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. Thank you. Would you please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central)]: to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any announcements? Seeing none. Page nine thirty three being on the calendar for notice and carrying an appropriation under rule 31 is referred referred to to the the committee committee on on appropriations. Appropriations. H nine forty being on the calendar for notice and carrying an appropriation under rule 31 is referred to the committee on appropriations. And h nine forty nine 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. JRS 50 joint resolution relating to weekend adjournment on 04/24/2026 offered by senator Ruth 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, 04/24/2026, it'd be to meet again no later than Tuesday, 04/28/2026.
[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. Pursuant to temporary rule 44 a, the following bill having failed to meet crossover and being released by the committee on rules is referred to the committee on education. Orders of the day. We have h seven twenty three 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)]: H seven twenty three, an act relating to posting of land.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall the bill pass in concurrence? Are you ready for the question? Senator from Rutland.
[Senator David Weeks (Rutland)]: Thank you, mister president. When I reported the bill last week, there was a question regarding, how the Fish and Wildlife Department was gonna educate, the public about, this new posting bill. I spoke to the commissioner and the colonel, the head of law enforcement, and they assured me that, this information about the new posting law would be put on Facebook. They have a Facebook page. I wasn't aware of that. And we'll also go into their, syllabus and their, fishing wildlife bulletin to notify the public. Thank you, mister president.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall the bill pass in concurrence? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we have passed h seven twenty three in concurrence. We now have on the calendar for action h nine twenty seven introduced on 03/12/2026. It was referred to the committee on government operations, 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 nine twenty seven, an act relating to technical corrections for the twenty twenty six legislative session.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: To recognize the senator from Windsor, senator Clarkson for the report of the committee on government operations.
[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor), Chair of Government Operations]: Thank you. It is my pleasure to present H nine twenty seven the annual technical corrections bill from our office of legislative council from your Senate Government Operations Committee. As a reminder this is a huge task that our legislative council I don't need that, thank you that our legislative council undertakes every year. Each year, the publisher of Vermont statutes annotated reprints several of our green books, our statutes. So over the course of each session, each of our legislative counsel lawyers compiles a list of statutory corrections which need to be made. This year, legislative counsel has corrections in 18 out of our 33 titles, which is a lot. Normally, it's many fewer in our statute. And as is often the case, the title with the most corrections, in this case, title 17, which is our elections title, is scheduled to be reprinted this year. So it gets the most attention. H nine twenty seven makes a lot of changes of a very technical nature. It's a big bill but appropriates nothing. It's a 108 pages long and has a hundred and thirty six secondtions. The section by section summary alone is 16 pages long. You'll be happy to know that if we pass this bill there will be many fewer forthwiths, fewer gendered pronouns, and significantly less legalese. Well, I know how much you would love to have me walk through all one hundred and thirty six secondtions of this essential but very dry bill, I'll give you some examples of what the sections address. And they entail correcting grammar and typographical errors, formatting lists, making changes for consistency and to conform to Vermont statute's annotated style, eliminating legalese and gendered pronouns, removing language reflecting repealed or obsolete provisions of Vermont law, correcting references including cross references to repealed or repodified laws, correcting terminology including for administrative rulemaking, updating and correcting names of public entities, officers, and laws and rewriting language for clarity, including adding subsection and subdivisions subdivision designations without making substantive changes. Many legislative council attorneys work together on this bill. It's a big bill but as you know appropriates nothing. It is not the longest technical corrections bill by page number. That honor went in 2024, which I reported. That bill was four fifty five pages long and had four eighty secondtions. The most sections trophy went to the 2022 bill, which had over 600 secondtions. So a lot of details gone into this. This bill is unusual, however, because it has a substantive correction found conveniently in Section one. Legislative Council found in its statutory review that the Joint Carbon Emissions Reduction Committee included a representative from a committee which has been renamed. It was created, I believe, in 2019. And since then, this committee in the House has been renamed. So the update with the new name, the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure, was added. And then on the floor, the chair of that committee amended the bill further by specifying as is true for most of our joint committees that not all five representatives or senators should be appointed from the same party. We try and achieve balance as everyone knows in in our joint committees that we appoint. We always ask our attorney which was their favorite correction this year and Maria Royal, who is this year's chief technical director, chose this one, section 48, and in her words, which recodifies a repeal definition of sports car event. A term that to my surprise includes Gymkhana. I didn't check the pronunciations. Gymkhana is a timed skill based competition designed to test speed, precision and maneuvering, primarily featuring speed patterns and obstacle courses. I was under the misapprehension that it applied only to equestrian events. Could it be used in other contexts as well? As in, despite all outward appearance and evidences to the contrary, this legislative Jim Connors does in fact have a finish line. So just a few more twists, turns, and hill up and hill climbs. By the way, if the governor vetoes this bill, it may be because of a personal preference for sports car races in an oval on an oval track. In celebration
