Meetings
Transcript: Select text below to play or share a clip
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Will the senate please come to order? Promotional exercises will be conducted by the reverend Christie Leary of the Leaders of Faith Foundation of Windsor. Welcome.
[Rev. Christie Leary]: Not sure if I'm popular or just necessary. Two times in a row here. Not in a row, but in the week. Good afternoon. It's good to be with you this morning again this week. On Tuesday, I shared a few thoughts on the mercy of God toward us. Today, I want to share about the topic of extending mercy to one another. Matthew five seven simply says, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. So I'd like to read a parable to you found in the book of Matthew chapter 18. Bear with me, please. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him. Now a talent is a unit of measurement, by the way, of precious metals equivalent to about 75 pounds. In this scenario, about $54,000,000,000. So Jesus continues. Since the man was not able to pay, obviously, the king ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The man fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged, and I'll pay back everything. The king took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go. But when that man went out, that same man, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a 100 denarii. And in this case, a denarii was about $20,000. And I should say a 100 of those was $20,000. Well, he grabbed him, and he began to choke him, saying, pay back what you owe me, he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, be patient with me, and I will pay you back. The man refused. Instead, he went off and had the servant thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told the king everything that had happened. Then the king called the man back in. You wicked servant, he said, I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on the fellow servant just as I had mercy on you? In his anger, the king turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he paid back everything he owed. We're all in need of mercy at some point in our lives. God desires that we be merciful to one another. He does not want us to forget that we too have received mercy, perhaps even great mercy. He does not want us to behave like the man who showed no mercy to his fellow servant. Again, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Let me pray for us. Dear lord, thank you for your mercies that are new and available to each and every one of us every morning. Please help us to choose that same response of mercy toward one another. Grant us today our p your peace, your wisdom, and fill us with joy that our day might be filled with love and mercy. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any announcements? Seeing none, we have senate bills for introduction. S two fifty five, an act relating to establishing a pilot law enforcement governance council in Windham County. Introduced by senators Harrison and Hashim. Listen to the first reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two fifty five, an act relating to establishing a pilot law enforcement governance council in Windham County.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, and it is referred to the committee on government operations. Test two fifty six, an act relating to voyeurism and disclosure of sexually explicit images without consent introduced by senator Hashim and others. Listen to the first reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two fifty six, an act relating to voyeurism and disclosure of sexually explicit act images without consent.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, and it's referred to the committee on judiciary. S two fifty seven, an act relating to nonprofit public transit systems introduced by senator Harrison. Listen to the first reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two fifty seven, an act relating to nonprofit public transit systems.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill. It is referred to the committee on transportation. S two fifty eight, an act relating to intelligent speed assistant devices. Introduced by senator Chittenden and others. Listen to the first reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two fifty eight, an act relating to intelligence speed assistance devices.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, it's referred to the committee on judiciary. S two fifty nine, an act relating to online driver education introduced by senator Harrison. Listen to the first reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two fifty nine, an act relating to online driver education.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, and it is committed to referred to the committee on education. S two sixty, an act relating to legislative approval of leases for continued operation of state owned railroad right of way. Introduced by senator Harrison. Listen to the first reading.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two sixty, an act relating to legislative approval of leases for continued operation of state owned railroad rights of way.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bills referred to the committee on transportation. S two sixty one, an act relating to liability limitations for certain railroad and utility property open to the public for recreational use. Introduced by Senator Harrison and others. Listen to the first reading.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two sixty one, an act relating to limitability life and limitations for certain railroad and utility property open to the public for recreational use.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, and it is referred to the committee on judiciary. S two sixty two, an act relating to motor vehicle inspections introduced by senator Perchlik. Listen to the first reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two sixty two, an act relating to motor vehicle inspections.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill. It is referred to the committee on transportation. We have house bills for reference.
[Rev. Christie Leary]: I'll take the glasses for this.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: H 28, an act relating to influencing an affirmation option in oath requirements entitled one ten of the Vermont statutes annotated, introduced by senator Chapin and others introduced to the house on 01/20/2025. No. It passed the house, I guess. Passed the
[Rev. Christie Leary]: passed the house.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: 01/09/2026. Listen to the first reading of the bill. First house bill of the year.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H 28, an act relating to including an affirmation option in oath requirements in titles one to 10 of the Vermont statutes annotated.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now the bill has been read a first time and it's referred to the committee on judiciary.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore; Chittenden Central)]: Okay. Got you.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: H four zero nine, an act relating to appeals of orders denying bail revocation introduced by representative Lamoille South Burlington. It passed the house on 01/13/2026. Listen to the first reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H four zero nine, an act relating to appeals of orders denying bail revocation.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now the bill's been read the first time, and it is referred to the committee on judiciary. There are no orders of the day. Senator from Chittenden.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore; Chittenden Central)]: Thank you, mister president. Pending announcements, I would move that the senate stand in adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday, January 16.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any announcements? Senator from Washington.
[Senator Ann Cummings (Washington District)]: Thank you, mister president. Senate finance will meet at 01:30.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Rutland. Thank you. Senate government operations will meet at 02:00. Senator from Windham.
[Senator Nader Hashim (Windham District)]: Thank you, mister president. Senate institutions will meet at 2PM.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Bennington.
[Senator Seth Bongartz (Bennington District)]: President, just a reminder for the committee members, we're meeting at 01:15 in Room 10 for joint hearing with the House Education Committee.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any further announcements? Seeing none, the senator from Chittenden Central has moved that the senate stand in adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday, January 2026. Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it. We'll stand in adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday, 01/16/2026.