Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden District)]: See, I have my report hours.

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: I like the six. I like the six.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senate please come to order?

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: Oh my god. You

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: will observe a moment of silence and move the devotional. Thank you. Are there any announcements? Senator from Chittenden.

[Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Chittenden District)]: Thank you, mister president. While we we don't like the other chamber rise to recognize, visitors, I did just want to let the chamber know, that, we have a new consulate in Boston, representing India, and this is a very big deal for some of your constituents that they can go a lot closer to get their travel needs or international needs taken care of. And so we have our first ever Consul General of India for Boston visiting us today. It is Raghuram Sastri and his wife, Saojani. And they have not been to our state house before, they're gonna be looking around if anybody wants to say hello to them.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: We have let's see. Get my stuff in order. H yes. H five sixty seven being on the calendar for notice and affecting the revenues of the state under rule 31 will be referred to the committee on finance. We have h five seventy seven being on the calendar for notice and affecting the revenues of the state under rule 31 is referred to the committee on finance. Orders of the day. We have on the calendar for action h five nineteen introduced on 05/20/2025. 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. Affecting the revenues of the state, the bill was referred to the committee on finance, which recommends that the bill ought to pass in concurrence. Affecting the appropriations of the state, the bill was referred to the committee on appropriations, which recommends the bill ought to pass in concurrence. Listen to the second reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer, Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H five nineteen, an act relating to Vermont State Employees Retirement System Group g membership.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Recognize the senator from Rutland, senator Calamore, the report of the committee on government operations.

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: Thank you, mister president. If I might just to tee this up a bit, there are three municipalities in the state that participate in Beazer's group f. Those towns are Randolph, Bethel, and Danville. The town of Randolph is the only one of the three that employs active law enforcement members. Municipalities that participate in visors pay for the employer share of pension costs for their employees. These costs are not paid for by state government. This bill would provide the opportunity for existing municipal law enforcement officers in the three impacted towns to make a one time irrevocable election to switch from group f to group g on or before December 1. Municipal law enforcement officers hired after on or after 01/01/2027 would be enrolled in group g by default. Since members of group g pay for the added cost of the group g benefit, and this bill addresses a very small subset of Visa's members, in fact, three law enforcement officers, the bill is expected to have a de minimis impact to the Visa's pension system. So to the bill, section one will amend the definition of group g member and the definition of normal retirement date to add employees that are employed by a municipal employer that participates in the Vermont Employees Retirement System. They have to have attained level two or three law enforcement officer certification from the Vermont Criminal Justice Council and are required to perform law enforcement duties as the primary function of their employment. The definition of normal retirement includes similar retirement calculations as those who are already in group g. Group g does allow a member to reach their maximum retirement allowance after twenty years of service as opposed to the thirty years necessary under retirement group f. If senators want to refer to the calendar today, we have an amendment that's being offered by all members of the government operations committee on page sixteen forty eight. And even though it is a strike off amendment, it really does only five things to change this section. By the way, in 2022, the general assembly first created group g for certain department of corrections and Vermont State Hospital employees. So the first three changes are to fix an error in the definition regarding the date of employment for these positions. So first in the calendar on page fourteen sixty nine, you'll see in subdivision a 11 f, Romanette I, that the year 2022 is being struck and the year 2023 is being inserted. The reason for that is to fix the error that resulted in a one year gap of employment that was not being accounted for in the definition of these positions. The second provision on page fourteen seventy is in sub subdivision a 13 e romanette one and two. You will see the same fixed for the year 2022 and moving that to the year 2023. And the final two changes can be found on page fourteen seventy two of the calendar. These technical amendments are to add the words on or before the words after January 1 to ensure that we're including the date of January 1 within the definition. It's unlikely that an employee would have started employment on January 1 as that date is a state holiday, but it's also best practice to ensure that we do not have a gap in our statutory dates. Section two of the bill amends section four fifty nine governing the calculation of normal retirement to add the definitions that we just created in section one. And section three, amends four eighty nine. It defaults municipal employees participating in the state retirement system to group f. The amendment adds to the or in the exclusion for these law enforcement positions to allow them to be in group g. The, committee heard from former chair of the Randolph Select Board, the chief of the Randolph Police Department, the director of the state, office, treasurer's office, and he's the director of Vermont Retirement System. We heard from joint fiscal office and also legislative council. The committee vote was five zero zero, and we would ask the body to speak that. Thank you, mister president.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: I recognize the senator from Addison, senator Hardy, for the report of the committee on finance.

