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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

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 04/03/2024

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

On Wednesday, the House Government Operations and Military Affairs committee had a walkthrough of S.55 from legislative counsel and began taking testimony on the bill. During the bill walkthrough, Representative Hango asked many questions about hybrid meeting requirements, in person location requirements, and how the bill would practically be put into effect. The committee then took testimony from Lauren Hibbert, Deputy Secretary of State; Ted Brady, League of Cities and Towns; Carol Dawes, Clerk-Treasurer of Barre City; Catherine Dimitruk, Vermont Association of Planning & Development Agencies; Devon Neary, Rutland Regional Planning Commission; and Wendy Mays, Vermont Association of Broadcasters. Each witness largely supported the bill as passed by the Senate but expressed a desire to refine certain language (testimony linked below outlines exact asks - Lauren Hibbert did not submit testimony). Chair McCarthy said the committee would continue to take testimony on the bill next Tuesday, including diving into sections related to the working group. He also said the committee may choose to break into smaller working groups or subcommittees and do outreach to other stakeholders - he anticipated the committee would continue doing work on this bill for many coming weeks. Below are links to the bill as passed, a chart showing requirements for the different kinds of public bodies, written testimony, and a start of walkthrough and testimony.

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 House Floor - Discussion of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 04/02/2024

Discussion of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees on the House Floor.

On Tuesday, on the House Floor the bill passed on a voice vote with an amendment from Representative Simms.

H.657, As Passed by House:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/BILLS/H-0657/H-0657%20As%20Passed%20by%20the%20House%20Unofficial.pdf

Simms Amendment:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Committee~Sims%20Amendment~4-2-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Republican Caucus - Discussion of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 04/02/2024

Discussion of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees at the House Republican Caucus.

On Tuesday, the House Republican Caucus met and briefly discussed Representative Peterson’s amendment.

H.657 Amendment:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Gabrielle%20Stebbins~Stebbins%20Amendment~3-26-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Ways and Means - Discussion of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 04/02/2024

Discussion of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees at the House Committee on Ways and Means.

On Tuesday, Rep. Peterson offered an amendment to H.657 in House Ways & Means and House Energy & Environment, to offer more protections to phone company copper lines that might be affected by the bill’s Right of Way charges on internet service providers (twisted pair copper lines would be exempt under the amendment, as opposed to coaxial cable or fiber optic lines). The amendment was found unfavorable by HWM (7-2-3) and HEE (10-1-1), but they did decide to offer a new, separate floor amendment in the House to change an instance of wording in the bill, to clarify language that the Right of Way fee is charged on all physical infrastructure (changing “DSL,” which is a service, to “twisted pair copper,” which denotes the physical lines). The HWM vote on this change was favorable 9-0-3.

H.657 Amendment:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Gabrielle%20Stebbins~Stebbins%20Amendment~3-26-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Appropriations - Review of VAN FY25 Request 04/02/2024

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

On Tuesday, Chair of House Appropriations, Representative Lanpher, was in the Senate Appropriations Committee to give an overview of the House passed version of the budget. During her overview, Chair Lanpher noted VAN as a “good thing” in the budget. Later in the meeting, Chair Kitchel said she wanted to get a better idea of what VAN “actually needs” and whether the $1million in one-time actually covers it on not.

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Government Operations - Discussion of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 03/28/2024

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

On Thursday, the House Government Operations and Military Affairs committee took testimony from Senator Hardy who gave an introduction to the bill. Representative Hango was concerned about small towns and the negative affect this bill could have on them - the committee will have a formal walkthrough of the bill sometime next week from legislative counsel.

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 House Floor - Discussion of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 03/28/2024

Discussion of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees on the House Floor.

Late on Thursday, H.657 was on the House Floor for presentation and debate, which lasted about an hour. Rep. Sims presented the bill, and 3rd reading was ordered for Friday on a voice vote. The main opposition to the bill came from Rep. Art Peterson, who asked a number of questions about different provisions in it. One topic in particular he wanted to know about was about pole attachments - where in the bill they were mentioned, how inventoried or assessed or taxed, etc. Rep. Sims clarified he might be referring to a previous iteration of the bill, in which there was a pole attachment fee intended to support the Vermont Access Network. She noted that the fee is now per linear foot, and there is nothing about pole attachments in the bill. On Friday, action on the bill was postponed until next week. 

H.657 Amendment:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Gabrielle%20Stebbins~Stebbins%20Amendment~3-26-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Floor - Discussion of VAN FY25 Request 03/28/2024

Discussion of VAN FY25 Request onthe House Floor.

The FY25 Budget passed the House Thursday and it includes a one-time appropriation for VAN through the Secretary of State’s office of $1 million.

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Floor - Discussion of S. 181 Community Media Public Benefit Bill 03/28/2024

Discussion of the Community Media Public Benefit Bill S.181 on the Senate Floor.

On Thursday, Sen. Chittenden presented S.181 on the Senate Floor for 2nd reading, the next-to-last step in passing the bill. Senate Finance and Senate Appropriations both urged the Senate to pass the bill. Senators asked questions about how much money would go to VAN; why it was going through the Secretary of State’s Office, since currently no General Fund dollars go there; how many people in Vermont are accessing public television; and what the shortfall is in AMO revenue. Senate President Pro Temp Baruth spoke about his deep appreciation for community access television and asked for the body’s support, and Sen. Kitchel spoke about the rationale for VAN’s funding flowing through the Secretary of State’s office as part of a broader effort around civic education and electoral participation. The Senate then ordered a 3rd reading of the bill on a unanimous voice vote.

S.181 Senate Finance version of the bill:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Appropriations/Bills/S.181/S.181~Kirby%20Keeton~As%20Recommended%20By%20the%20Senate%20Committee%20on%20Finance~3-20-2024.pdf

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