Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: We'll take a moment of silence in lieu of a devotional. Thank you. Are there any announcements? Seeing none. We have s two seventy eight, an act relating to cannabis. Being on the calendar for notice and carrying an appropriation under rule 31, it's referred to the committee on appropriations. H five forty two being on the calendar for notice and carrying an appropriation under rule 31 is referred to the committee on appropriations. We now have house bills for reference. H five forty nine, an act relating to eligibility of sentenced or detained individuals to obtain a state issued non driver identification card replacement operator's license or replacement learner's permit. Please listen to the first reading of the bill. Is that the right one?

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H five forty nine, an act relating

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: to two? Okay.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H five forty nine, an act relating to eligibility of sentenced or detained individuals to obtain a state issued non driver identification card, replacement operator's license, or replacement learner's permit.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: That was five forty nine. Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, and it is referred to the committee on institutions. We now have h five forty two, an act relating to terminating testing of schools in Vermont for polychlorinated biayas. Please listen to the first reading of the bill. Point of inquiry.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H five forty two, an act relating to terminating testing of schools in Vermont for polychlorinated biphenyls.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, it's referred to the committee on education. We have h five eighty eight, an act relating to professions and occupations regulated by the office of professional regulation. Introduced by represent representative by wrong. It passed the house on 03/17/2026. Listen to the first reading.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H five eighty eight an act relating to professions and occupations regulated by the Office of Professional Regulation.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Now you've heard the first reading. It's referred to the committee on government operations. H five six seven h six seventy four, an act relating to the creation of the Vermont sister state program introduced by representative, Bennington, and others. It passed the house on 03/17/2026. Listen to the first reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H six seventy four, an act relating to the creation of the Vermont Sister State program.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Now you've heard the first reading. It's referred to the committee on economic development. H seven sixty two, an act relating to the county and regional governance study committee introduced by representative by wrong. It passed the house on 03/17/2026. Listen to the first reading.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H seven sixty two an act relating to county and regional governance study committee.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill, it's referred to the committee on government operations. H eight forty one, an act relating to miscellaneous animal welfare procedures introduced by representative water Waters Evans. It passed the house on 03/13/2026. List 03/17/2026. Listen to the first reading.

[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham)]: H eight forty one, an act relating to miscellaneous animal welfare procedures.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Now you've heard the first reading of the bill. It's referred to the committee on judiciary. Orders of the day. We will pass over s 26. We have s one thirty eight for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Seeing none, listen to the third reading.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S one thirty eight, an act relating to commercial property assessed clean energy projects.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Now you've heard the third reading, 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've passed s 138. We have s 181 for third reading. Are there any amendments to be offered prior to third reading? Seeing none listen to the third reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S 181 an act relating to eliminating the requirement for a pre sentence investigation for imposition of a deferred sentence.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: 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 say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. The ayes have it and we have passed s one eighty one.

[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham)]: We

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: have s two zero six for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Senator from Bennington.

[Senator Seth Bongartz (Bennington)]: I have an amendment. It's been distributed. Listen.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Bennington?

