impact your local community and the people who live in your local community. And there's nothing really much more basic than having a roof over your head. And sounds like you've seen people in your community that don't have a roof over their head, meaning a place to stay.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Yeah.

[Speaker 0]: Yeah.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Yeah.

[Speaker 0]: Has been the most fun part of being named the kid governor?

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: I meet a lot of new I met a lot of new people, and I don't know.

[Speaker 0]: Have you become a little bit of a celebrity at your school?

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Yes.

[Speaker 0]: Yeah? Did they have an assembly to announce it?

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: No. They just they announced it on the morning announcements to, like, the school, and then and then, like, the news announced it to the world.

[Speaker 0]: What are some of the things that you wrote in your I don't know if it was an application or what it was, but what are some of things that you wrote about that you thought that you could do to help people who are homeless?

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: So I would I don't know if this is in the right order that I said, but have a fun run for hope. Have, like, a food a food and clothing drive with nonperishable foods, and then have, like like, a soup like, a community potluck. That's what I call it. Community potluck. And yeah.

[Speaker 0]: So, you know, one of the things that you just talked about in terms of, like, a community potluck, I'm not sure if you know how important it is for for everybody to feel like they belong and that sort of sense of, okay. I have some place to be. I've got people who care about me. And that is sometimes a hard, hard situation for people who find themselves homeless. And so I I really loved your idea of a community potluck where everybody comes together. Yeah.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Thank you.

[Speaker 0]: It looks like we have a question or two from other members. And then it looks like the secretary of state might have something to say. So representative Noyes.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Governor Roslyn. Right? Is that how we should address you?

[Speaker 0]: So did when you

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: were at the State House, did you get to

[Unidentified committee member]: go into the office, the Governor's Office?

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Yes. Awesome. You sit at the desk and everything?

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: I didn't I didn't need to sit as at his wait. Did I? I sit on his chair? Yeah. Sounds good.

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: Pretty fancy office. Yeah. Good spot. And big. Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us today. Keep up the good work.

[Speaker 0]: I represent Garofano. Thank you

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: so much for being here,

[Speaker 0]: and congratulations again, Rosalyn. I'm wondering about who is helping you. Do you have, like,

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: a cabinet of people that help you with your with your priority? Well,

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: I have my cabinet, and I have my mom, my dad Right. Friends, and oh, my teachers and my family. Like That's amazing. My uncles, like, not just my mom, dad, and brother, like, my whole family.

[Speaker 0]: That's great. I think you have a lot of support and a lot of great ideas that could be generated. If you get a community potluck organized, you should make sure to let us know, because you have some representatives and senators up in that neck of the woods where you live, and we'd wanna make sure that they could go and participate so they could see all the good work you're doing. Another representative, representative Eastes, has a question.

[Rep. Zon Eastes]: I just wonder with their duties this year, are you gonna be back at the State House anytime? Will we be able to visit you in person?

[Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas]: So I think I can answer that question because this is our first year supporting the Kid Governor Program. So we will help bring together the governor and her cabinet for monthly meetings, virtual meetings, most of them, because they're 10 and they don't have their driver's license. And it is our hope that we will be able to get together in person at least one more time with the governor and her cabinet. And so we will certainly send out information to legislators the way we did in the run up to the inauguration so that if it works out in your schedule to be able to join her, certainly would welcome you to have the opportunity. The other thing that I think is important to understand about the kid governor program and the task that's put in front of these fifth graders as they're thinking about developing a platform. And that is that the solutions that they propose need to be ones that are sort of within the scope of what a fifth grader could help to right? Rosalyn's not going to be cutting ground on new housing projects as a contractor or an investor, but she can- Not

[Speaker 0]: yet, secretary Colby. Yet, yeah.

[Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas]: Give her fifteen years or so, and I put it past her. But what she's doing is raising awareness within the fifth grade community, as well as now within the State House as well, although you all are very focused on housing. But it's neat to see her able to step up and use her influence as kid governor to really put some oomph behind, this is a problem that every kid sees in their community.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Yeah.

[Speaker 0]: That's great. We need all the help that we can get, Rosalyn, to help address this issue in the state. And having people like you and your friends and your other classmates and all the other fifth graders around the state, you know, listening to you. You got a lot of power in that new job title. You know? Yes. So we wanna say thank you for being here this afternoon. And remember, you can find us on the House Human Services YouTube channel. And if you go to today, you'll see it specifically called out at about what time did we go on, Laurie? Three So you'll have to fast forward through a little bit of formality and calling a roll call on a bill we just passed. But then you'll then you'll get to to, you know, be able to see, and you can share this with other friends, family, and teachers. So thank you so much for thinking about homelessness and really mostly thinking about people who find themselves homeless at this point in their lives and for thinking about some of the things that could do to help and really following through on those things. And we're so excited for you as you enter this year of being the Kidd Governor.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Thank you.

