Advancing Bills Through Crossover
Last week the Legislature said farewell to its second set of pages, eighth grade students who assist with the day-to-day activities within the Statehouse, which means we are about two thirds of the way through the session. The Legislature has also moved past its crossover dates when bills must be voted out of committee and voted on the floor to move to the other chamber. Due to a large amount of bills voted out of House committees, we have had many long floor sessions and 12-hour days.
Recently the House signaled its approval for many bills that came from the House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs. Some of those include:
• H.622, relating to emergency medical services, instructs the EMS Advisory Committee to develop a five-year statewide plan for the delivery of emergency medical services in Vermont. It also expands training opportunities and updates the circumstances under which ambulance service providers are reimbursed for delivering services to Medicaid beneficiaries.
• H.845, relating to designating November as Vermont Month of the Veteran, looks to honor the special value of the military service that the veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces have contributed to the security and well-being of our nation.
• H.702, relating to legislative operations and government accountability, proposes to implement the recommendations of the Summer Government Accountability Committee established last year in Act 53. This bill creates the Joint Government Oversight and Accountability Committee that will investigate issues of significant public concern and monitor performance measures for legislation requiring any performance note. A section of H.140, relating to requirements for state-funded grants, was added to H.702 as a floor amendment as H.140 did not make crossover. This addition includes creating a working group on state grant processes to assess the state’s current grant-awarding procedures.
• H.667, relating to the creation of the Vermont-Ireland Trade Commission, looks to advance bilateral trade, investment and cultural exchange between Vermont and Ireland. The Vermont-Ireland Trade Commission would be established within the state treasurer’s office.
• H.875, relating to the State Ethics Commission and the state code of ethics, establishes a municipal code of ethics, updates disclosure requirements for candidates and grants the State Ethics Commission to assist the public with complaints, give advisory opinions to covered officials and offer resources relating to ethics queries from both municipal officials who have taken the oath and members of the public. The goal of this legislation is to reinforce our commitment to transparency and accountability, and to create a culture throughout state and local government of ethical behavior and care for all Vermonters’ rights.
The government operations committee will now turn its attention to S.55, relating to Vermont’s Open Meeting Law, and S.310, relating to natural disaster government response, recovery and resiliency. We will also continue to work on municipal charters as they are not subject to crossover.
