Rep. Torre: Legislative update (week 6)
Feb. 22, 2023 | By Rep. Dara Torre It's been exciting to participate in some groundbreaking legislation recently in the State House. On Feb. 10, we passed H.89, the Shield Bill, following up on Vermonters' strong support for reproductive liberty as recently enshrined in our state constitution. As states in other parts of the country have banned reproductive and gender-affirming care, legislators acted quickly this session to protect patients and providers in Vermont from prosecution and investigations by such states. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Also on the health care front, several interstate compact bills (H.62, H.77 and H.86) were unanimously voted out of committee. These bills would allow mental health counselors, physical therapists, audiologists and speech-language pathologists to practice more easily across state lines, an important measure given workforce challenges.
In the Environment & Energy Committee, we started taking testimony on H.126 referred to as the "30x30 bill" which picks up on the flagship conservation legislation from last session. The bill calls for the development of a plan to permanently conserve 30% of our landscape by 2030 and 50% by 2050 as mandated in the Climate Action Plan. Three categories of conservation are defined from passively managed to working lands, with goals of climate mitigation addressing species loss, and realizing the ecological and economic benefits of a resilient landscape.
I have joined the Women's Caucus and recently learned about some innovative workforce development efforts stemming from last year's Act 183. We heard from Vermont Works for Women on its trades training program, and the Vermont Commission on Women shared some priority legislation to address the gender pay gap (H.116) and employment practices (H.138). After hours, Rep. Kari Dolan and I recently attended a delicious Vermont Specialty Food & Beverage Tasting event, and enjoyed seeing Lawson's and Mad River Distillers representatives. It was also an opportunity to hear some local business perspectives on the Bottle Bill, H.158, which my committee has just taken up. Look for more on that in my next update.
Please continue to reach out with your thoughts or concerns on these and other bills at dtorre@leg.state.vt.us. I'll be in Waitsfield on Sat., Feb. 25, at 10 a.m. at Three Mountain Cafe, in Moretown on Mon., Feb. 27, at 8 a.m. at the Moretown General Store, and in Warren on Tues., Feb. 28, at 8 a.m. at the Warren Store. Thank you!
State Rep. Dara Torre, D-Moretown, is one of two representatives in the Washington-2 district covering Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren.