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Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Government Operations - Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 02/27/2024

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

On Tuesday, the Senate Government Operations & Military Affairs committee continued testimony and discussion on S.55, a bill which would make multiple changes to current open meeting law. Lauren-Glenn Davitian gave testimony on draft 4.2 of the bill - the committee did not have any follow up questions but expressed appreciation for VAN’s input. A link to Lauren-Glenn’s written remarks and start of testimony is included below. After testimony, the committee did bill mark-up with legislative counsel. The committee addressed multiple small changes to language - adding language about transparency, accountability, and trust in government as well as telephonic access to meetings.

S.55, Draft 4.2:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.55~Tucker%20Anderson~Draft%204.2,%20Strike%20All%20Amendment~2-21-2024.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 02/27/2024

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 briefly discussed H.657. It was mentioned that cloud taxes will likely return as well as a 72 cents per line for any numbers that can dial out (seems like iPads and smart watches with numbers will not be taxed).

Draft 1.4 H.657:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Maria%20Royle~House%20Ways%20and%20Means%20Amendment,%20Draft%201.4~2-22-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Government Operations - Review of VAN FY25 Request 02/23/2024

Review of VAN FY25 Request at the House Committee on Government Operations.

The committee is including support for VAN’s one-time funding request of $1m in their budget memo. Great job with your outreach to this Committee! Details on their discussion this week is below:

On Friday, the committee had a brief discussion on their budget memo. Chair McCarthy described VAN’s current funding issue - he said the committee will qualify their support that one-time money is needed but a permanent fix to PEG’s revenue source is also required (the draft does not have that, there is an incomplete sentence at the end of the paragraph where it was intended to go). RepresentativeBob Hooper asked if there was information about whether the revenue source will be stabilized, Chair McCarthy said there are some “interlocking tax policies” and the committee has had some updates but that House Ways & Means had not made any decisions yet. The Chair said we support VAN but we don’t have a fix for the revenue source.

House Government Operations Draft Memo: 
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Government%20Operations/FY%202025%20Budget/W~Michael%20McCarthy~FY%202025%20DRAFT%20HGO%20and%20MA%20Budget%20Memo~2-23-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Democratic Caucus - Discussion of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 02/22/2024

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

On Tuesday, in the House Democratic Caucus Representative Simms presented H.657. She said the bill had been stripped of the pole attachment provision and that this section will become a separate committee bill.

H.657 was voted out of the Ways & Means Committee with a 12-0 vote without the pole attachment tax this week.

Draft 1.4 H.657:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Maria%20Royle~House%20Ways%20and%20Means%20Amendment,%20Draft%201.4~2-22-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Government Operations - Review of VAN FY25 Request 02/22/2024

Review of VAN FY25 Request at the House Committee on Government Operations.

The committee is including support for VAN’s one-time funding request of $1m in their budget memo. Great job with your outreach to this Committee! Details on their discussion this week is below:

On Thursday, the committee discussed their memo to House Appropriations regarding the FY25 Budget, listing their priorities for the year. Chair McCarthy noted that he will draft the memo this evening, and share it with the Committee tomorrow. Then they discussed what they wanted to put in the memo. Chair McCarthy talked about PEG TV stations and local access, and recognized that Paul Snyder was in the room. VAN is asking for $1M to backfill the declining revenue from cable TV.

House Government Operations Draft Memo: 
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Government%20Operations/FY%202025%20Budget/W~Michael%20McCarthy~FY%202025%20DRAFT%20HGO%20and%20MA%20Budget%20Memo~2-23-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Finance - Discussion of S. 181 Community Media Public Benefit Bill 02/22/2024

Discussion of the Community Media Public Benefit Bill S.181 at the Senate Committee on Finance.

On Thursday, the Committee heard from Kirby Keeton, Legislative Counsel, for a walkthrough and Q/A on a new draft (1.1) of S.181 that would shift the revenue source from a pole attachment tax to a streaming content provider excise tax.

S.181 Draft 1.1:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Finance/Bills/S.181/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.181~Kirby%20Keeton~%20Draft%201.1,%202-21-2024~2-22-2024.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 02/22/2024

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

On Thursday, the House Ways & Means Committee walked through a new draft of H.657, which as expected, had the PEG portions of the bill removed. Legislative Counsel Maria Royle noted that the pole attachment charge for PEG would be dealt with going forward as a Committee bill, and Chair Kornheiser said, “and that [bill] we will probably pick up next Wednesday.” On FRIDAY, the bill passed committee 12-0-0-.

Draft 1.4 H.657:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Bills/H.657/H.657~Maria%20Royle~House%20Ways%20and%20Means%20Amendment,%20Draft%201.4~2-22-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Government Operations - Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 02/21/2024

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

On Wednesday, the Senate Government Operations Committee continued testimony and committee discussion on S.55. Legislative counsel, Tucker Anderson, gave a walk through of the most recent version of the bill (Draft 4.2) - this version allows advisory bodies to meet hybrid, in person, or fully online and requires state boards to hold hybrid meetings. It also allows the public to request physical or electronic access to a meeting in writing. The new version of the bill requires a working group to be appointed and report back by November 1, 2025 - this version removes the $500k for grants to towns since the proposed changes do not require towns to vastly change their current meeting structure. All changes are highlighted in yellow in the document linked below - also linked is the committee meeting, and materials presented. The committee plans to vote on the bill next week on Tuesday - LG is scheduled to testify.

S.55, Draft 4.2:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.55~Tucker%20Anderson~Draft%204.2,%20Strike%20All%20Amendment~2-21-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Finance - Testimony of S. 181 Community Media Public Benefit Bill 02/20/2024

Testimony of the Community Media Public Benefit Bill S.181 at the Senate Committee on Finance.

On Tuesday, Lauren-Glenn Davitian provided testimony at the request of the Senate Finance Committee, on the revenue gap that AMOs need to fill with a new revenue stream. LG presented on revenues and expenses, with charts showing the anticipated gap from 2024 to 2030, and said that $3 million would fill the average annual gap across that period of time.

S.181 as introduced:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/BILLS/S-0181/S-0181%20As%20Introduced.pdf

LG's Testimony:

https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Finance/Bills/S.181/Witness%20Documents/S.181~Lauren-Glenn%20Davitian~Vermont%20Access%20Network%20Revenue%20Needs~2-20-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Government Operations - Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 02/16/2024

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

On Friday, the committee continued testimony hearing from select board members and moderators from multiple towns. Most witnesses did not support the bill and cited issues with internet connectivity and the impracticality posed by requiring hybrid meetings. The committee will continue taking testimony on the bill next week ahead of any vote.

S.55, Draft 3.1:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.55~Tucker%20Anderson~Draft%203.1,%20Strike%20All%20Amendment~2-13-2024.pdf

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