[Senator Seth Bongartz (Bennington)]: Mister president, pages have just passed out, an amendment to, s two zero six. Right? Let's say that I had a chance to take the event amendment to the health and welfare committee this morning, and they'll tell you how they they voted. But I think I think, my my understanding is the build out was favorable. And the amendment really does two things. It recognizes the importance of the maintenance of a system of home child care centers, especially in parts of rural Vermont that don't have access to larger centers. I also wanna say just to make clear that I fully understand and support what the committee is trying to do with professionalizing, the profession that I really appreciate. In fact, I'm not just understand that I appreciate it. I've been involved with childcare for a long time, as a board member and otherwise, and really look at the people who are engaged in delivering the services across Vermont. And I have, deepest possible respect for what they do and recognize that they are not have not been viewed the way that they deserve to be viewed. And so I really appreciate that we're headed in that direction. But at the same time, I was concerned about when I first when the bill first came out about the fact that it might have made it very difficult for, home childcare centers to be able to exist. So what this bill does, especially in rural areas and especially where there's holes in the system, otherwise holes in the system. So what this bill does is allow somebody to open a home center with a level one certification licensure, and then have up to six years, three, two year periods to work up toward a level two. I think it's I I view it as a really, I don't know if I I'll use the term compromise, but a way to a practical solution that allows people to get them open and then work towards their certification almost like a you know teacher licensure in some cases. But on the theory in part that if we require that people first become a level two less hope license holders that's just not gonna happen because it's too big a hurdle. And so what this tries to do is get us to the point so we can get started and then work toward it and then and then hopefully, stay open with that in place. And then the only other thing the bill does is in the report section, it adds a little bit of language about the impact on the system may have on, childcare homes and then any recommendations required to keep them in business depending on what the report says. So the the amendment is actually, I think, that simple, both in intent and and what it does. So, I hope you will look upon the effort favorably.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Chittenden.

[Senator Virginia "Ginny" Lyons (Chittenden)]: Thank you, mister president. Senator, the senator from Bennington did come into our committee this morning and explained the proposed amendment. I I will say that I will make a comment that I hope that the reporter of the bill will, reiterate or express better than I will, and that is we've seen an improvement to the workforce and, access to home based services and and on a reduction as a result of the work that we have done in the past. But we fully understand the concerns that were brought to us about, this amendment. The one area of discussion that the committee did have was the the length of time for the variance, and so it's would ultimately be about six years for a home center to be allowed to, the the person, the licensee to be in the home center before they're fully licensed. Six years felt like a lot to some of us, but, we did. Nevertheless, on a straw poll, the majority of the committee supports the proposed amendment, mister president.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Chittenden.

[Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Chittenden)]: Thank you, mister president. Just want to reiterate from yesterday a few things and then add a look even more to what I said. So over a 100 new childcare programs have been opened. We've created 1,700 new spaces. We have created 400 new jobs since the passage of Act 67. I also wanted to add because I know there is a lot of concern about our rural areas, rightfully so, that family child care has been declining for years in Vermont, and it's been declining frankly all over the country. Since act 67, though, it's important to note that Vermont has actually stabilized family childcare, even in spite of our housing market and our demographic changes. I also wanted to say that in March, the CD CDD I always wanna say the CDC because that's another organization in our committee, but the CDD and First Children's Finance just released childcare cost modeling showing that family childcare is now a financially viable business model in Vermont. In January, the CDD workforce report said that while family childcare grew only slightly over the two year period, 2024 marks the first time in over a decade in which family childcare workforce grew rather than declined in number. So really exciting. I also wanted to just remind folks that s two zero six is workforce informed. It's based on recommendations of more than a thousand working early childhood educators, and it was developed over ten years with thoughtful engagement, involved educators in all settings. And again, families and stakeholders were in the process throughout the the many years working on this. And lastly, in terms of the future workforce, I wanted to just remind folks that this workforce is growing by 8.5% according to the CBD as of today. So thank you, mister president.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Are you ready for the question? Senator from Chittenden North.

[Senator Christopher Mattos (Chittenden North)]: Thank you, mister president. I wanna thank the sponsor of the amendment. This certainly settled some of the concerns I had on the bill yesterday about creating that pathway for these family providers. Like the presenter of the amendment stated that there are pockets of the state that these family providers provide a a genuine great service of a capacity for childcare across the state of Vermont and I feel that having this, EC one into a two over a course of up to six years, will help transition those licensees into being able to come in compliance with what this bill aims to be. And I had some more conversations last night actually with a family provider, former family provider, and I kind of picked her brain a little bit about the different levels and also she's been a family provider and in a childcare center setting. The different levels and how much education that would be involved in this bill and it having this amendment really satisfies my concerns about having these two paths. I appreciate the senator bringing this forward and also the committee, having a favorable view on that. So thank you.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Are you ready for the question? So the question is, shall the bill be amended as offered by the senator from Bennington? Are you ready for the question?