[Speaker 0]: You're welcome. You're welcome. So I think do you have anything else you wanna say? Or are are we I think we're wrapped up from I don't think we have any more questions in the room.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: I don't have any questions. I'm

[Speaker 0]: good. Okay. That's good. And thank you, secretary Copeland Hanses, being here with us today and talking to us about this program. And love the focus that it's bringing to civics and understanding your government and being part of making changes. So thank you so much for your efforts to bring this to Vermont.

[Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas]: Thank you so much, Chair Wood, and it was nice to be with you all virtually. And nice to see you, Rosalyn.

[Speaker 0]: Nice to see you too. Right. Thanks so much. You did a great job.

[Rosalyn Fortin, Vermont Kid Governor]: Bye. Bye.

[Speaker 0]: Okay. So committee, just to talk a little bit about what tomorrow's agenda is going to maybe look like. So we plan, had and you know how plans go. They go amok. It's what really happened. So everything that was supposed to happen in the morning, well, some of it's still on. We are not gonna be hearing from Chad, Simon's tomorrow at nine. And I don't know if we were able to get anything else scheduled for nine or is that the Not yet. Not yet. Okay. So between that and or at 1PM, we are going to look at whatever documents have been posted from the governor's budget address today, and we'll start to walk through them together as a committee to make sure that everybody's understanding what they are, how to read them, any questions, and we can start to formulate some of the questions that we will receive. The Secretary of Human Services staff asked that they not come in this week on fiveninety four. They would prefer to do that next week. And so we're moving them to next week. And they asked that we hear from every commissioner in the agency of human services to understand the focus that all departments are having on the issue of homelessness. So we look forward to taking testimony from everybody from corrections to health department, to Dale, to DCF, to, I said help, somebody out. Corrections. I said corrections.

[Rep. Eric Maguire]: Mental health.

[Speaker 0]: Yes, thank you. So I think I heard in the governor's budget address that there was $2,000,000 for what sounded like a shelter that focused on individuals who use substances. Not sure. It wasn't totally clear. So, we will be taking that up, walking through those things sort of department by department. And we have been trying diligently to get members of the administration here for budget because I started panicking when I started thinking about when crossover is. I don't have an exact date for crossover, but it's usually the week after we get back from town meeting break. And I started thinking about, okay, we're gonna have to do we have to do pre K, not the certificate not the teacher certification, but our part of the Ed bill needs and that's pre K involved. Starting to take testimony and ways and means on that tomorrow. So we have that to do. We have a DCF sort of like, what do they call that when they put a bunch of things in one bill? Omnibus. We have a DCF sort of omnibus bill that we're going to do. We have H594 that we need to get out. And there's a couple of other ones up there that are sort of must dos. So we have a lot to get in, and then we have to do our budget deep dive. And so it's going to be a hectic few weeks, I'm just going to say. And depending upon how things go, the speaker is authorizing some Monday work for some committees. So depending upon really a couple of of must dos. I'm not sure what kind of latitude. Last year on the Ed bill, they provided some latitude, an extra period of time to get it through the House before it went to the Senate. I don't know if that's gonna happen, but we definitely have to we're gonna have to have pre K discussion about that because there's some proposals on the table about changing current pre K. And that all ties into the financing. There's JFO has been doing work on that in the session. So we'll be needing to hear about that work. So that's a must do. The homelessness bill is a must do as long as we can reach some sort of agreement, which I think is still on the table about how that's going to go. As Eric said, it's Highly amendable. Here we go.

[Rep. Jubilee McGill]: Know,

[Speaker 0]: we'll get you in outfit. He is so amenable that it's hard to get the word straight. So, urge you to take a look. Haven't even looked to see what documents are available yet. Not yet, nothing. Okay. So, Commissioner Gretchen is downstairs in house appropriations. So I imagine he's talking from some sort of presentation. And it's probably will be posted there shortly, something there. So JFO says it's often several days after the governor's budget address before we actually get all of the written materials. And AHS seems to be relenting and will come in before they go to appropriations. Which is fine because the chair of appropriations says that's fine. She wants the policy committees to get started on their deeper dive. And there's no reason to hold that up, she said. So we're not going to. We're going to try to engender their cooperation in that. So for the next couple of weeks, it essentially will be budget and five ninety four. So those are the thinking caps that you'll have on. We are going to be, as I said, I'm just going to say it again because I know sometimes, what does it say? You need to hear things like 10 times before is sanctioned. I'm going to tire of myself saying that. We are not going to run through all of the background materials on homelessness. Okay? We are going to hear from HHAB about the point in time survey. That's the only sort of background piece that we're going to do. I'm going to say that if you want to refresh your memory, again, go back to last year's testimony and last year's YouTube. You wanna know more about the HOT program, you wanna know more about the GA program, Housing Opportunity Program, that's it. These two things intersect when it comes to this committee's work. So we're not going to be doing one on ones on those programs. Just so you know, we may we will hear testimony about what's currently being funded and what they have proposed for '27. But that's the extent of those programs. So we're gonna be taking testimony from people we haven't heard from before. Like you got a glimpse of that last week when we heard I just went out of Press, the

[Rep. Eric Maguire]: transportation?

