ontpelier Notes, An occasional email for Pownal and Woodford residents. If you would prefer not to receive these notes please reply nd I'll remove you from the list. If you would like to be added please let me know. I do not give your email address to others. --Bill Botzow
March 25, 2017
Hello All,
The drive home from Montpelier Friday night was one of the snowiest of the season. About 5” of wet snow packed down to slippery slush ice. The Interstate down to Bethel was a slow drive. Fortunately the roads improved south of Route 4 and were in good shape coming down US 7. A number of constituents visited the state house last week. It was a pleasure to see them and have them visit my committee while we were at work. If you’re visiting the state house please let me know so we can find time to catch up. Here’s an announcement for a fun Pownal Elementary school event
Pownal School Drama Club Presents:
WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Friday, April 7th at 7pm
Saturday, April 8th at 7pm
Cost: $3 for adults / $2 for students
Please come and enjoy the talent of local students.
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The legislative week was busy with a number of bills passing the House. Here’s what we voted on. All will now go to the Senate for further consideration.
H.22 An act relating to the professional regulation of law enforcement officers by the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council
This bill amends statutes regarding the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council’s professional regulation of law enforcement officers. The bill is basically cleanup of language in current law. It provides guidance for investigations, complaints and sanctions. The bill was non-controversial and passed on a unanimous voice vote.
H.29 An act relating to permitting Medicare supplemental plans to offer expense discounts
The bill permits Medicare supplemental plans to offer discounts that are designed to encourage timely, full payment of premiums. Part of the bill says, “Expense discounts may include premium reductions for advance payment of a full year’s premiums, for paperless billing, for electronic funds transfer, and for other activities directly related to premium payment.” The bill also makes sure that discounts do not deviate from our community rating system. This bill also passed on a unanimous voice vote.
H.145 An act relating to establishing the Mental Health Crisis Response Commission
This bill, “establishes the Mental Health Crisis Response Commission for the purpose of reviewing fatalities and serious bodily injuries that occur during interactions between law enforcement and persons demonstrating symptoms of mental illness.” Often law enforcement faces difficult situations with individuals undergoing a mental health crisis. The commission will review serious incidents and make recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly to improve practices and policy. This bill also passed unanimously on a voice vote.
H. 167 An act relating to establishing drug possession thresholds to distinguish misdemeanor and felony crimes
This measure proposes alternative approaches to addressing low – level illicit drug use. Here is the findings section of the bill.
The General Assembly finds:
(1) According to Michael Botticelli, former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the National Drug Control Strategy recommends treating “addiction as a public health issue, not a crime.” Further, the strategy “rejects the notion that we can arrest and incarcerate our way out of the nation’s drug problem.”
(2) Vermont Chief Justice Paul Reiber has declared that “the classic approach of ‘tough on crime’ is not working in [the] area of drug policy” and that treatment – based models are proving to be a more effective approach for dealing with crime associated with substance abuse.
(3) A felony conviction record is a significant impediment to gaining and maintaining employment and housing, yet we know that stable employment and housing are an essential element to recovery from substance abuse and desistance of criminal activity that often accompanies addiction.
(4) In a 2014 study by the PEW Research Center, 67 percent of people polled said government should focus more on providing treatment to people who use illicit drugs and less on punishment. The Center later reported that states are leading the way in reforming drug laws to reflect this opinion: State – level actions have included lowering penalties for possession and use of illegal drugs, shortening mandatory minimums or curbing their applicability, removing automatic sentence enhancements, and establishing or extending the jurisdiction of drug courts and other alternatives to the regular criminal justice system.
(5) Vermont must look at alternative approaches to the traditional criminal justice model for addressing low – level illicit drug use if it is going to reduce the effects of addiction and addiction – related crime in this State.
The bill proposes a serious study of alternatives by Legislative Council. It says, “The Office of Legislative Council shall examine the issue of a public health approach to low – level possession and use of illicit drugs in Vermont as an alternative to the traditional criminal justice model, looking to trends both nationally and internationally, with a goal of providing policymakers a range of approaches to consider during the 2018 legislative session.” The bill passed on a unanimous voice vote.
H.152 An act relating to the Vermont Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act
This Judiciary Committee bill which I cosponsored would “enact the Vermont Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act.” It is an update of uniform law that provides for consistency in court treatment across state lines. A digital asset means, “an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. The term does not include an underlying asset or liability unless the asset or liability is itself an electronic record.” The law is guidance to fiduciaries, guardians, and trustees of estates and is needed as more records become digital. The bill passed on a unanimous voice vote.
