Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Sen. Philip Baruth (Chittenden Central) — President Pro Tempore]: Guys have gone on lanes.

[Sen. Ruth Hardy (Addison) — senior senator]: You're afraid. My crown.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Can the senate please come to order? We'll observe a moment of silence in lieu of a devotional. Thank you. Are there any announcements? Seeing none, we have bill h two three seven being on the calendar for notice and affecting the revenues of the state under rule 31. It is referred referred to to the the committee committee on on finance. Finance. We now have JRS 43 joint resolution providing for a joint assembly to vote on the retention of seven superior court judges and one magistrate offered by senator Caledonia of Rutland District. Listen to the reading of the resolution by title only.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: JRS 43, joint resolution providing for a joint assembly to vote on the retention of six superior court judges.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the reading of the resolution. The chair in its discretion will place the resolution on the calendar for action for the next legislative day. We now have house bills for reference. We have an act related H six thirty nine an act relating to genetic data privacy introduced by representative shy. And it passed the house on 02/25/2026. Listen to the first reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H639 an act relating to genetic data privacy.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill is referred to the committee on economic development. We now have H six ninety four an act relating to approval of amendments to the charter of the town of Bennington concerning the town manager introduced by representative Greer, and it passed the house 02/25/2026. Listen to the first reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H six ninety four, an act relating to approval of amendments to the charter of the town of Bennington concerning the town manager.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, it's referred to the committee on government operations. H nine zero seven, an act relating to legislative review of reporting requirements introduced by the Committee of Government Operations in Military Affairs. It passed the house on 02/25/2026. Listen to the first reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H nine zero seven, an act relating to legislative review of reporting requirements.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, it's referred to the committee on government operations. Operations. Orders today. We have s one fifty seven, an act relating to recovery residents certification for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Senator from Windham.

[Unidentified Senator from Windham District]: Thank you, mister president. Yes. There is an amendment going out right now. It is a short technical change that addresses some of the language clarifications that I was raising yesterday. It is just two short instances of amendment, and if you're looking at yesterday's calendar, it'll be on page two twenty two. And if if if you look at the paragraphs that say that refer to, regularly refusing to engage in services or programming. After that, you'll see that it says commits a crime, which is not generally the language that we use in, when when referring to criminal statutes. It just replaces it with face charged with a criminal offense in the two instances where you see the phrase commit the crime, and that just brings it in line with how we have it phrased in other, statutes related to crime. And the amendment was reported to the health and welfare committee this morning, and I would ask for the senate support.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Orange.

[Unidentified Senator from Orange District]: Mister president, the health and welfare committee had reached out to, some of the recovery residences, and they were fine with the change in language. And the committee itself was chain fine with the change in language, and we thank the senator for the catch.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall s one fifty seven be amended as offered by the senator from Windham? Senator from Washington.

[Unidentified Senator from Washington District]: Thank you, mister president. Can I

[Unidentified Senator]: inquire of the presenter of the amendment?

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The presenter is interrogated.

[Unidentified Senator from Washington District]: Just so I'm clear, yesterday, the senator had mentioned how commits a crime and engages in theft is kind of repetitive. My understanding of this amendment does not strike the words engages in theft. It'll say is charged for the criminal offense, comma engages in a theft, comma interferes just to make sure.

[Unidentified Senator from Windham District]: Yes. My my understanding after I left the floor was that it would actually be more helpful, to keep the language of engages in theft in this, in these provisions in the circumstances where a residence, does find that a member or a resident is engaging in theft, can handle it in house rather than calling the police and making the situation more complicated. And so I, did not wanna delve further in modifying that.

[Unidentified Senator from Washington District]: I thank the senator for the explanation.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: So the question is, shall s one fifty seven be amended as offered by the senator from Windham? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. The ayes have it, and we have amended s one fifty seven. Listen to the third reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S157 an act relating to recovery resident certification.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is shall S157 pass as amended? Are you ready for the question? Senator from Chittenden.

