Meetings
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[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Will senate please come to order? We will observe a moment of silence in lieu of a devotional this morning. Thank you. Please rise, and we will do the pledge of allegiance. I
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central District)]: pledge allegiance to the flag of
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The United States Of America and
[Unidentified Senator(s) (diarization overlap)]: to the republic for which it
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
[Unidentified Senator(s) (diarization overlap)]: with liberty and justice for all.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any announcements? Seeing none, we have senate bill two thirty two being on the calendar for notice and affecting the revenues of the state under rule 31 is referred to the committee on finance. We now have s two nineteen being on the calendar for notice and carrying an appropriation under rule 31 is referred to the committee on appropriations. We have a joint resolution to take up at this time, j r s 44, a joint resolution relating to weekend adjournment on 03/13/2026 offered by senator Baruth of Chittenden Central District. Listen to the reading of the resolution.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: Resolved by the senate and house of representatives that when the two houses adjourn on Friday, 03/13/2026, it'd be to meet again no later than Tuesday, 03/17/2026.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the reading of the resolution and the question is, shall the senate adopt the resolution on its part? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and you have adopted the resolution. We now have a house bill for reference, h five sixty six, an act relating to sealing post charge court diversion records upon successful completion. Passed the house on 02/26/2026. Listen to the reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H five sixty six, an act relating to sealing post charged court diversion records upon successful completion.
[Lieutenant 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. We now have s. Oh, we should start the orders of the day. Orders of the day. We have s two forty three, an act relating to distributing funds to the Vermont Language Justice Project for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Listen to the third 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 Project.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the third reading of the bill, and the question is, shall the bill pass? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we have passed s two forty three. We have on the calendar for action h six forty nine introduced on 01/13/2026. It was referred to the committee on finance, which reports it is considered the bill and recommends that it ought to pass in concurrence. Listen to the second reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H six forty nine, an act relating to captive insurance companies.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: I recognize the senator from Chittenden Southeast, senator Chittenden, for the report of the committee on finance.
[Senator Thomas Chittenden (Chittenden Southeast District)]: Thank you, mister president. In the world of captive insurance bills, this is
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central District)]: a short one.
[Senator Thomas Chittenden (Chittenden Southeast District)]: So we have three sections to walk through here today. H six forty nine pertains to captive insurance, and it reflects a proposal recommended by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. In general, as many of us here know, a captive insurance company is a subsidiary corporation established to provide insurance to its parent company and its affiliates. It's a form of self insurance. There are several different types of captive insurance companies categorized by their ownership structure and their scope of and the scope of risks they cover. This bill pertains to just two types of captives, risk retention groups and sponsored captive insurance companies. So sections one and two are really focused on general, a risk retention group is a liability insurance company owned directly by its members. It specializes in providing commercial liability insurance. They are authorized under federal law, a liability risk retention act. The members of a risk retention group are businesses in similar industries and thus they share similar risk profiles. The group structure enables members to manage their own liability risks collectively. Types of liability insurance typically covered include professional liability, product liability, general liability, and directors and officers liabilities. To be clear, this does not offer they do not offer workers' compensation or personal lines of insurance such as like automobile coverage. None of that. The proposed amendment in section one pertains to the lending and investing authority of a risk retention group. Specifically, it prohibits a risk retention group from lending to it lending to or investing in its members or affiliates of its members. Under current law, a risk retention group has such authority, but any loan or investment is subject to the commissioner's approval. Such loans and investments are not common. The department testified that only one risk retention group currently has an investment in a member of this investment was previously approved by a commissioner. That investment would not be affected by this amendment because the language specifies that the prohibition would not apply to any loan or investment in effect prior to 01/01/2026. As explained by the department, preventing the drawing off of capital from a group to a member protects against potential conflicts of interest, preserves the financial integrity and solvency of the group, safeguards policy holder funds, and ensures there's sufficient capital to cover the future claims of its members. The proposed amendment in section two also pertains to risk retention groups. The amendment is to an existing captive insurance law concerning the filing of annual reports and financial statements with the department. Existing law requires risk retention groups, unlike other captive insurance company, to report their annual statements pursuant to the Vermont law that pertains to insurance companies, generally speaking. This proposed amendment instead requires risk retention groups to file annual and quarterly statements in the NAIC report form. National Association of Insurance Commissioners has a template form. And it also requires that they include a signed drop page and actuarial certification. It also includes specific due dates to for the filing of the quarterly reports. Currently the current law does not require the filing of quarterly statements. However, the department testified that this is their current practice. Therefore, this proposal here essentially codifies current departmental practice. As in current law, but in a different subsection of the statute, the proposed amendment and subsection romanette I specifies that a risk retention group's regulatory financial filings are not confidential and must be filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. This is because risk retention groups operate across state lines but are primarily only regulated by their home state, I. Their state of domicile. And therefore, transparency is required under federal law for the benefit of all state regulators and interested parties. Finally, the amendment does include rulemaking authority for the commissioner of financial regulation to adopt additional filing requirements specific to risk retention groups. Section three, this pertains to captive insurance companies and their protected cells, sponsored captive insurance companies. Sponsored captive insurance company is a specialized entity established by a sponsor such as a commercial insurer, insurance broker, or trade organization to provide captive insurance benefits to unrelated businesses known as participants. The sponsor organization