Legislative

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. 

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

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

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.