[Senator Russ Ingalls (Essex)]: Roll call.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Roll call has been requested, and when the vote is taken, it shall be by roll. Are you ready for the question? Senator from Ginny North.

[Senator Christopher Mattos (Chittenden North)]: I'd like to rescind that question. We'll do it. Shall the bill pass? I apologize for jumping ahead.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: It is very exciting, senator. Are you ready for the question? The quest the question is shall the bill be amended as offered by the senator from Bennington? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay.

[Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Chittenden)]: Nay.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. And you have off you have amended s two zero six as offered by the senator from Bennington. The question now is, oh, we haven't read it the third time. Third please listen to the third reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two zero six, an act relating to licensure of early childhood educators by the Office of Professional Regulation.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: And now the question is, shall the bill as amended pass? Senator from Essex.

[Senator Russ Ingalls (Essex)]: Thank you, mister president. A lot was said yesterday about figures. I get that sometimes they're uncomfortable when you aren't trying to talk about them. Are funny things. It's been said that figures don't lie, but that liars can figure, but that's unfair at times because any site trying to make their point can be unfairly accused of being inaccurate. I want to take a few minutes and use numbers that we heard in the chamber yesterday. First, how much have we spent to fix a segment in our economy that was 80% decimated by legislation? I've heard that it's as high as $444,000,000 I'm uncomfortable with that number. I'm going to use three years at $125,000,000 a year, so $375,000,000 We heard yesterday that we've created and today that we've created between twelve hundred and seventeen hundred slots in child care. Now there are some questions about where that where that account started, whether it was after we blew up the old system or did it start when we created the new system. I'm not going to jump in the middle of that, just say that there have been 1,700 new slots created. So as discussed earlier, we spent 375,000,000 divide that by 1,700 slots that equals $220,588 per slot. I want that sink in, 220,588 per slot. We heard yesterday that we've created, 400 jobs. Again, we don't know when that count started before the destruction or after, but 375,000,000, dollars divided by 400 equals $937,500 per job. $937,500 per job. That pays maybe $20 an hour. We're thankful for that. But, $937,500 we spent to create those jobs. It was also said that we are the envy of The United States for the way we've administered childcare. I can tell you we are not. Possibly we are in about seven blue states, but nationwide Vermont is not the model that everyone is following into prosperity as our declining population is proving out. I wanna remind everyone in this state that this boondoggle was vetoed by America's most popular governor. The super majority at the time overrode overrode him. Well, that's a the super majority is no longer, and I can tell you, keep on passing legislation, I really don't see that the trend of, more, moderation in the Senate, will, continue. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say, say roll call. Roll call. The senator has now asked for a roll call at the appropriate time. So when the vote is taken, it shall be by roll. If you are ready for the question, senate secretary shall call the roll.

[Senator Ruth Hardy (Addison)]: Senator Ruth? Yes.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Those voting yes, 22. Those voting no, six. And s two zero six has passed as amended. We now have s two nineteen for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Seeing none, listen to the third reading.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two nineteen, an act relating to an energy navigator program report.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: 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. We've passed s two nineteen. We now have s two thirty nine for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Seeing none, listen to the third reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two thirty nine, an act relating to the child abuse and neglect reporting working group.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Now you've heard the third reading, 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've passed s two thirty nine. We now have s two ninety one for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Seeing none, listen to the third reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: S two ninety one, an act relating to travel disclosures for legislators and certain executive officers.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: 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 ninety one. We have on the calendar for action s three twenty six introduced by the committee on transportation on 01/30/2026. The bill was then committed to the committee on transportation, which reports it has considered the bill and recommends that the bill be amended as set forth in today's calendar starting on page seven fourteen, and that when so amended, the bill ought to pass. Affecting the revenues of the state, the bill was referred to the Committee on Finance, which reports that the bill ought to pass when amended by the amended by the committee on transportation. Affecting the appropriations of the state, the bill was referred to the committee on appropriations, which reports that the bill ought to pass when amended by the committee on transportation. Listen to the second reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: That's three twenty six, an act relating to miscellaneous amendments to laws relating to motor vehicles.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Recognize the senator from Lamoille, senator Westman, for the report of the committee on transportation.