H.347 An act relating to the State Telecommunications Plan
This bill provides guidance to the ten year state telecommunications plan surveys of the states needs. It specifically addresses several sectors such as education, workforce, health and human services and public safety. The bill also passed on a unanimous voice vote.
H. 422 An act relating to confiscation of dangerous or deadly weapons from a person arrested or cited for domestic assault
This bill addresses the process for temporary removal of firearms from a person arrested or cited for domestic assault. The findings section of the bill states the Judiciary committee’s reasons.
The General Assembly finds:
(1) The State of Vermont has a compelling interest in preventing domestic abuse.
(2) Domestic violence is often volatile, escalates rapidly, and possibly fatal. The victim has a substantial interest in obtaining immediate relief because any delay may result in further injury or death. The State’s compelling interest in protecting domestic violence victims from actual or threatened harm and safeguarding children from the effects of exposure to domestic violence justifies providing law enforcement officers with the authority to undertake immediate measures to stop the violence. For these reasons the State has a special need to remove firearms from a home where law enforcement has probable cause to believe domestic violence has occurred.
(3) The General Assembly recognizes that it is current practice for law enforcement to remove firearms from a domestic violence scene if the firearms are contraband or evidence of the offense. However, given the potential harm of delay during a domestic violence incident, this legislation authorizes law enforcement officers to temporarily remove other dangerous firearms from persons arrested or cited for domestic violence, while protecting rights guaranteed by the Vermont and U.S. Constitutions, and insuring that those firearms are returned to the owner as soon as doing so would be safe and lawful.
Because this domestic violence bill dealt with firearms it was controversial and debated for many hours. I listened carefully to the debate and many questions regarding the second amendment and the Vermont Constitution were raised. In the end I supported the bill. I learned that similar bills have passed in a number of other states including NH. I asked the reporter of the bill, a rural firearms owner, if there had been constitutional problems and he said that the committee had inquired but had not learned of any. Also, in some other states the length of time firearms could be removed was ten days, twice as long as in this proposal. I also learned that this approach has been effective. This was a difficult vote because of my respect for the constitution and because constituents have divergent opinions on the question. When I examine my conscience the need to ensure better protections against the consequences of domestic violence prevailed. The bill passed on two roll call votes and I supported the committee. The votes were Yeas,78 Nays,67 and then Yeas,78 Nays,60. The Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Grad, offered this vote explanation. “I vote yes on H.422. This bill is the most effective way to address the problem of domestic violence related homicides in Vermont. While there are many ways to address domestic violence in our state, law enforcement lacks the effective tool that this bill provides to address domestic violence related homicides. Data show that there is a strong connection between domestic violence homicides and the presence of firearms. This bill is an effective way to prevent those deaths.” The bill will now be debated in the Senate. The Governor has indicated he has concerns about the bill.
H.136 An act relating to accommodations for pregnant employees
This bill “proposes to require employers to provide an accommodation to a pregnant employee unless the accommodation would impose undue hardship on the employer.” This bill also was voted on in a roll call vote. It passed 97 to 44 and I voted yes. This is a policy that reasonably supports young working families.
H. 502 An act relating to modernizing Vermont’s parentage laws
This bill “proposes to establish a committee to examine issues related to parentage when assisted reproductive technology such as sperm or egg donation or gestational surrogacy has been employed, as well as de facto parentage when a person without clear legal standing as a parent has assumed a role as such in a manner that it is in the best interest of the child for the person to be given standing as a parent”. Our laws regarding parentage need modernization. The Findings and Intent section of the bill says. “Current Vermont law provides detailed guidance as to the legal and physical rights and responsibilities of parents, with respect to their biological children or step – children, if they marry and divorce. However, the statutory law has not kept pace with the changing nature of today’s families, and guidance is significantly lacking with respect to unmarried parents or persons who have acted as parents, especially with respect to children who have been conceived through assisted reproductive technology. Through this act, the General Assembly seeks to assemble attorneys with particular expertise in these matters, who can examine parentage laws in other jurisdictions and develop a proposal for the General Assembly to consider during the 2018 legislative session that integrates with our existing laws best practices for providing for the best interest of the child in various types of parentage proceedings.”