[Sen. Virginia “Ginny” Lyons (Chittenden Southeast)]: Thank you, mister president. I'd just like to share with the senate how the the importance of this bill and establishing a system of residential care for folks who have a substance use disorder and are seeking treatment. So we'll have a gradation of residents available throughout the state that are certified and access to beds for, for patients depending on their specific need and support available as they return to their own lives. So this is an important bill. There's been a lot of work done it over the past couple of sessions, and thank you for bringing it to third reading, and I ask for your first full support.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are you ready for the question? Question is shall the bill pass as amended? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. Nay. The ayes appear to have it. The eyes do have it and we have passed S 157 as amended. We now have S 163 an act relating to the role of advanced practice registered nurses in hospital care. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Listen to the third reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S163 an act relating to the role of advanced practice registered nurses in hospital care.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: And the question is, shall the bill pass? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. The ayes have it and we have passed S163. We now have s two fifty five, an act relating to establishing a pilot law enforcement governance council in Windham County. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Senator from Addison, the amendment is currently being passed out. Perhaps we should give everybody a second so they have it in hand.

[Sen. Ruth Hardy (Addison) — senior senator]: Sure. I can start explaining it though as as it's being passed out because it should be very familiar to senators. This is a shortened version of the amendment that I offered yesterday on the floor. In my continued efforts to better hold sheriffs accountable, in an instance when we're potentially expanding the jurisdiction or the powers and duties of sheriffs. This my attempt to put some more accountability measures in as a follow-up to act 30 as I explained at length yesterday on the floor, so I don't want to repeat myself. But this version of the amendment is meant to address some of the concerns I heard yesterday on the floor and some of the concerns I heard from the committee of jurisdiction. It would remove the contingency of effective dates for the pilot program, which is my understanding was the main concern of the Senate Government Operations Committee. So that is no longer in this draft. It also would remove the section that dealt with federal, contracts, to address the concerns of the senator from Windham. So that is no longer in this draft as well. So this would just have those essentially reporting requirements that sort of beefed up reporting requirements for the accounting provisions, for the scheduling provisions and for the policies, as well as the provision that says if a sheriff is imprisoned, their salary would be suspended during their time in prison. So those are the the provisions I'm happy to walk through it with folks if you want more detail but I did that yesterday I can certainly assure you that that's what this is. It removes the two provisions that were of great concern yesterday but tries to follow-up with accountability measures for sheriffs and mostly just from reporting the things that we already require them to do but to report to more committees to the Department of Sheriffs and States Attorneys or yes at States Attorneys and Sheriffs and to, report to the auditor. So, that is the amendment, and I'm happy to answer questions after people have a

[Unidentified Senator(s) — diarization mixed]: chance to look through it.

[Sen. Ruth Hardy (Addison) — senior senator]: Thank you, mister president.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Rutland.

[Unidentified Senator from Rutland District]: Thank you, mister president.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: May I request a brief recess in in order for the committee to consider? We will take a brief recess. Senate, please come to order. Senator Rutland.

[Unidentified Senator from Rutland District]: Thank you, mister president. We had a brief committee meeting, and the majority of committee members do not support adopting the amendment.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are you ready for the question? Senator from Windsor.

[Unidentified Senator from Windsor District]: Mister president, I was one of the split votes on our short committee meeting, in which I will be ultimately voting in favor of this amendment, and I appreciate the work of the senior senator from Addison to remove the delay. I understand the committee's overall concern, I think, largely due to the policy changes here, but I am supportive of sheriff accountability, particularly given the implications of the Windsor County sheriff and the need for oversight. So while this is not, in my understanding, a revocation of any of the work of the Windham County sheriff, I do think there is an opportunity with this amendment to have accountability on a broader scale,

[Unidentified Senator]: and I will be voting in favor of this amendment.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator junior senator from Addison.

[Unidentified Junior Senator from Addison District]: Thank you, mister president. As much as I'm in favor for this, I wanna make sure this is germane to what we're attaching it.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are you calling a point of order?