[Senator Ruth Hardy (Addison District)]: Thank you, mister president. The committee on finance, received this bill, and, as it only affects very few people, I think maybe three people, the impact on the revenues of the state would be extremely de minimis. And, the committee, voted seven zero zero to support the government operations report, and we ask for your support. Thank you.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Recognize the senator from Lamoille, senator Westman for the report of the committee on appropriations.

[Senator Richard Westman (Lamoille District)]: The appropriations committee reviewed this in very much in the same manner as the committee on finance. We found this de minimis. We took testimony from the Joint Fiscal Office and we voted seven-zero-zero. I think there were Randolph, Bethel and Danville were the communities we heard this might affect, but we, are also in favor of this.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall the bill be read a third time? Senator from Washington.

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: Thank you,

[Unidentified Senator (Washington District)]: mister president. I'd just like to point out that this bill impacts three people, and it went through four senate committees. I think that's a record.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Rutland, I understand you have an amendment that is going to be handed out, or is it now in the calendar? It is in the calendar.

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: Yes, mister president. I spoke to that as I made my report.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: You you spoke to that at the wrong time is why I was recognizing you now.

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: Well, I would ask the body to please consider I hadn't done anything earlier then and to now look at that amendment, which again moves dates and really is not that.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Nicely done, senator.

[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor District)]: De minimus.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: So the question is, shall the bill be read a third time? We have the question is, shall the bill be amended as offered by the senator from Rutland? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Ayes have it, and the motion carries. Now the question 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.

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: The

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: ayes have it, and you have ordered third reading of h five nineteen. We have on the calendar for action h seven sixty two, which was passed by the house on 04/17/2026. It was referred to the committee on government operations, which reports it is considered the bill and recommends that the senate proposed to the house that the bill be amended as it appears starting on page fourteen seventy three of today's calendar. And that with such proposal of amendment, the bill ought to pass. Listen to the second reading of the bill.

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

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Recognize the senator from Rutland, senator Calamore, the report of the committee on government operations.

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: Thank you, mister president. Hopefully, I'll get through this amendment in a much better way. So h seven sixty two is session law that will amend an act that we passed back in 2024, if I'm remembering correctly. It was act number one eighteen. It came out of the senate as s one fifty nine, an accolade to the county and regional governance study committee. The amendment appears on page fourteen seventy three of today's calendar. This is a legislator composed county and regional governance study committee to address local government capacity, and as amended by the senate government operations committee draft 2.1, which is what you're looking at. First, by adding a new subdivision a one stating that the legislative intent of the county and regional governance study committee bill that existing direct coordination and communication between the state and Vermont municipality should be retained or strengthened. County or regional governance should enhance the work of local and state governments and not become a procedural barrier between the two. The second instance of amendment would amend subdivision b so that there will only be one committee chair rather than the two chairs as laid out in the original act. The chair will now be selected from among the other committee members rather than being the ex officio chairs of the two government operations committees. The third instance of amendment amend subdivision c to adjust the powers and duties of the committee and, again, emphasize coordination, increase transparency, potential efficiencies, and service improvements of nongovernmental agencies providing regional public services, and to analyze the role of the Department of Public Safety and Vermont Emergency Management in responding to all hazard events. The fourth instance of amendment, change of deadline, is amend subdivision e to extend the committee's report deadline from 11/01/2025 to 11/01/2027. And the fifth instance of amendment would amend the subdivision f provision to extend the committee sunset date from 07/01/2026 to 11/02/2027 as well as to remove a reference to the co chairs and the effective dates, on passage. The committee heard from the sponsor of the other body, the chair of house government operations committee, legislative council, the chief recovery officer from the state of Vermont, the executive director of the Two Rivers Adequechee Regional Commission, and the senior senator from the Addison District who had a lot to do with the origin of this. And the committee vote was five zero zero. We ask the senator to approve. Thank you, mister president.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Recognize the senator from Franklin, senator Norris, the report of the committee on appropriations.