H.503 An act relating to bail
“This bill proposes to restrict imposition of an appearance bond at the initial court appearance of a person cited for a misdemeanor, to allow a court to release a probationer on bail or conditions for an alleged violation of probation if bail or conditions would reasonably ensure the probationer’s appearance at future proceedings and protect the public, and to assign interested parties the task of reporting to the House and Senate Committees on Judiciary on options for facilitating pretrial communication between the courts and defendants with a goal of reducing the risk of nonappearance by defendants.” The bill was non-controversial and passed on a voice vote.
H.230 An act relating to consent by minors for mental health treatment related to sexual orientation and gender identity
There was a roll call vote on this bill and I supported the committee recommendation. It passed 125 to 12. The bill would allow minors to consent to mental health treatment for any condition related to the minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity from a mental health professional. At an often confusing time of life some minors can be helped in this way.
H. 312 An act relating to retirement and pensions
Every year the Government Operations Committee and the Ways and Means Committee recommend the municipal employee retirement rates for pension funds. This year’s recommendations are
(1) Group A members at the rate of 2.5 percent of earnable compensation;
(2) Group B members at the rate of 4.875 percent of earnable compensation;
(3) Group C members at the rate of 10 percent of earnable compensation; and
(4) Group D members at the rate of 11.350 percent of earnable compensation.
The bill passed on a unanimous voice vote.
H. 411 An act relating to Vermont’s energy efficiency standards for appliances and equipment
This bill helps maintains Vermont’s energy efficiency standards. The purpose section states, “The purpose of this act is to adopt federal appliance and lighting efficiency standards in effect on January 19, 2017 so that the same standards will be in place in Vermont should the federal standards be repealed or voided. The act also adopts federal standards for general service lighting that have been adopted by the U.S. Department of Energy and are scheduled to come into effect on January 20, 2020, again so that the same standards will be in place in Vermont. The act does not adopt standards for other products or standards for a product that are different from the federal standards.” The bill was also non-controversial and passed on a voice vote.
H.462 An act relating to social media privacy for employees
This Commerce Committee bill is one of a number we have in our committee related to the internet and consumer protection. It is modeled on law that has passed in about 20 other states and sets policy on when it is appropriate and when it is not appropriate for an employer to access employees’ social media accounts. The main difference is when the device is owned by the employer they can require access with a good reason but not when the device is owned by the employee. An exception is made for public safety. The bill passed unanimously on a voice vote.
H. 290 An act relating to clarifying ambiguities relating to real estate titles and conveyances
This bill made some changes and clarifications to the laws regarding real estate transfers. It received unanimous support upon the recommendation of the judiciary committee.
H. 308 An act relating to a committee to reorganize and reclassify Vermont’s criminal statutes
This bill would establish a committee to implement the Criminal Code Reclassification Study Committee’s recommendations for reorganizing and restructuring Vermont’s criminal statutes. The charge to the committee is to “develop a classification system that creates categories of criminal offenses on the basis of the maximum potential period of imprisonment and the maximum potential fine. The Committee shall propose legislation that places each of Vermont’s criminal statutes into one of the classification offense categories it identifies. If the Committee is unable to reach consensus regarding which classification is appropriate for a particular offense, the Committee shall indicate multiple classification possibilities for that offense.” This bill is another step in Vermont’s efforts to reexamine and improve its criminal judiciary system. It passed on a unanimous voice vote.
H.326 An act relating to encouraging savings by participants in Reach Up and the Child Care Financial Assistance Program
This bill from the Human Services Committee makes improvements to the benefit cliffs problem that keeps many Vermonters from seeking better employment. Here’s the findings section.
The General Assembly finds that:
(1) benefit cliffs, which occur when a family’s loss of economic benefits outpaces the rate at which its earnings increase, have a detrimental impact on Vermont families;
(2) according to the 2016 article “Do Limits on Family Assets Affect Participation in, Costs of TANF?” by the Pew Charitable Trusts, raising or eliminating asset limits within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) does not affect the number of monthly applicants to the program;
(3) according to the 2016 article “Low TANF Asset Limits Show No Cost or Caseload Benefits for State Programs” by the Pew Charitable Trusts, states experience a decrease in administrative costs when they raise or eliminate TANF asset tests;
(4) according to a 2014 article entitled “Relationships Between College Savings and Enrollment, Graduation, and Student Loan Debt,” by the Center for Social Development, children in families that have few or no assets have lower academic achievement scores, high school graduation rates, college enrollment rates, and college graduation rates than children in families with assets; and