[Unidentified Junior Senator from Addison District]: Yes. Point of order.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Your point of order is that this is asking if this is germane.

[Unidentified Junior Senator from Addison District]: Correct.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Is that it's not germane, and your point of order is well taken. If the senators would like an explanation, we can take a brief recess to explain. Senator from Windsor.

[Unidentified Senator from Windsor District]: I'd like to request a brief recess to explain.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: We'll take a brief recess. Will the senate please come to order? Senator from Windsor.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: Thank you, mister president.

[Unidentified Senator from Windsor District]: I would ask for a rule suspension to have this from the discussion non germane amendment be considered for vote.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The senator from Windsor, I believe, is moving to make a non germane issue germane. Are you ready for the question? Senator from Chittenden Southeast, the senior senator.

[Sen. Virginia “Ginny” Lyons (Chittenden Southeast)]: Thank you, mister president. Prior to that vote, might we please understand the ruling and why it is been declared not to be made.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Can I say because the secretary said so? Senator from Chittenden Southeast. I turned it back on. There are actually quite a few reasons. It actually expands the scope of the bill. One of the questions we ask is does it per the proposed amendment change the purpose, scope, or object of the original bill? It is very focused on a pilot pro program in one area of the state. The amendment would expand to all the state, all sheriffs. So there are actually quite a few reasons that it is not germane. Senator from Chittenden's Southeast.

[Sen. Thomas Chittenden (Chittenden Southeast)]: Mister president, if I had the senate rules book in front of me, I'd probably still ask this question. Could you refresh my memory, for, say, non germane ruling to be ruled germane? Is it a simple majority? Is it two thirds or

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: three quarters? Believe it's a majority. Okay. I am mistaken. It is actually three quarters.

[Sen. Thomas Chittenden (Chittenden Southeast)]: Thank you, sir. Thank you, mister president.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Chittenden Central.

[Sen. Philip Baruth (Chittenden Central) — President Pro Tempore]: Thank you, mister president. So what I'm about to say will not surprise anyone who's heard me on this topic before. I do think it's a dangerous road to go down to begin using, an alternate vote to get things into the category of the germane. Because what it does in my way of looking at it, it protects all of us every time we bring a bill forward from having that bill taken out into a much larger scope or into an area where we didn't intend the body to go. So sometimes it it, hits you hard. Sometimes it hits somebody else hard. But in this particular instance, I will be voting, no on the motion to suspend, with, respect for the chair's ruling on Germanus.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Chittenden Central.

[Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (Chittenden Central)]: Point of information is what we are voting on to make the issue germane or to vote on it anyways even though it is not germane I I my question is I don't believe we are overruling overruling your ruling. It

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: is actually to consider a non germane issue. The ruling is that it is not germane, and it is to allow the senate to take up a non germane amendment.

[Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (Chittenden Central)]: Okay. So we're not overruling your ruling in this vote. Stands.

[Sen. Philip Baruth (Chittenden Central) — President Pro Tempore]: Is

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: yes, that is correct.

[Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (Chittenden Central)]: Thank you.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. Nay. The nays appear to have it. The nays do have it. The question now, are there any other amendments before third reading? Please listen to the third reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two fifty five, an act relating to establish a pilot law enforcement governance council in Windham County.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Question is shall the bill pass? Are you ready for the question? If so all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. Nay. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it and we have passed S two fifty five. We have on the calendar for action s two forty three introduced on 01/13/2026. It was referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare, which reports it is considered the bill and recommends that the bill be amended as set forth in today's calendar on page two fifty seven, and that when so amended, the bill ought to pass. The bill was referred to the committee on appropriations, which reports that it has considered the bill and recommends that the amendment proposed by the committee on health and welfare be amended as set forth in the calendar for today on page two fifty eight. And that when amended, the bill ought to pass. Listen to the second reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two forty three, an act relating to distributing funds to the Vermont language justice program project.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Recognize the senator from Chittenden Central, senator Gulick, the report of the committee on health and welfare.