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: of
[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor), Chair of Government Operations]: this dry but very essential work, Senate government operations has adopted a tradition honoring this tremendous work with writing haikus and limericks to salute the inspired and tenacious work which has gone into this annual exercise. In the State House, there's no better spectacle than the session on corrections technical. The vicious infighting is wildly exciting, and the drama is simply delectable. And we have penned a few haikus. Updates for Green Books, one legislative council this year, many titles. Gendered language out. Let's update our statutes now section by section. Words are important. Grammar is key. Make it right. Our ledge council rocks. And counselor Royal added this year a royalism. Banished from statues, thereof, thereto, thereunder, size of huge relief. As for Jen Carby, as Jen Carby, one of our contributing counselors who oversaw this work for many years, has said, it is very satisfying to turn impenetrable legalese into something more concrete that readers can understand. And we who use the green books are grateful to our legislative council for this detailed and time consuming work, which keeps our statutes more accessible and understandable. Thank you. Your Senate Government Operations Committee heard from one witness our legislative councilor Maria Royal. We passed this bill out five zero and we ask for your support. Thank you very much.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are you ready for the question? The question is shall the bill be read a third time? If so all in favor say aye. All opposed nay. The ayes have it. You've ordered third reading of h nine twenty seven. That completes the orders of the day. Senator from Chittenden Central.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central)]: Thank you, mister president. I move that the senate stand in adjournment until 1PM, Wednesday, 04/22/2026.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any further announcements, senator from Windsor?
[Senator Rebecca "Becca" White (Windsor)]: Tomorrow is Earth Day. And while the Climate Solutions Caucus will not be meeting on Wednesday, there will be an event if folks would like to learn more about that. But we will be meeting on Thursday per usual. There will be free pizza in Room 10 from 12PM to 1PM, and we'll be discussing net metering and solar. So that's Thursday, but tomorrow is also Earth Day, so feel free to join in on all Climate Solutions Caucus events.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Windham.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central)]: Senator judiciary will meet at ten a. M.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there further announcements senator from Chittenden.
[Senator Rebecca "Becca" White (Windsor)]: Senate health and welfare will meet at ten.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Windsor.
[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor), Chair of Government Operations]: Thank you. Senate economic development housing and general affairs will meet at ten even though we're scheduled for 10:15 we're gonna try and start at ten.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Thank you. Senator from Essex. Thank you Mr. President. Agriculture will meet at ten as well. Thank you. Senator from Windham.
[Senator Rebecca "Becca" White (Windsor)]: Thank you, mister president. Institutions will meet at 12:30, which is an unusual time.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Washington.
[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor), Chair of Government Operations]: Thank you, mister president. Natural resources manager will meet at ten.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Lamoille.
[Senator Richard Westman (Lamoille) [time-bound override]]: Transportation will meet at ten. Are
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: there any further announcements? Senator from Rutland.
[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden Central)]: Thank you, mister president. Government operations will meet at 01:15.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Washington.
[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor), Chair of Government Operations]: Thank you, mister president. Senate Finance will meet at one.
[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any further announcements? I have an announcement from the podium. There will be a Jamaica hurricane relief concert on Sunday, April 26. World famous opera star Denise Graves will be supporting relief efforts with an array of songs from Broadway jazz, gospel and classical. It'll be at the First Congregational Church on 38 South Winooski Ave in Burlington. And if anybody wants more information, they can go to operaburlington.org. Are there any further announcements? Seeing none, the senator from Chittenden has moved that the senate stand in adjournment until 1PM, Wednesday, 04/22/2026. Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we'll stand in adjournment till 1PM, Wednesday, 04/22/2026.