In April we begin the season of rallies and political gatherings on the front lawn of the Statehouse. This past week alone we had two big demonstrations, one supporting our work on childcare (S.56) and one on reducing climate change (S.5). On Wednesday, hundreds of families and caregivers came to lend their voices in support of the childcare bill, and on Friday, hundreds of high school students from all over Vermont, gathered to express their desire that the Legislature take bold action to reduce our fossil fuel emissions and pass the Affordable Heat Act (S.5). They reminded us that we have a moral obligation to do all in our power to act to protect our state and our planet for future generations. It is always moving to see masses of Vermonters willing take the time to come to Montpelier and advocate for what they care about so deeply.
The chair of Senate Economic Development Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, has had to be in the hospital since the end of March because of some challenges with her pregnancy. And, on Thursday evening she gave birth to a daughter, Mira Ram Hinsdale. We are delighted that mother and baby are well – and thrilled to have a Senate baby – the first in recent memory born to a serving senator during session. As a result, since March 29, I’ve been functioning as the acting chair (I am vice-chair). As the Senate’s majority leader, I am already about as busy as I’ve ever been serving in the Legislature – so, adding this responsibility has been an honor but a real challenge.
Senate Economic Development (SED) received 10 bills from the House after crossover. We are in the process of reviewing all of them and because we only have about four weeks left in our 2023 session, we are needing to be exceedingly efficient in our work. Here is a brief description of some of the House bills we are currently addressing: We have two labor bills, one dealing with worker’s compensation (H.217) and the other with unemployment insurance (H.55); the comprehensive paid family medical leave bill (H.66); a bill which proposes to legalize sports betting on-line (H.127); a bill designed to review and update how we calculate Vermont’s basic needs budget (H. 157); a task force on mobile homes and mobile home parks (H.213); a housekeeping bill on our emerging retail cannabis market (H.270); a bill proposing to create a rental registry state-wide (H.276); a bill with miscellaneous amendments to our alcoholic beverage laws (H.470) and a bill which enhances our workforce development efforts and economic development opportunities (H.484). SED is a morning committee which means it meets for only 3-4 hours a day. These bills represent a lot of work which SED will need to do in a very short time frame.
Al can be reached by email: aclarkson@leg.state.vt.us or by phone at the Statehouse (Tues-Fri) 802-828-2228 or at home (Sat-Mon) 802- 457-4627.