[Senator Richard Westman (Lamoille)]: I will first, start by saying we're gonna do something slightly unusual. Our committee voted the bill out, and we received financial information from the Department of Motor Vehicles. The next day we got information from the Joint Fiscal Office that conflicted with the Department of Motor Vehicles. And what we did was you have an amendment on page seven fourteen that is a strike all amendment from all of the members on transportation, and we took the two sections out that we received conflicting information about. So at this time, I would move to substitute the recommendation of the amendment for the recommendation of amendment the on the committee on transportation.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Lamoille has moved to substitute a recommendation of amendment for the recommendation of the committee on transportation. Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Ayes have it, and you've substituted the recommendation of amendment of the committee on transportation. Senator from Lamoille.

[Senator Richard Westman (Lamoille)]: The way the process works in transportation is every year we have a miscellaneous DMV bill. Work on that first and then we send that over to the house and the house then sends us the T bill. So the second half of the year our big bill will be the T Bill. What we have is in this miscellaneous bill, it makes targeted updates across the board to transportation statutes. It supports and there are a number of areas we deal with in this. It supports reentry of individuals leaving corrections by ensuring that they can get driver's licenses. It deals with fines in smugglers notch again, which we've done for years. It modernizes salvage and duplicate title process. It creates a clear path for k vehicles and limited use specialty vehicles. It directs EMP to reform the inspection manual, and it updates snowmobile, motor vehicles, our motorboats, license plates, and motorcycle exhaust compliance. The biggest thing that we worked on here in this bill is. I would call it a modernization and making the inspection manual more practical. On the ground, it's probably going to take the inspection manual, which is three fifty pages now, and reduce it by more than half, and it will focus the inspection manual on safety issues. And coupled with the bill that we just passed, two eleven, it's our effort to make the inspection process more practical, and this is the immediate process, but two eleven did that we just passed this past week is looking forward looking and questioning how we might go to two year inspections and how practically we do that. But this bill has the immediate step of on the inspection annual piece. So that's probably the biggest thing that effort that we as a committee put into in this bill. At this time, now I'm going to yield to, the senator from Windham, Senator Harrison, and she's going to start the bill, and we will go through the bill section by section.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Before the senator yields, I would just like to advise everyone if they haven't got to the page in the calendar where the substitute amendment starts. It is seven thirty nine. Senator from Windham.