[Speaker 0]: Transportation, thank you. Yes, we heard from Chris Herrick in transportation. We're hearing from libraries this week. So we're going to be hearing from people. And I guess I would say systems that are being impacted that people don't think about when they think about the impact of homelessness on the state. So those are things that we didn't hear a lot about before. And we are gonna hear from our usual cast of character, not characters, but cast of interested individuals. So we'll be hearing from shelters, we're gonna be hearing from community action agency, We're going to be hearing from other providers, community providers who provide support. And of course, we'll be hearing from advocates. Yes.

[Rep. Jubilee McGill]: I was wondering if we could have someone who could talk a bit about trauma and disabilities and just how that impacts someone's way of thinking and navigating the world. Based on the testimony we've heard so far, both from the ERs and The ER, obviously, other place. From the fine gentleman from transportation, just about the needs and the way folks interact with the world. And I thought it might I know it's a little unusual, but I just want to ensure we're building systems that will actually work for the people they're intended to serve.

[Speaker 0]: I know we heard a little bit about that last year from Annie Sosson at Dartmouth. Anne? Yeah.

[Rep. Jubilee McGill]: I'm speaking more from like a clinician. Clinician or a psychologist. Yeah, someone with a real understanding of the way trauma, poverty, all of that actually impacts the brain in decision making.

[Speaker 0]: Okay, so yes, I'm happy to do that. And I'm happy to do the legwork. Okay, I would need some assistance in identifying who that might be.

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: Especially after we've heard somebody passed away in homelessness, I'm getting a lot of constituents very, very upset that we're housing out of skaters with no residency, and why we're doing that. Well, I know a family right now with three, two teenagers, her and her husband moving in a car and there's no room for them and her daughter has cystic fibrosis. I know them personally, but yet we're housing people that are non residents and Vermonters can't get a place, and I'm hearing it. I can't even tell you how much I'm hearing it. And all I

[Speaker 0]: can say to that is that the people who intake are supposed to be verifying residency now. They are. Absolutely. Okay, is it going to be in this bill? Yes, it is in the bill already. It the bill. I couldn't find it. Anyway, it was in our bill last year as well. And they are supposed to be doing that now. And how long do they have to live in Vermont? The length of time is we'll have Katie describe to you the constitutional issues around that. So that's not something we make up here in Vermont. That's something that the United States Supreme Court has already ruled on. She'll explain that to I'll us just

[Rep. Brenda Steady]: tell them, she'll try and get an answer. Okay. Okay.

[Rep. Eric Maguire]: Just quickly following up on her point, it'll be good also if Katie does explain the exact state case that went through the Supreme Court that, what do you call it, you can't put a time limit of residence

[Clerk Daniel Noyes]: in Vermont.

[Rep. Eric Maguire]: It was a state Supreme Court ruling in the state.

[Speaker 0]: Okay. We're also gonna be hearing from some municipalities. We're gonna hear from the the town manager in Shelburne. They had a recent a recent tragedy in Shelburne around a fire that a person who was homeless was trying to keep warm. The fire spread, and the person became very severely burned. And that was in the news this past week. We're gonna be hearing from the mayor of Rutland. We we heard from the former mayor of Rutland last year, but the mayor of Rutland asked specifically to be heard. So we'll be hearing from that person as well. And I'm also trying to get people who didn't appear before the committee specifically last year, but may have written testimony. So we're doing that. And as we always do in this committee, I want to have testimony from people who, through their experiences, have experienced what it's like to be homeless. And I hope we're able to have testimony from one or two people who have found their way through that time in their life and are now housed. So I know we have some examples of that as well around the state. And then, as I said, be prepared for every commissioner in the agency of human services to kind of come and do their dog and pony show about what they're doing to address homelessness in their department. So we can be ready with questions about that. So for the next two to three weeks, budget and homelessness. Those are the two issues, budget and homelessness. Any questions about that or any other suggestions? And I will apologize upfront for the number of times the agenda will change because there are lots of moving pieces. And honestly, Laurie is doing your person's work, just trying to get people to commit to a time. And then they say, Oh, but I don't really want to do it then. I can't be ready. It's like, okay. Well, the issue of homelessness, it's not new. But people are trying to be very thoughtful in their preparation and their responses and reactions to age five ninety four, which is new And for then now we have the governor's proposal, which is, some might say, even more dramatic than age five ninety four. So we'll see what all of that entails. So for now, I think that's it for today, unless anybody has any questions. Okay, great. Thank you,