Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Speaker 0]: To realize. Wait. Let's go live. She asked me to remember that. Happy to have you our life. Back. Happy New Year. I hope you're all rested. I need to tell you that health that education finance and health insurance all rest in this committee. So we are going to have a very interesting year. I wanted to do more time just going through and seeing what your goals are this year, but I don't think we're gonna have enough time to really get into things because we are meeting with ways and means at one hundred fifteen in Room 11. There are changes that were made in the big beautiful bill have impacted our corporate taxes and so we're gonna go get a presentation in ways and means is thinking about writing the corporate tax bill and since they rewrote the corporate taxes two or three years ago I'm more than happy to have them start with it and that we should know what we're dealing with. Know one was coming in on Friday and they talk about changes in the provider. That will help you. K. As soon as we can set it up, hopefully, next week, we're going to meet with ways and means again to go over the report is in on second home tax and if you haven't read it read it and Charlotte can get you a hard copy. Yeah that's okay. You know if you want it And the other one that is in is the district redistricting Work Task Force, what do we call you? That's right. Task Force. School District Redistricting. They have a report and we will go over that too because it will impact spending. I've got Julia coming in to talk to us about the Ed Fund and where it is and what its outlook is. We're gonna be doing just a basic foundational work this year. I think they're just week or two. And we will see where that goes. We will know more what the governor is thinking, I hope, after his address tomorrow. If not, we will have to wait for the budget. The committee on the future of public aid education has also come in with its report. Don't think there's really anything relevant to this committee's jurisdiction. The one recommendation that was unanimous was that having negotiations for benefits, I. E. Health insurance and wages and having them separated was not working for superintendents or budgeting because that's where you got to negotiate and now all you really have is salary. So they would like them put back together. However, there is no agreement as to what level they should be put back together. But that report is also in. At this point, that's as far as my brain is readjusting. Having done three Christmas dinners, I need to get it out of the recipes. But anything here any of you wanna specifically deal with or take up or get testimony on? Other than the fact that I gather we have problems with the interstate around Melbourne.

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: Again? Was it Milton or who won't ask you River Bridge? Or both? Looking in today? Yeah. By the time? There were two there were two blockages. There were two areas, apparently.

[Speaker 0]: I don't hear it from you, Randy. I'll hear it from my son-in-law who now knows he has to commute in three days a week for a swan. That was a surprise.

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 0]: So he said to buy a better car than the junker he got for. So, anyway

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: I think, you know, I haven't given anybody. I mentioned, I think maybe one article before about the article that I wrote a number of years ago. And it was called, what's it called, it was, it was about time and it was about repetitiveness and it was about coming in here each year and reliving last year and the year before and the year before, time is something we don't talk about very frequently. But in everything that we do, to me, time is such an important part that we don't consider. And when we think of things like building houses, it's a classic example, in which you have that case in South Burlington, in which it took them three years to get approvals and permits. And theoretically that is in our jurisdiction, but as we start talking about money and why it costs so much to do things here, that is such an important element that in almost everything we do, we really possibly paying a lot more attention to what we do. Time is money. Efficiency. Right? Not to mention the projects that don't get done. Yes. Or the projects that people don't start because they know how long it takes to do it in Vermont compared to someplace else, and they move it someplace else. Yep. And that also is an issue.

[Speaker 0]: I have had coffee. There are four housing projects in Montpelier proposed, approved, and every one of them is under appeal by neighbors. So every one of them what is Washington County Mental Health is building? Mhmm. They're profiting one, build three single family home. Mhmm. And they can't Everything. Yeah. On the camera. The windshield window.

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: It's a prediction, but it also the organizational structure Yeah. And methodology in which things take forever here and Yeah. Compare it to other places to to turn. Sure. And that to me is is is that should be such a high priority with us.

[Speaker 0]: Maybe we should sit down and talk with the housing or the the tension is between housing and natural resources. Yes. It is. And

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: That's that's a great deal of it. But it's also the inefficiency and confidence.

[Speaker 0]: Yeah. That's it. And how we do it at the appeals. Okay. Not ours, good to know what we are. And you

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: know, we ought to start the year the same way. It's the art of the op ed that I wrote a number of years ago called Round Dog Days.

[Speaker 0]: Yes.

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: And that's what the legislature is like.

[Speaker 0]: This year is particularly tense because we tried different major changes last year. I think we did them I think we did them backwards. We started talking about merging, which is the most sensitive thing and not about financing and going into a foundation formula, which will drive some of the hard decisions at a local level. At least in this area, there is a lot of more mergers going together. We may end up with a regional high school. I don't know if small announced that there's room for them to get ready to. Well, we identified in a report Washington County as an area that's over schooled. Is over schooled. It is over schooled. Don't Barrie is probably as close to a four town city that we have. We are relatively higher income, but getting when we buy down the tax rate, we are protecting people from the consequences of their decisions, and wealthier people can hold out longer, but I'm not sure how long people can hold out. Barry's doing more than two classroom teachers It's population, they say, and thereby, you have more or specialists.

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: Well, one of the things that we can do and should keep in our mind what to do is the word consequences. Every time we pass a tax bill or almost anything, there are consequences to it, and we sometimes don't spend enough time understanding the consequences. People want to know how can we avoid the financial situation that we're in? Answer is just so very basic and simple. Stop spending. But people don't wanna do that because they don't take enough time to think of the consequences the consequences both of, ways, the consequences of not doing something. There are also consequences of doing it. They're doing it the way we're doing it, and we don't spend enough time, I think, understanding that and outlining that.

[Speaker 0]: I have made clear pro tem that I'm not going through the kind of year we went through last year where we got that education bill. We had it, I think, for four or five days. And three of those days, we went till 03:30 in the afternoon on the floor, which means, in actual fact, we probably had the biggest bill that's been done in a long time, ten, twelve hours. You can't do a decent job on something like that in ten or twelve hours and get it out of here by May 15. I'm also told that to the chair of recent needs. Last year was the worst year I've ever seen with the kind of pressure this committee was unfair. We're always under pressure, usually to knock out bills to crossover and at the end. There's been a few that have taken, but nothing like last year. But they lose major things came. Wow.

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: Do we do we have an agreement to to follow crossover rooms this year? Concerning those

[Speaker 0]: Oh, we always get agreement. Yeah. Well,

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: I think last year from

[Speaker 0]: That's right. Okay. We need to be down there.

[Senator Randy Brock (Member)]: Understanding from the get go.

[Speaker 0]: I it by to try to make that clear. Yeah. And it registers. Can all back me up, and we'll that. Yeah. And then make sure we have adequate time because it is going to be a very rough