[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham)]: Thank you, mister president. And I was coming back to, 07:14, but I'll reference seven thirty nine. So I will kick us off with the first seven sections. Six of these sections are the product of a thoughtful collaboration between the Departments of Motor Vehicles and Corrections to improve the prospects of Vermonters exiting the prison system. Legal identification is critical to all of us, and for most of us, renewing a driver's license is a regular task we have to do every four years or so. For people getting out of prison, obtaining a legal identification document can be both more difficult and more important than it is for the rest of us. More difficult to obtain because the person hasn't been home for months or years, may not have access to the documents, and they often don't have a car. More important, because it's critical that they have a valid ID. They need to show the ID to receive and document required services, and they must be ready to prove their identity to stay out of prison. The two departments, Corrections and DMV, excuse me, worked together to expand the existing process with minimal financial impact to the state. Directions has been providing ID cards for a few years to sentenced individuals, and this bill expands the service to detainees, generally people who are awaiting trial, and increases the types of IDs available to include replacement licenses and learner's permits. For individuals nearing the end of their sentence, the Department of Corrections sends the necessary documentation to the Department of Motor Vehicles requesting a license, a non driver ID, or a learner's permit. The DMV processes the information, creates the ID, sends the ID to the DOC pardon corrections, gives the ID to the sentenced individuals as they leave the prison. Detainees have not been part of this process generally because they don't have predictable schedules for trial or release. Detainees, as I said, are people who are charged with a crime but not sentenced. In other states, they are often held in local jails, not prisons. This bill proposes that when a detainee has been held at least six months, the DOC will gather the documents that the detained person will need for an ID, replacement license or learner's permit, and what happens is they'll provide the documents to the person as opposed to the ID because the process just can't happen quickly enough. The detainee will still get the ID at no charge when they go to the DMV office. Clear as mud, right? So more about this in the section by section. So section one amends 23 BSA section one one hundred fifteen non driver identification cards with three separate instances of amendment. The First Amendment applies to all residents in the state and this adds language to make it clear that a resident may not have both an operator's license and a non driver identification card at the same time. You'll see that language on page 39. The second amendment in this section updates language relating to providing a non driver ID sentenced individuals upon completion of a prison sentence. The third amendment is a new provision for an individual who has been detained for six months or more that they are eligible for a non driver identification card at no charge. Again the detainee has provided the documentation that they will need to bring to the DMV office. Section two amends 23 VSA section 6.16 and this is a replacement for sentenced individuals. This section permits the Department of Corrections to provide offenders sentenced to six months or more prison who have a current license or a license that expired less than three years before with a no cost replacement license when they are released. So essentially you'll notice that both the type of person and the type of license results in many different sections. Section three amends 23 VSA section six sixteen which is a replacement for detainees. So this permits the Department of Corrections to allow detainees who have a current license or a license that expired less than three years before to apply for a no cost license when they are released. Again the department will obtain the documentation and provide to the person as they leave the facility. Section four amends 23 VSA section six sixteen learner's permit. This permits DOC to provide offenders sentenced to six months or more in prison who have a current learner's permit or a permit that expired less than two years before with a no cost replacement learner's permit when they are released. Section five amends 23 VSA, section six seventeen learner's permit, and this is for detainees. The Department of Correction will obtain the documentation as reasonably practical practicable, coordinate with the Department of Motor Vehicles and provide the individual with the documentation. Section six amends 28 BSA Section 102, and this is the last section regarding

[Senator Seth Bongartz (Bennington)]: And those

[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham)]: it provides authority to the Commissioner of Corrections to work with the Department of Motor Vehicles to do all of these processes that I've discussed: provide documents and the non driver identification cards, replacement licenses and learner's permits. So Section seven is something completely different. It amends 23 PSA section 110 to update the bad check process, changing the name to insufficient funds and adding electronic funds transfer, including a debit or credit charge and temporarily suspending the license or registration when payment is not received. It includes language to enable the existing process of allowing an individual up to thirty days to pay the amount due. And that is the end of my, sections. It's important to note that we did work with institutions committees of both the House and the Senate on the DOC portions and I would now yield to my colleague, the senator from Washington.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Windham yields to the senator from Washington.

[Senator Ann Cummings (Washington)]: Thank you, mister president. I'll update you through sections eight through 15. Section eight amends the statute that deals with vehicles stuck in Route 108 that is the notch. We're gonna use the word, stuckage when we get to talk about these things. And we've had problems with stuckages in on Route 108 for for many years. We've tried several things we've raised when I was on the committee few years ago. We raised the fees if you get stuck, from from the hundreds up to 1,000 to 2,000, but that didn't seem to work. We also put chicanes, but the people that are driving vehicles that are too long, this could be an RV, it could be a bus, it could mostly instruct trailers. They have found that they can just go around the chicanes. You know, the chicanes are there to tell them that you can't get through the chicanes, you can't get through the notch, but they do it anyway. So this this section raises the fees to $10,000 to $20,000 to make it clear of what the cost of of these stockages is because it takes many hours. The road gets totally closed. It's you have to get a special tow truck. You have a lot of emergency personnel, police officers that have to report. So that these fines are kind of in line even though it seem high or kind of in line with the actual cost that these stuffages, cost us. Section nine just permits electric signatures on certain documents needed to provide salvage title. I like the title of the title of this chapter because it talks about titles of crushed vehicles, which I think is important. So this is about titles of vehicles just so you can sign it electronically and it defines what signed electronically means means. It's very specific about that. Section 10, this is on page seven forty seven following along, permits DMV to hand a person a duplicate of a motor vehicle title. So if you lost your title or got destroyed and you need another one, the statute only allowed them to mail it. So even if you went into DMV, they had to mail it to you if they're following the statute. So both section ten and twelve, 12 is for ATVs and vessels and snowmobiles, 10 is for motor vehicles. They allowed you to hand it

