Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Sen. Scott Beck (Caledonia)]: Michelle came in.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Well, senate please come to order. It's fixed now. We'll observe a moment of silence in lieu of a devotional. Thank you. Are there any announcements? Seeing none, we have bills for referral. We have h five forty two, h five eighty eight, h nine twenty one, and h nine fifty two Being on the calendar for notice and affecting the revenue of the state under rule 31, they are all referred to the committee on finance. We now have h five fifty nine, h six seventy four, h eight fourteen being on calendar for notice and carrying an appropriation under rule 31, they are all referred to the committee on appropriations. Orders of the day. We have five nineteen for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Seeing none, please listen to the third 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.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall the bill pass in concurrence with proposal of amendment? 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 in concurrence with proposal of amendment h five nineteen. We now have H seven sixty two 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)]: H seven sixty two an act relating to the county and regional governance study committee.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Now you've heard the third reading of the bill and the question is, shall the bill pass in concurrence with proposal of amendment? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we passed h seven sixty two in concurrence with proposal of amendment. We have on the calendar for action, h nine forty, introduced on 03/17/2026. It was referred to the committee on finance, which reports it is considered the bill and recommends that the bill 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 that the bill ought to pass in concurrence. Listen to the second reading of the bill.

[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H nine forty, an act relating to miscellaneous public utility subjects.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Recognize the senator from Washington, senator Cummings, for the report of the committee on finance.

[Sen. Ann Cummings (Washington)]: Thank you, mister president. I saw that, on the calendar and got a little panicky because I wasn't sure what I was reporting. And then I looked up the bill and realized this was a bill that was referred to finance. But as we went through it, it was really about energy planning. And so finance took care of two small items in the bill that really fell within our jurisdiction of utility regulation. And then we relinquished, we transferred on this floor the bill to natural resources. So they will be doing the bulk of reporting. Finance did two things to this bill. We approved the ability of Burlington Electric, which Burlington Electric and Burlington Gas has have their own energy efficiency organizations. The rest of us are all under one, and they have been using their thermal energy credits to do work in the electric area. Mostly, they have been working on EV infrastructure, setting up EV charging stations for apartment complexes, and they asked for permission to continue to be allowed to use thermal credits to do electric conservation work. We approved that. And the second important thing we did is we ended a committee, I believe it was the Telecom Advisory Committee that has not met in five years. So we put it out of its misery, and it no longer exists. And that is I believe we voted that out, seven zero zero. And with that, concludes the finance report.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Recognize the senator from Caledonia, senator Beck for the report of the committee on natural resources and energy.

[Sen. Scott Beck (Caledonia)]: Thank you, Mr. President. Your, Natural Resources and Energy Committee took a look at each house bill nine forty. We had the Public Utility Commission come in to testify, and this is a lot of, it's kind of small stuff, but, one thing it doesn't hear is that it requires the, PC requires the retail electric providers to prioritize weatherization and thermal sector efficiency programs. It also requires the entity to seek approval from the PC for all plant expenditure throughout the three year performance period as part of a triennial energy efficiency utility planning process. And it also asked for a regional plan in that process as well. And, it also requires a, the, the PUC to, review and consult with regarding municipal planning efforts as it relates to energy and to the effective dates. I believe they are on passage. Let me just check that for for the senators. And yes, it is effective date on passage. Again, we took testimony from the PUC and the vote out of our committee was five zero zero.

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

[Sen. Anne Watson (Washington)]: Thank you, mister president. The, appropriations committee did also take a look at this, and there was only one section that pertained to the appropriations and that was section one that has to do with the Electric Efficiency Modernization Act extension as was mentioned and because it did not increase or decrease the amount of funds but just adjusted how they were used, we did not feel that it was a problem of any kind so we approved this without amendment voting seven zero zero. Thank you.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: 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. The ayes have it. You've ordered third reading of h nine forty. That completes the orders of the day. Senator from Chittenden Central.

[Sen. Scott Beck (Caledonia)]: Thank you, mister president. I would move that pending announcements, senate standing adjournment until 09:30AM, Tuesday, 04/28/2026.

[Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any announcements? The junior senator from Washington. One time. Thank you, mister president. The senate appropriations committee will meet at 12:30. Senator from Washington.

[Sen. Ann Cummings (Washington)]: Thank you, mister president. I'm glad