[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: Thank you, mister president. You might recall about six years ago, we were at the onset of a global pandemic. There was fear, there was confusion. Fortunately, we had a lot of resources at our fingertips. We were communicated with on a regular basis and we had a lot of accurate health information that was coming out on a regular basis and keeping us all safe. At that time, in some of our communities, it became clear that not everybody was able to access the resources and the communication that they needed to stay safe, particularly our communities with people who have language access needs. And some of these folks are most vulnerable and most isolated Vermonters, and they were not accessing their critical health information. At that moment in time, the Vermont Language Justice Project was born and s two forty three is a bill that would provide the Vermont Language Justice Project with much needed support to continue their lifesaving work. For a little bit of history, in November 2021, the Vermont Language Justice Project received the CDC racial disparities grant through the Vermont Department of Health. And Alison Seeger, who is the founder and the director of the project, was able to assemble a small team to produce excellent and critically needed public health videos. These videos were made in anywhere from 10 to 21 different languages that are commonly spoken in parts of Vermont. And they contain information on COVID, on COVID testing, on vaccinations, on MPOXX, on preventing mosquito bites, on staying safe during flooding, on wildfires, on tick bites, cyanobacteria, to name just a few. Unfortunately, that CDC grant was abruptly canceled in January 2025. And since that time, the Vermont Language Justice Project has been solely funded by donations and some fee for service work. Health information is difficult for many of us to access. Even those of us who are native English speakers, it is often very obtuse and and just difficult with a lot of complex terminology. So it makes these communications even more critical. As the Health and Welfare Committee works hard to lower health care costs in Vermont, it is important to see that supporting the Vermont Language Justice Justice Project is about saving lives. It's about keeping people healthy. It's also about reducing outbreaks and keeping people out of the hospital. This will ultimately lower costs for everybody. The Vermont Language Justice Project has partnered with Brattleboro Hospital, it's partnered with UVMMC, it's partnered with Hunger Free Vermont, it's been seen their videos have been seen by thousands of people. And now moving to the bill just for your own edification it's on page two fifty seven of our calendar and initially the bill this is a strike all initially it was just section two it was just appropriation of a $150,000 from the general fund to BLJP. But we decided that it was important for us to add section one, which is some findings to give people a little bit of information about what the BLJP does. Your committee on health and welfare heard from the founder and the director of the project, which is, her name is Alison Seeger. We also heard from Andrea Green. She is the professor of pediatrics. She is the director of the pediatric global health initiative at Larner College of Medicine at UVM. She's also the director of the pediatric new American program. We have excellent written testimony from a Nora Horton who is, the executive director of hunger free Vermont. Mohammed Diop who is the director of the multilingual learner programs, at the school district. He's also a member of the State Board of Education. We also heard from Alison Lamoille, who is the executive director of the United Way of Vermont. Ita Mino, who is an employee at the Burlington Electric Department, and we have a letter from 31 organizations expressing their support, including Champlain Housing Trust, Vermont Parent Child Center Network, Champlain Island Spoon Shell, food, the Vermont Food Bank, Age Well, and your committee on health and welfare voted this bill out five zero zero. We, request your concurrence. Thank you, mister president.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: I now recognize the senator from Chittenden Southeast District, senator Lyons, for the report of the committee on appropriations.

[Sen. Virginia “Ginny” Lyons (Chittenden Southeast)]: Thank you, mister president. Senate appropriations reviewed the bill, and we're very supportive of the work that suggested in the bill for language translation and and information going out to folks in times of stress. And as we ordinarily do, we have take essentially, the language here help holds the money until we've had an opportunity to look at all the requests that come to us in the big bill. But we did want to forward the language and the concept and the policy that is here and voted seven zero zero to pass the bill forward, without the funding at this time.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall the recommendation of amendment of the committee on health and welfare be amended as proposed by the committee on appropriations? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. The ayes have it. And we have amended the recommendation of amendment as proposed by the committee on appropriations. The next question is shall the senate amend the bill as recommended by the committee on health and welfare as amended?

[Sen. Ruth Hardy (Addison) — senior senator]: And

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: that is the question. Are you ready for the question? Senator from Rutland.

[Unidentified Senator(s) — diarization mixed]: Thank you, mister president. May I inquire the report of the bill?

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The reporter is interrogated.

[Unidentified Senator(s) — diarization mixed]: So, mister president, on page two fifty eight in subdivision six, there's a note about 10 to 21 languages commonly spoken in Vermont. I'm curious as to whether the reporter, perhaps before third reading, could let us know what those 10 languages are.

[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: I would be happy to, mister president.

[Unidentified Senator(s) — diarization mixed]: I thank the report.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: And the question is, shall the bill be amended as recommended by the committee on health and welfare as amended? Senator from Rutland.

[Unidentified Senator from Rutland District]: Thank you, mister president. May I interrogate the reporter?

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The reporter's interrogated.

[Unidentified Senator from Rutland District]: Thank you, mister president. I'm I'm curious if if in deliberations within the the committee, if if the phrase in the event of disease outbreak or other public health emergency was considered striking disease outbreak which is fairly vague and generic and just hold the language in the event of public health in the event of a public health emergency.

[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: No we actually did not. We if you look at the language in section two we really wanted this bill and this support to encompass outbreaks and emergencies but also public health information and personal health information. All of these things we consider to be urgent matters when it comes to health and, again, when it comes to the bottom line in health care in the state of Vermont. So, no, we wanted it to be more encompassing.

[Unidentified Senator from Rutland District]: Thank you, mister president. And a follow on question. Are the are the desired funds to be spent now or held in reserve for the event of a public health emergency or a disease outbreak or a generic use in personal and public health information?

[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: Assumption is that the funds will be used to create video public health and personal health and outbreak videos in the coming months and year.

[Unidentified Senator from Rutland District]: Thank you, President. And my last question, are there other programs within the Department of Health that already provide translation services?

[Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: Our understanding from the testimony that we took is that there are definitely translations done in writing, which are wonderful, but as we heard they are just not accessible to folks who might come from a culture that doesn't have a written language for example or folks who don't have you know great ease with English or even with their native language And we even heard, which was a surprise to us, that for some native English speakers these videos are incredibly helpful because some are in English for those folks who have maybe lower literacy rates. So it runs the gamut. They are incredibly helpful to folks accessing health care information.

[Unidentified Senator from Rutland District]: Okay. So I I thank the the senator, and I thank the president.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are you ready for the question? The question is shall the bill be amended as recommended by the committee on health and welfare as amended? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it. And we have amended the bill as recommended by the Committee on Health and Welfare as amended. The question now is, shall the bill be read a third time? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. The ayes have it. You've ordered third reading of s two forty three. That completes the orders of the day. Senator from Chittenden Central.

[Sen. Philip Baruth (Chittenden Central) — President Pro Tempore]: Thank you, mister president. Pending announcements, I would move that pursuant to JRS 31, we adjourn until 09:30AM Tuesday, 03/10/2026. And if I might lead off the announcements. Senators may have noticed in the calendar we have proposition four listed. The constitutional amendment process requires that we have it in the calendar for seven days. So just to let folks know that when we come back that Wednesday March 11 it will be up for action. My hope is that given that we are amending the constitution that people will treat that as a very important vote to be here for. I know that, some people may have a need to be absent and have already informed us, but for everyone else, Wednesday the eleventh will be the day. Thank you, mister president.

[Lt. Gov. 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 March 11 nope. Wrong line. Until 09:30 a. M. Tuesday, 03/10/2026. Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Ayes have it, and we'll stand in adjournment until 09:30AM, Tuesday, 03/10/2026.

[Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (Chittenden Central)]: Usually, I