[Senator Thomas Chittenden (Chittenden)]: to you if you come in

[Senator Ann Cummings (Washington)]: and need a duplicate title. Section 11 is just a definition change. It's a technical update title to make sure that we are clear that it's for vessel snowmobiles and ATVs for this chapter, the subsection to chapter three eight zero one. It already had that in another section. So section 12, already talked about. That's to get a duplicate title if you're in person at DMV locations for vessels, snowmobiles, and ATVs. Section 13 is a technical change under where you file for an appeal. It said the Superior Court of Washington County, but that we wanted to be more specific. So it provides a more specific definition of that location. Section 14, this is a technical change to clarify exemption from motor vehicle title requirements. It's really just a wording change. The word vehicle twice, so we just took out one of the word vehicles. Another interesting section, section 15, this is trying to deal with towing of vehicles. We've had issues with towing companies getting reimbursed for the tows that they do when they're asked to do them. If if they get called by state troopers, police to tow a vehicle from accident, they they'll rush out there and do that. But they've been more and more, they've been getting requests from agency of transportation to tow vehicles that are abandoned in park and rides owned by VTrans by IoT. Sometimes these are trailers that cost the towing companies thousands of dollars to get rid of. So this doesn't deal with the the trailers and the RVs, but it increases the the amount of money that the towing companies could get if they tow a vehicle by the request of AOT and DMV. And the language just clarifies how's that payment made. But the main substantive change is that the tow tow towing companies will get $250 instead of a $150 to to more closely resemble their costs. So that are those are my sections, mister president. At this point, I'd like to yield to the senior senator of Grand Isle District.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: The senator from Washington yields to the senior senator.

[Senator Robert Plunkett (Grand Isle District)]: Quite an honor, Mr. President. I'll be starting with section 16. Section 16 is basically, technical changes to the numbering in that section. Just for instance, section previously numbered three a is now one b. Nothing substantial in that section other than those changes. Section 17 increases the penalties for an unregistered or undecalled snowmobile. Previous fines were $135 This would increase those to $450 for a first offense and $500 for a second offense. And those are within a three year period. JFO estimates no serious potential, revenues in those civil penalties. Section 18 permits state and municipal employees without a CDL to operate heavy equipment, heavy trucks during certain emergencies when they are declared by the governor. This, we took a great deal of testimony on. This would, allow an operator to move equipment, in in, like I said, a declared emergency on any state or municipal highway. Section 19 creates a fee for a one year nondomiciled CDL. Creates a fee of $40 for that nondomiciled CDL. Nondomiciled for any of you who might not know is a non US citizen who temporarily working in The US or for any other person who is unable to get a a CDL in their home state, which that home state was prohibited from issuing CDLs and that does happen on occasion. This also GFO memo would have a de minimis effect on state revenues. I think in 2025, there were only 16 issued. Section 20, as a requirement for placement of validation stickers on motorboats, I think you will see a sticker registration sticker normally. It could be all over the place actually, that's why we're doing this. It could be on the end of a boat, associated with the actual registration number. And this would require it to be within six inches on the preceding. Let me see, make sure I get this right on the port side, preceding the numbers and on the starboard side, six within six inches proceeding the numbers. So it brings it into uniformity. I think I've got it right on my boat, but, you know, some people have. Section 21 requires the use of personal flotation devices. This is an important issue. We took again, we took a great deal of testimony on this section. Requires the use, it mean wearing of a per personal flotation device between November 1 and April 30. And it also has a carve out for hunting or bullfishing during that period of time in less than three feet of water. So we took testimony. We heard from the fishing fishing and hunting community that within three feet of water, this wasn't something they could actually continue to do with that flotation device on. So when they're in three feet of water or less, which they normally are, they're exempt. And that's pretty much it for that section. I will mention that this requirement doesn't apply to ferries or other vessels that are expected by the coast guard. That's important to know. So that's it for my sections. At this point, I'll yield, mister president, to the senator from Windsor. Senator White.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: The senior senator from Grand Isle yields to the senator from Windsor.

