By Guy Page
The following bills recently were introduced into the Vermont House of Representatives.
Not all of these bills will become law. Some bills, including H277, adding five cents to the gas tax, are not expected to be discussed this year. To follow a bill’s progress, or lack of it, click on the bill number to search on the Vermont Legislature website.
The following bills would:
| H.277 | Add five cents to gas tax to fund electric vehicle infrastructure and purchase. Rep. Lalonde. |
| H.276 | Automatically expunge underage drinking, marijuana, motor vehicle violations. Reps. Lalonde, Hashim. |
| H.275 | Update Farm-to-Plate Investment Program. Agriculture & Forestry Committee bill. |
| H.274 | Allow farmer who raised the animal to slaughter the animal. Rep. Young. |
| H.273 | Deposit part of estate and property transfer taxes into Clean Water Fund. Rep. Brennan. |
| H.272 | Allow enrollment of aggregated parcels of forestland for use value appraisal. Rep. Ralph. |
| H.271 | Require extensive public notice before using pesticides in public right-of-way. Rep. Cina. |
| H.270 | Prohibit new wastewater discharge in waters overloaded with e-coli. Rep. Cina. |
| H.269 | Include one-time plastic containers in bottle redemption law. Rep. Cina. |
| H.268 | Ban sale of most neonicotinoid pesticides. Rep. Cina. |
| H.267 | Ban spreading sewage sludge on land. Rep. Cina. |
| H.266 | Prohibit new wastewater discharge permits unless State has a plan to not let water quality degrade. Rep. Cina. |
| H.265 | Require Agency of Agriculture to distribute hemp seed for cultivation. Rep. Ralph. |
| H.264 | Require State to monitor every public beach for cyanobacteria every other day. Rep. Cina. |
| H.263 | Require wastewater treatment of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl. Rep. Cina. |
| H.262 | Require restaurants, other public places, display most recent water quality test, including noncompliance findings. Rep. Cina. |
| H.261 | Require public notice of spreading sewage sludge on land. Rep. Cina. |
| H.260 | Require cardiac education/prevention in schools, and mandatory removal from game of any athlete who faints. Rep. Till. |
| H.259 | Fund shared social worker position within Montpelier and Barre Police Departments. Rep. Anthony. |
| H.258 | Establish amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) registry. Rep. Cina. |
| H.257 | Require labeling of physical dimensions of roll-off dumpsters. Rep. Emmons. |
| H.256 | Transportation Agency refrain from using pesticides on invasive species in highway right-of-way. Rep. Cina. |
| H.255 | Prohibit non-charging vehicles from parking in EV charging space. Rep. Till. |
| H.254 | Provide adequate shelter, ventilation, exercise for livestock, safe use of leash, rope, chain. Rep. Bartholomew. |
| H.253 | Require fertility preservation health insurance for cancer patients. Rep. Till. |
| H.252 | Stop property appraisals of use value for one year. Rep. Kimbell. |
| H.251 | Expunge misdemeanor marijuana records, decriminalize possession two oz. or less of pot. Rep. Grad. |
| H.250 | Enact tax & regulate legal marijuana (sim. To S54). Reps. LJ Sullivan, Bates. |
| H.249 | Wave sales tax, registration for vehicles purchased by Reach Up participants. Rep. Colston. |
| H.248 | Move school tax property valuation from FMV to adjusted basis. Rep. Kimbell. |
| H.247 | Create board to nominate Adjutant and Inspector General candidates to Legislature. Rep. Troiano. |
| H.246 | Transfer from Education Fund into General Fund the unspent revenue from tax increment financing districts. Rep. Chesnut-Tangerman. |
| H.245 | Study creation of a State Bank. Rep. Chesnut-Tangerman. |
| H.244 | Award community grants to counties with highest unemployment rates, prioritizing renewable energy and efficiency. Rep. Browning. |
| H.243 | Tax fossil fuels for energy efficiency programs, when price of fuel is low. Rep. Browning. |
| H.242 | Make energy efficiency charges voluntary. Rep. Brennan. |
| H.241 | Establish Municipal Self-Governance Program. Authorize 10 municipalities to pass any ordinance not contrary to US, VT constitutions, certain state laws. Rep. Burke. |
| H.240 | Exclude class 4 town roads from Vermont Better Roads Program. Rep. Ralph. |
| H.239 | Prohibit distracted driving. Rep. Lalonde. |
| H.238 | Eliminate religious exemption for school immunizations. Rep. Lalonde. |
| H.237 | An act relating to continuation of group health insurance coverage for dependents after the death of the covered member |
| H.236 | Add two non-partisan appointees to Legislative Apportionment Board. Rep. Sibilia. |
| H.235 | Permit on-farm slaughter. Rep. Fegard. |
| H.234 | Release land from Act 250 jurisdiction if land use has changed. Rep. McCullough. |
| H.233 | Prohibit cell-cultured (lab-grown) meat to be labeled or sold as meat in Vermont. Rep. H. Smith. |
| H.232 | Prohibit nuisance lawsuits against lawful farm activities. Rep. H. Smith. |
| H.231 | Raise estate tax exclusion to $5,750,000 by 2022. Rep. Beck. |
| H.230 | Require electric and telecommunications companies to prioritize repair work for people in Choices for Care program. Rep. Sibilia. |
| H.229 | Make Health Dept. responsible for rental housing safety, create rental housing code website, hire two full-time enforcement workers. Rep. Stevens. |
| H.228 | Exempt people moving to Vermont from paying automobile sales and use tax. Rep. Sibilia. |
| H.227 | Exempt all veterans from property tax. Rep. Sibilia. |
| H.226 | Exempt all property from land use change tax when part of property is conserved. Rep. McCullough. |
| H.225 | Study regional Medicare for All health insurance. Rep. Yacavone. |
| H.224 | Expedite evictions in owner-occupied rental properties. Rep. Fagan. |
| H.223 | Require tenant of substance abuse recovery home to vacate if in violation of agreement. Rep. O’Sullivan. |
| H.222 | Require youths 18 and older charged with serious violent felonies to be tried in criminal court. Rep. Anthony. |
| H.221 | Require health insurers to notify policyholders of rate increases, expand Office of the Health Care Advocate. Rep. Lippert. |
| H.220 | Permit AG to enforce employee misclassification under workers’ comp, unemployment laws. Rep. O’Sullivan. |
| H.219 | Provide Medicaid coverage for doula (childbirth coach) services. Rep. Gonzalez. |
| H.218 | Prohibit unsafe practices re: lead poisoning in targeted housing, workplaces. Rep. Rosenquist. |
| H.217 | Eliminate annual vehicle safety inspection, except for buses. May have annual on-board diagnostic inspection. Rep. Hill. |
Statehouse Headliners is intended primarily to educate, not advocate. It is e-mailed to an ever-growing list of interested Vermonters, public officials and media. Guy Page is affiliated with the Vermont Energy Partnership; the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare; and Physicians, Families and Friends for a Better Vermont.
Image courtesy of Bruce Parker/TNR
I fully agree with H227 being a Vet. Own property and Townshend assesses me for POTENTIAL VALUES, over and above what I own to increase my taxes. Grievances produce no relief and spent time and money doing so. The town doesn’t do Fair Market Value assessments which I produced. The old site VT Watchdog wrote about my cases (2X).
I placed my life on the line for this country flew and worked on KC-135 Refeulers and B-52 (with nukes) during the Cold War with Russia. I protected their lives and way of life. Yet am refused any property tax relief. Taxes go to the greedy school system (80+%). They have no problem tax selling my land if I have a problem. Owned the property since 1953.
Bunch of greedy Flatlanders, mostly from MA. Brattleboro is the hub of MA implants, they Townshend gets the spill off. Of course like the MontLibs, Townshend has the MA-Libs and they don’t give a sh—t.
Money to us (anyway possible) and to hell with you. The snottiest bunch I’ve ever experienced and they need controlling. This H227 bill will show respect and control.
I hope the originator Rep. Sibilia reads this and others in that position. I’d be glad to testify as to the need. I’m not speaking just for myself, but all Veterans.
17 states require vehicle insp, other states need emission insp. ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_United_States
With the requirements of VT, it’s far out of line and common sense. It made many insp stations out of that business, too expensive.
If a “junk”-not need insp vehicle drives into VT? How does that improve safety? Safety is only in the eyes of MontLibs to enforce more control. States that do not insp have seen the light and reality. Are they going to enforce insp on farm equipment that have wheels? In order to do so they will have to be registered and the owner (corportation) will have to have ins. Are insp testing going to the farms? Won’t if they have to smell manure which could hide lights. Interesting what MontLibs require of others to do their bidding. Ah the old good days.
The other day I was asked why I felt so strongly that the legislative session was far too long and should be limitrd to two weeks. Well, there are 61 valid reasons listed above. With a VERY few exceptions, it’s all busy work designed to justify five months of naval comtiplating in Montpelier. Don’t know where Rep. Cina comes from, but she or he seems to have a real hangup on water.
Go to the Legislative website and you’ll discover there are 400 bills, not the 61 listed above. These uber-liberal, out-of-staters are going to the mat to make a name for themselves by tossing everything against the wall to see what sticks. The majority of them have no interest in improving the state – they’re using it as a stepping stone to higher office. They could care less about the destruction they leave in their wake.
Thanks for the info.
I’d like to see the inspection process be streamlined to a simple safety check. Tires, Brakes, front end parts and lights.
I suppose it makes sense that if somebody already paid tax on their car they shouldn’t pay tax to register it in Vermont when they move here.
The rest of this stuff needs to go away.