IN APRIL 8’S FINAL READING:
— Sixteen members of the Vermont Senate returned to the Statehouse to approve a measure that will allow the chamber to vote remotely. Until Wednesday’s measure was approved, a quorum of Vermont senators was still required to gather in Montpelier to pass legislation out of the chamber.
Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, noted that lawmakers had received criticism from the public for continuing to meet in person during the pandemic, not understanding the procedural restrictions they faced.
Sen. President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, said that senators would participate in a “trial run” of the remote voting system on Thursday. – Xander Landen
— The House still has no fixed date to move forward with its plan to also hold remote votes. Two weeks ago, House lawmakers reconvened to pass a rule change that would allow remote voting to move forward as long it receives support from three-quarters of the chamber.
But the vote on that change (which will be held remotely itself) still hasn’t been scheduled, according to House Speaker Mitzi Johnson’s Chief of Staff Katherine Levasseur. – Xander Landen
— House Human Services is attempting to calm controversy that has arisen over parent visitation of their children in foster care during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department for Children and Families has urged parents who have lost custody to cease in-person visits and instead hold virtual conversations with their children, which has prompted some backlash and inconsistent enforcement of in-person visits.
Which is why committee members are pondering an amendment which would allow the courts to postpone these visitations for the duration of the pandemic for the good of public health.
“It’s painful to not have visitation,” said Sen. Dick McCormack, D-Windsor, who helped the committee draft the amendment language. “It’s painful to have a job and suddenly find that you don’t. There’s a lot of pain here, and what we’re deciding is that the spreading of the pandemic is the pain that needs our attention.” – Grace Elletson
— The chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kitty Toll, D-Danville, said the work on the emergency budget adjustment that’s needed because of the Covid-19 crisis probably won’t get underway until next month.
Toll said Scott administration officials, who are inundated with the response to the pandemic, haven’t put out instructions to state agencies about budget changes, and that to work on the adjustment without them “would be putting the cart before the horse.”
In the current fiscal year, the state’s general fund alone is expected to take a $200 million hit. Lawmakers are hoping that they can find a way to use some of the roughly $2 billion expected in Covid-19 federal relief to fill the gaps in the budget.
“We can’t come up with that money,” Ashe said. “So we have to wait to see what the feds give us.” – Xander Landen
— The House Ways and Means Committee returned to the subject of the education fund, which is facing a $140 million shortfall between deferred taxes and evaporated consumption tax revenues.
Vermont Finance Commissioner Adam Greshin told the committee that if “the stars align,” the state could come within about $10 million of filling the hole. But that’s if all deferred taxes are ultimately remitted to the state, the federal government gives Vermont added flexibility to use about $30 million in CARES Act money to replace lost revenues, and that the fund’s entire reserves and surplus are used up.
“We’re still looking at this problem and putting stuff on the table. The governor has asked us to give him options, and we intend to do that,” he said. – Lola Duffort
— Rep. Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington, will face Democratic opposition if she runs for re-election. She and Rep. Kathleen James, D-Manchester, represent the two-seat Bennington-4 district.
Today, former state representative Seth Bongartz announced his candidacy, and said he will run a joint campaign with James in the August primary. Browning drew nearly unanimous criticism — and backlash in her own district — for seeking a quorum call on March 26, on emergency Covid-19 legislation. Her call forced dozens of representatives to gather in the Statehouse.
Bongartz is an attorney; he served three terms in the Legislature in the 1980s. From 2001 to 2019 he was president of Hildene, the former summer residence of Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s son. – John Walters