[Senator Rebecca "Becca" White (Windsor)]: Thank you, mister president. You're gonna have a handout coming your way because my section starts on page seven fifty five of your calendar today and starts with section 22. You're gonna hear from me until section 29. So the reason you're getting a handout is because for the first time in Vermont history, we are defining the mini truck. Now what is the mini truck? If you go to page seven fifty five, you will see the exact definition, but I hope this handout will provide to you a visual of what you probably know to be a mini truck or a k vehicle. We spent significant time talking about this proposal in committee due to the inconsistent application of the registration process for Vermont vehicle owners. While the Department of Motor Vehicles had informed us that they were registering these vehicles, they didn't have a problem with them. What we heard from, different constituents was when they attempted to register their K vehicle, they were told they could not register their K vehicle. And it depended on what DMV you were going to to get what answer. So we're to get the answer that was correct. So our hope in section 22 and also section 23 is to codify and make sure that there is a standard accepted definition of the mini truck as well as clarity for the Department of Motor Vehicles and the wider community around it. So very exciting. Section 24 relates to, the inspection manual. As you remember from last week with, bill s two eleven, we've spent a lot of time on the inspections process in your senate transportation committee due to the fact that we heard from constituents about the the difficulty to pass inspection for non safety related concerns. So what we do in section 24 is go and look at and require that the Department of Vehicle move forward with expedited rulemaking related to, and you can see the list of identified items that they have to refer to, but it requires the inspection manual to be amended to limit inspection failures to conditions that are an immediate safety risk and to improve clarity and consistency. So hopefully while we're moving towards a potential biennial inspection with s two eleven, your constituents will in the meantime see immediate relief as we move certain requirements from failure to advisory through the rule making process. Section 25 is close to the heart of the senior senator from Grand Isle related to home built vehicles. They're known as kit cars, for example. Section 25, section 26, and section 27 all relate to this vehicle. It defined the definitions include both home built vehicles like kit cars and manufactured vehicles commonly known as resto mods. In section 26, it establishes requirements for the registration and use of these limited specialty vehicles. It limits that registration to 12 new vehicles per year, includes the same limitations on highways that as we use for the antique exhibition vehicle requirements. So we have one specific company that we've heard from in Vermont that would deeply benefit from these changes, and we continue that thought in section 26 where we establish, those 12 new vehicles per year. In section 27, also related to this limited use specialty vehicle, they will be subject to safety inspections but not emissions section 28 relates to the manner and display of your license plate. It prohibits the coloring or tinting of numerals and letters on a license plate. It also prohibits the covering or obscuring of letters and numbers on a license plate. So don't block your license plate. They need to be able to see it. Section 29, it relates to the condition of vehicles and in particular, requires motorcycles to be equipped with a federally certified muffler, and that provides that the motorcycle without a federally certified muffler will fail inspection. You've seen this language if you've been in the senate, you've seen this every year for a bit. This is that stamp that is typically on that's a federal requirement on motorcycle mufflers. If you don't have the stamp, you're gonna fail inspection. That's what we're reiterating in this section. Before I yield to the senior senator as well from Memorial County, I did just wanna note, appreciation for our chair. This is our second DMV bill as a committee, and we worked through, I think, the problems diligently and heard from more witnesses than I knew was possible on this bill. So with that, I yield with appreciation to the senator from Lamoille.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Windsor yields to the senator from Lamoille.

