The Legislature adjourned Friday until October or January after passing bills that address several legislative priorities the Vermont Chamber worked to support over the past five months.
This year’s legislative session saw two gun-control bills pass their respective chambers, but neither bill advanced beyond that, and both are expected to advance further next year.
The purpose of the bill is to mandate that construction contractors register with the state and conform to certain regulatory requirements in order to legally do business on residential homes in Vermont.
The House and Senate have closed the book on the 2021 legislative session. Conference committees wrapped up their work quickly, no major budget disputes erupted, and the governor has only promised veto action on one bill.
The Vermont Senate finished the 2021 legislative session Friday much the way it began, focusing on social justice themes, including one resolution condemning anti-Asian hate, and another marking the anniversary of the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd.
The Scott Administration worked closely with the Legislature to pass historic investments, including $190 million for housing, $150 million for broadband and $50 million to mitigate climate change this year.
The claim that mailing a ballot to every active, registered voter will make our election system less secure is grounded in the same unfounded logic, yet the same trumped up voter fraud fearmongering is being used to try and stop S.15.
House leadership admitted last week that if we had followed the recommendations from 12 years ago our pension funds wouldn’t be in the shape they are today. A number of other pieces of legislation, including ethics, broadband, and economic development also moved forward last week.
In the 36th episode of “Travels With Charlie — Vermont Politics in Real Life,” host Charlie Papillo talks with a newly elected uncle and nephew pair, Michael and Leland Morgan, about running for office in a minority party and unseating incumbent leaders in the Legislature.
Why is the Vermont General Assembly on the verge of allocating $150 million to yet-to-be-defined broadband construction projects which won’t be completed for five years, but refusing to allocate even $5 million to low-income Vermonters who could be brought online immediately? Frankly, I don’t know.
Those voting yes on the Strong Amendment believe it is irresponsible to execute vote-by-mail elections before options for ballot security provisions are even studied by the Secretary of State’s office. Those voting no believe absentee ballot security measures are not necessary in Vermont.
S.15 passed in the state House of Representatives on May 11, 2021, by a vote of 119-30. The overriding purpose of this bill is to make permanent the Covid-19 emergency measure of mailing “live” ballots to all active voters on the statewide checklist regardless of request.