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Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Finance - Testimony of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 04/16/2024

Testimony of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees at the Senate Committee on Finance.

On Tuesday, Senate Finance heard testimony from Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer on various aspects of H.657. At one point, Hoffer questions why CUDs and Comcast were excluded from the right-of-way charge. Sen. Chittenden asked if it wasn’t because of the cable franchise fee that goes to VAN, Hoffer responded that this shouldn’t be cause for excluding Comcast as the right-of-way fee would be in addition. Later in the same session, Rep. Sims - the sponsor of the bill - noted that CUDs were excluded because they are grant eligible, and Comcast because federal law precludes charging them anything in excess of the cable franchise fee.

H.657: As Passed by the House:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Finance/Bills/H.657/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20Other%20Legal%20Documents/H.657~Maria%20Royle~As%20Passed%20by%20the%20House~4-10-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Finance - Testimony of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 04/12/2024

Testimony of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees at the Senate Committee on Finance.

On Friday,  the committee continued testimony on the bill on and off throughout the afternoon.

H.657: As Passed by the House:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Finance/Bills/H.657/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20Other%20Legal%20Documents/H.657~Maria%20Royle~As%20Passed%20by%20the%20House~4-10-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Government Operations - Walkthrough of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 04/12/2024

Walkthrough of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the House Committee on Government Operations.

On Friday, the committee continued discussing S.55 - they had a walkthrough of Draft 1.3 of the bill from legislative counsel. A list of items changed/added in this draft are below:

  • Added Hybrid Meeting definition
  • Added Undue Hardship definition
  • Defining Requests for access (who can ask, when they have to ask by, what undue hardship entails)
  • Secretary of State providing training
  • Adding threat of death or serious bodily injury to Local Incident
  • Added requirement of posting recorded meetings within 24 hours
  • Updated the Bill name to reflect the true intentions of the bill 

S.55: Draft 1.3:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Drafts,%20Amendents,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.55~Tim%20Devlin~%20Draft%201.3,%204-11-2024~4-12-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Appropriations - Discussion of VAN FY25 Request 04/12/2024

Discussion of VAN FY25 Request at the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

On Friday, this was further confirmed as base when it appeared on the Senate Appropriations’s working list of onetime appropriations, it can be found on line 19 where it indicates VAN’s funding has been moved to the base. Also on Friday, Chair Kitchel said the streaming tax in S.181 is non-negotiable if the committee wants revenue and that they need to fund implementation.

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Finance - Testimony of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 04/11/2024

Testimony of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees at the Senate Committee on Finance.

On Thursday, the committee began testimony on the bill.

H.657: As Passed by the House:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Finance/Bills/H.657/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20Other%20Legal%20Documents/H.657~Maria%20Royle~As%20Passed%20by%20the%20House~4-10-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Appropriations - Discussion of VAN FY25 Request 04/11/2024

Discussion of VAN FY25 Request at the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

On Thursday, the committee agreed to VAN’s $1million in base.

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Finance - Walkthrough of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 04/10/2024

Walkthrough of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees at the Senate Committee on Finance.

On Wednesday, the Senate Finance committee had their first walkthrough of the bill.

H.657: As Passed by the House:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Finance/Bills/H.657/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20Other%20Legal%20Documents/H.657~Maria%20Royle~As%20Passed%20by%20the%20House~4-10-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Republican Caucus - Walkthrough of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 04/10/2024

Walkthrough of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the House Republican Caucus.

On Tuesday, in the House Republican Caucus, Representative Morgan who sits on the House Government Operations and Military Affairs committee, gave an overview of S.55 - Representative Higley, who is also on the committee, said he worried about losing fully in person meetings.

S.55: As Passed by the Senate:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/BILLS/S-0055/S-0055%20As%20Passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20Unofficial.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Appropriations - Discussion of VAN FY25 Request 04/10/2024

Discussion of VAN FY25 Request at the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

On Wednesday, Senate Appropriations discussed the $1 million one-time appropriation for VAN in the FY25 budget as passed by the House. Sen. Kitchel noted that the Senate has passed S.181, which would provide an ongoing funding source for VAN, in which case the one-time funds would not be needed. She wants to keep this line item open for the time being. She said that the goal is to maintain current levels of service, but how much money that will be is to be determined.

The Committee returned to the topic a bit later in the meeting, with a somewhat informal conversation about the streaming tax - which Sen. Sears is not a fan of, despite supporting public access television - but reiterating their commitment to the solution of funding VAN’s ongoing needs out of revenue that would be generated by S.181. 

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Government Operations - Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 04/09/2024

Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the House Committee on Government Operations.

On Tuesday, the House Government Operations and Military Affairs committee continued taking testimony on the bill - the committee heard from the Vermont School Boards Association, Vermont Press Association, VCUDA, and the Secretary of State’s office. Lauren Hibbert, Deputy Secretary of the Secretary of State, testified the "working group is where all the unresolved issues go". The majority of the committee’s questions centered on definitions, they found many items were not defined and the committee wanted to ensure there is an appropriate definition for each. For example, the difference between formal findings vs announcements, how long is notice and can a meeting itinerary change without groups having time to give notice, are there repercussions for missing an email( is an email even written notice), who is doing the training, etc

S.55: Senator Hardy's Open Meeting Law Report:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Witness%20Documents/S.55~Ruth%20Hardy~Open%20Meeting%20Law%20Report,%203-19-2024~3-28-2024.pdf

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