Rep. Stevens: Renamed committee gets to work

Feb. 14, 2023  |  By Rep. Tom Stevens

As we finish our first full month of this new biennium, the House of Representatives is settling into its work. The beginning of each new biennium is one of freshness, education and enthusiasm, tempered with the reality that there are issues that we need to focus on immediately. With 50(!) new members this year, there have been a lot of changes that impact how and where we work, and how we prioritize the new bills that are being released.

My committee has been renamed “General & Housing.” Subject matter that used to belong to the committee, including “Military Affairs” and alcohol/gambling-related issues, has been moved to the Government Operations Committee. This has allowed my committee the time and ability to focus more intently on issues like housing, related to both home ownership and rentals, and labor, specifically this month on a family and medical leave insurance program (FMLI). Bills related to these issues are being worked on in our committee and may be voted out in the next week for FMLI and next month for housing.

The FMLI bill, H.66, proposes to reform our Parental and Family Leave Act, which provides unpaid leave for serious illnesses or the birth of a child with job protection. Currently, only those who work for companies of 10 or 15 employees, depending on the leave needed, have access to this job protection. H.66 will make that leave available to all employees, and it will create an insurance program that will be layered over it to provide wage replacement of up to 100% for those making the Vermont average wage or less, and a descending replacement rate for those making over the average wage. We are currently discussing this bill in committee and may vote it out as soon as the middle of February. From our committee, it will go to the Ways and Means Committee, where the cost of the program will be determined.

Bills passed through the House already include H.42, which extends temporary alternative procedures for annual municipal meetings and electronic meetings of public bodies. This bill had some urgency for our municipalities, given the deadlines for warning meetings and printing town reports prior to March Town Meeting. The provisions allow for some pandemic-related policies regarding the use of Zoom or other electronic programs to allow hybrid participation. Many towns have seen an uptick in participation with the use of these programs and wanted to see them continue. The bill passed the House and Senate quickly and was signed by the governor.

We also passed H.145, which is our mid-fiscal year Budget Adjustment Act. This bill looks at what we passed in May 2022, contemplates a different fiscal reality with updated revenues and needs for expenditures and suggests changes to our budget for this fiscal year. The major additions the House made were to propose extra funding for our long-term housing crisis, as well as substantial funding for the programs we have put in place to provide housing for those experiencing homelessness and the programs that provide the necessary services to help them succeed.

Finally, we passed H.89 last week, which concerned civil and criminal procedures concerning legally protected health care activity, otherwise known as the “Shield Law.” In the face of diminishing protections for those providing and seeking reproductive health, this bill will provide protections for those traveling to Vermont for that health care, and for those providing it.

Our work will be ramping up over the next several weeks. If you have any questions about legislation, please feel free to reach out to us in the usual ways!

Chair of the House General and Housing Committee, state Rep. Tom Stevens, D-Waterbury, represents the Washington-Chittenden House district of Waterbury, Bolton, Huntington and Buels Gore. Contact him at 802-244-4164 or tstevens@leg.state.vt.us.