provides an initial capital and surplus required by DFR and handles administrative underwriting and compliance functions. And then the participants pay a fee and premiums to that sponsor in exchange for customized coverage. Sponsored captives typically use a segregated cell, so known as a protected cell structure. This legally separates the assets and liabilities of each participant from the sponsor's general account and from other participant cells. This ensures that risk and liabilities are not shared among the participants. The proposed amendment would enact a new statute that requires each protected cell to file within thirty days of commencing business commencing business, a statement under oath or affirmation certifying that the cell possess the requisite funding to commit to prior to commencing business, including any required collateral in accordance with the cell's approved plan of operation. In addition, the proposal requires that the statements are signed by the cell's president and secretary or by two individuals authorized by the governing board depending on how the cell is organized. This amendment is similar to what is currently required of licensed captives. The requisite funding and collateral requirements would be in the business plan of a cell's application filed with the department, so certifying the statement basically confirms that the cell is doing what it said it would do in its application. Section four makes this bill effective on 07/01/2026. The witnesses that your Senate Finance Committee heard from was Christine Brown, deputy commissioner of Capital Insurance Department of Financial Regulation, Ian Davis, president Vermont Capital Insurance Association's our very talented Maria Royale. Is it Royale or Royale? Royale. I'm gonna go with Royale. Legislative council, office of legislative council, your senate finance committee voted seven zero zero, and we ask that this senate concur. Thank you, mister president. The
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: question is, shall the bill be read a third time? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it. New boarded third reading of H649. We now take up s r 22, which was placed on the calendar for action today. This resolution has been read and is set forth in the journal of Thursday, February 26, which is before you. The question is, shall the senate adopt the senate resolution? Senator from Chittenden.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central District)]: Thank you, mister president. I'll wait just a second for these to reach everyone. These should look very familiar we have done these same extension resolutions several times. It is, during COVID as you know we adopted Zoom for committee meetings and under certain conditions for people to be present and voting for senate matters. So the catch has always been that we would rethink if there had been problems between January and town meeting day. If there haven't been problems, we extend until December. Speaking for myself, I think these rules have proven themselves. I have heard almost no complaints in the years we've been using them. But SR22, you'll notice regards committee meetings. That is governed by the chairs of committees. If the chair wants to allow participation by zoom they can do so then SR 20 or I'm sorry JR no SR 23 which is the next one is for Senate floor action and you remember the basic rules that govern that you can't miss for no reason you can miss if you're ill if you're the primary caretaker or a family member who is ill, etcetera, or if you're testing for COVID, those are all acceptable reasons to zoom in and vote. So both extend us to December 31 year and again, I think it's been uncontroversial but, leave it to the body.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is shall the Senate adopt the Senate resolution? Are you ready for the question? If so all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Ayes have it, and we have adopted s r 22. We now have s r 23, which was placed on the calendar for action today. This resolution has been read already and is set forth in the journal of Thursday, February 2026. The question is, shall the senate adopt the senate resolution? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we have adopted s r 23. We will now take up JRS 43, which was placed on the calendar for action today. This resolution has been read and is set forth in yesterday's journal, which is before you. The question is, shall the Senate adopt the joint resolution on its part? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. The ayes have it and we have adopted JRS 43. That completes the orders of the day. Senator from Chittenden Central.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central District)]: Thank you, Mr. President. Pending announcements, I would move that the Senate stand in adjournment until one m. Wednesday 03/11/2026 and if I might lead off the announcements I would ask senators if they would turn to page three zero eight in your calendar. Tomorrow we have proposition four up for final vote and it's very helpful, easier in the calendar, it lays out the conditions necessary to forward this. So I would just direct your attention to number three there at third reading. For this question to pass, 16 members of the senate must vote in the affirmative. That is not a majority of president voting. You must have 16 at least. So so the Vermont constitution requires an affirmative vote of the majority of members of the Senate. I guess that is a majority but in other words it's it's 16 as the hard target and it lists Vermont constitution 72 as the backing for that. No amendments at third reading of the constitutional amendment. So just to clarify in the judiciary committee we have taken testimony as the chair will no doubt talk about tomorrow, but we have not made any changes, to what was passed during the previous biennium. But that is, a final vote on a constitutional amendment. I would hope that we would have as close to 30 senators as possible for that vote. Thank you, mister president.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Chittenden.
[Unidentified Senator(s) (diarization overlap)]: Mister president, a question regarding, I think it's a Scripps error on page three zero eight, under the motion number two. It says proposal three. It it should probably be proposal four. Okay.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Thank you for pointing that out. Are there further announcements? Seeing none, the senator from Chittenden Central. Sorry. Senator from Windsor.
[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor District)]: Thank you. Senate Economic Development Housing and General Affairs will meet at ten.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Essex.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central District)]: Second, mister president.
[Senator Thomas Chittenden (Chittenden Southeast District)]: Agriculture will meet at 10:15.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any further announcements? Senator from Washington.
[Unidentified Senator(s) (diarization overlap)]: Natural Resources and Energy will meet at ten.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Windham.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central District)]: Senator District, you'll meet at ten.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Lamoille.
[Unidentified Senator(s) (diarization overlap)]: On transportation at ten.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Chittenden.
[Senator Virginia "Ginny" Lyons (Chittenden District)]: Senate Health and Welfare will meet at 10:00. Thank you, mister president.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any further announcements? Good that everyone woke up.
[Senator Thomas Chittenden (Chittenden Southeast District)]: Seeing
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: none, the senator from Chittenden Central has moved that the senate stand in adjournment until 1PM, Wednesday, 03/11/2026. Are you ready for that question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it. We'll stand in adjournment until 1PM, Wednesday, 03/11/2026.