Last Thursday, May 1, the full Senate approved its version of the state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 with numerous changes from the House. On Friday the House and Senate appointed a conference committee (three House and three Senate members) to work out the differences between the two chambers. Once that happens, it will need approval once again by the full Legislature before sending it to the governor for his signature. As the budget affects all areas of state government, it is a “must pass” bill, otherwise things shut down July 1.
As neither the House nor Senate version of the budget is the same as the governor’s initial proposal back in January, the challenge is always to carefully “thread the needle” to find a plan that meets some of the priorities of each chamber as well as the governor.
At his weekly press conference two weeks ago, Scott was critical of the Senate plan for its extra spending and new state positions, especially with a backdrop of potential federal cutbacks in state funding — approximately one-third of the state budget relies on federal dollars.
As one of the members of the conference committee, we met on Friday afternoon to begin the process of identifying the differences and mapping out a schedule for this week in the hope of reaching an agreement by Thursday or Friday. Meanwhile, our inboxes are getting filled with emails from various advocacy groups that prefer some of the spending additions that the Senate made to their version of the budget. We have our work cut out for us.
In most years, the budget agreement is the last bill to be completed before the Legislature adjourns. That is not expected to be the case this year, as the work on education governance and financing is taking additional time. At this writing, there are significant differences between the House and Senate, although the Senate has not finished its work yet. That bill will likely also go to a conference committee in a few weeks, where “threading the needle” may be much more complicated and contentious than the state budget.
Other issues of interest:
The House Ways & Means Committee advanced the governor’s proposed targeted tax cut package, which will be voted on by the full House this week. The bill includes an increase in the age for the child tax credit to 6; an increase in the earned income tax credit; an increase in the income threshold for exempting a tax on Social Security benefits by $5,000; and a new exemption for the tax on income from veteran pensions. Under this provision, military pensions will not be taxed if total family income is under $125,000. The pension income will be partially taxed for families whose total annual income is between $125,000 and $175,000.
The U.S. Dept of Justice filed complaints against Vermont and New York over their climate superfund laws. Vermont’s law passed last year allows the state to bill oil companies for damage caused by climate changes. The measure, which was the first in the nation, is already facing lawsuits by industry and is expected to be tied up in courts for years.
In a suit brought by Legal Aid, a Vermont judge issued an order requiring that the state give motel voucher program recipients adequate notice before ending their benefits along with time to appeal (to be determined).
House and Senate Republicans made several attempts to offer amendments to several bills to repeal the Clean Heat Standard or make changes to the renewable energy standard to help mitigate some of the future cost increases to ratepayers. All were ruled non-germane to the bills under consideration and votes were not allowed on the amendments. The governor and Republicans in the Legislature are getting increasingly frustrated over the Democratic majority’s unwillingness to consider changes to costly energy laws that were enacted the past few years by overriding gubernatorial vetoes.
The House gave final approval to an amendment to the Vermont Constitution that would protect and enshrine the right of Vermont workers to organize and collectively bargain. As the proposed amendment has successfully been approved by two different legislative sessions, it will go to the voters for a vote in the next general election (2026).
If this were a normal year, the Legislature would finish its work around May 16 (18 weeks). Education reform efforts are expected to extend adjournment by one or two weeks. As each day costs an estimated $60,000, there will be pressure to minimize any extension to the session.
Jim Harrison is the state representative for Chittenden, Killington, Mendon, and Pittsfield. He can be reached at [email protected].