[Senator Robert Norris (Franklin District)]: Thank you, mister president. You're very you're very diligent and hard work in senate appropriations committee for testimony on 08/07/1962, and we heard from, JFO along with alleged counsel, And we decided that this bill has

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: a very de

[Senator Robert Norris (Franklin District)]: minimis effect on the state budget. And on a vote of seven zero zero, we voted that committee and asked for the senate's support. Thank you.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall the senate propose to the house to amend the bill as recommended by the committee on government operations? Senator from Addison.

[Senator Ruth Hardy (Addison District)]: Thank you, mister president. I, of course, have to stand up and thank the senate government operations committee, especially the chair for moving this

[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor District)]: bill forward

[Senator Ruth Hardy (Addison District)]: and reinvigorating this study committee, as my the chair from my morning committees, senator from Washington, senator Watson can tell you, I constantly am like if only we could look at county and regional government it would help solve a lot of the problems that we have in the state in terms of providing services regionally and government effectively and efficiently on the regional level and so I'm excited that this is going to move forward and hopefully the second time is charmed Mr. President and we'll actually finish it this time so thank you to the rev ops.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are you ready for the question? The question is shall the senate propose to the house to amend the bill as recommended by the committee on government operations. 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 proposed. Let me start that over. The ayes have it, and you have proposed to the house to amend the bill as proposed by the committee on government operations. 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 h seven sixty two. That completes the order of the day. Senator from Chittenden.

[Senator Philip Baruth (President Pro Tempore, Chittenden District)]: Thank you, mister president. Pending announcements, I move senate standing adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday, 04/24/2022. Are

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: there any announcements? Senator from Washington.

[Unidentified Senator (Washington District)]: Thank you, mister president. I learned yesterday if I don't stand up first, no one else

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: I like the pop, senator.

[Senator Ann Cummings (Washington District)]: So I will stand up and announce that senate finance will meet at 01:30.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Washington. Thank you,

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: mister president. Your diligent and hardworking center appropriations committee will be meeting at 01:30.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Rutland.

[Senator Brian Collamore (Rutland District)]: Thank you, mister president. I wish I could top that, but I yeah. Government operations will be at two.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Windham.

[Unidentified Senator (Washington District)]: Thank you, mister president. You're very efficient institutions committee will be meeting at 01:30.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Windsor.

[Senator Alison Clarkson (Windsor District)]: I have two announcements, mister president. The first will the very exciting and amusing con cabaret will occur at 07:30 tonight. I still have tickets, and we have 16 other senators who could buy tickets at $25 each Venmo or cash or check. And my second announcement is that I would like us all to welcome our colleague, our former colleague, the senator from Caledonia. Thank you.

[Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Welcome, senator. Are there any further announcements? I have one announcement from the podium. My friend, doctor Patrick Brown, is holding a Jamaica relief hurricane relief concert, and he told our office that his mother is still living in a house that doesn't have a roof on it. There's still a massive amount of damage down there that needs to be fixed. They have a world famous opera star, Denise Graves, and she'll be supporting their efforts with an array of songs from Broadway, jazz, gospel, and classical. And you can go to operaburlington.org for more information. And I would hope you would please spread that so they have a good turnout and can raise some money for a very valiant effort. Are there any further announcements? Seeing none, the senator from Chittenden has moved that the senate stand in adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday, 04/24/2026. Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we'll stand in adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday twenty fourth twenty twenty six.