[Senator Richard Westman (Lamoille)]: I have, section 30, and, then we're done. It's the effective dates. The effective dates for the correction sections at the beginning of the bill that the senator from Windham had gone is January 1, and the rest of

[Senator Russ Ingalls (Essex)]: the

[Senator Richard Westman (Lamoille)]: sections take effect 07/01/2026. As they said, we have a very long list. We have 29 people, witnesses we heard from, everyone from, as you can imagine, the commissioner of DMV to corrections. We heard from a lot of people. And as in addition to that, we also heard from we had a hearing on the inspection sticker piece and we had probably an hour and a half of people testifying in the hearing around there. I'm happy to provide the list to anybody that would like the list, if they would like it. We voted in committee five zero zero in favor of this and recommended to the body.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: I'd like to recognize the senator from Chittenden, senator Chittenden for the report of the committee on finance.

[Senator Thomas Chittenden (Chittenden)]: Thank you, mister president. Your senate finance committee reviewed the substitute amendment given that it had de minimis effects in section 28 and other the penalties were GFO cannot estimate the potential revenue. Overall, your committee supported the bill favorably, being that it does not had seemed to have any non de minimis effects on state revenues, and we voted seven zero zero to move the bill forward. Thank you, mister president.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: And I recognize senator from Loyola, senator Westman for the report of the committee on appropriations.

[Senator Richard Westman (Lamoille)]: We, in appropriations, took a look at the bill. The main section that had any effect on revenue was the fees for towing on public lands. We it's a very small amount. It could have an effect of up to 32,000 on based upon the number of towings that they've had. That was really the only section that had specific, we did go through a number of the other sections and went through it, but that was the only major one. Appropriations voted six zero one.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Question is shall the bill be amended as recommended by the committee on transportation as substituted? Senator for Madison.

[Senator Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: May I inquire of the reporter of section three?

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: The reporter of section three is interrogated.

[Senator Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: Just a simple question of, why is the penalties? Thank

[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham)]: you, mister president, for that Question that was the suggestion that was brought to us by DMV and corrections jointly and it a fee would be a higher barrier. They're already providing the, the non driver ID at no fee, and the idea is to get the, folks getting out of prison the ID so that they can go and do what they're supposed

[Senator Richard Westman (Lamoille)]: to do.

[Senator Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: I thank the representative. I thank the reporter.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. The ayes have it. And you have amended the bill as recommended by the committee on transportation as substituted. The question now is, shall the bill be read a third time? Are you ready for the question?

[Senator Seth Bongartz (Bennington)]: I can't see that.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and you've ordered third reading of s three twenty six. We are going to need to pass over s 89 because the reporter is not here unless there is another plan that I don't know about. We will pass over s 89, and that completes the orders of the day. Senator from Chittenden.

[Senator Martine Larocque Gulick (Chittenden Central)]: Thank you, mister president. Pending announcements, I move that the senate stand in adjournment until 11AM, Friday, 03/20/2026.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Are there any announcements? Senator from Washington.

[Senator Rebecca "Becca" White (Windsor)]: Thank you, mister president. Senate finance will meet at 01:15.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Washington. Thank you, mister president.

[Senator Ann Cummings (Washington)]: Senator appropriation will meet at 01:00.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Rutland.

[Senator Ann Cummings (Washington)]: Thank you, mister president. Government operations will meet at 01:30.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Senator from Windham.

[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham)]: Thank you, mister president. Senate institutions will meet at two

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: or 02:30. Please check the list. Senator from Bennington.

[Senator Seth Bongartz (Bennington)]: Mister president, the senate education committee on the first.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Presiding)]: Are there any further announcements? Seeing none, the senator from Chittenden Central has moved that the senate stand on adjournment until 11AM on Friday, 03/20/2026. Are you ready for the question? Yes. If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we'll stand in adjournment until 11AM, Friday, 03/20/2026.