The Vermont Legislature will wrap up the second half of the biennium in the next four weeks, though it’s anyone’s guess just what day lawmakers will adjourn.
House Speaker Shap Smith says the session will be 16 weeks to 17 weeks, and will likely end between May 3 and May 10.
Though there is a lot of unfinished business at hand, Smith says, there are no lightning rod issues that threaten to push the Legislature into an 18th week (and the specter of paying lawmakers more than what is budgeted for the session).
The end game rides on how quickly lawmakers can work through dozens of bills that still need the approval of the House or the Senate. While most of the legislation now under consideration made crossover (two set dates when bills must pass out of committee), there are several bills that were carried over the deadline that are in last-minute mode.
Two of those bills — the property tax rate legislation and a proposal to consolidate school boards in Vermont — were late arrivals from the House to the Senate.
The school board consolidation bill, H.883, hasn’t yet gone to the floor of the House, where there is sure to be a difficult fight over the elimination of hundreds of school boards in lawmakers’ districts. Its future in the Senate is uncertain.
But what goes around, comes around. A Senate bill that would allow the state to create a list of toxic chemicals in products sold in Vermont and rulemaking power to ban chemicals, didn’t made its way to the House until April 1.
And sometimes the governor can throw the schedule off. The House was all set to vote on a paid sick leave bill when Gov. Peter Shumlin announced he preferred a minimum wage hike instead. That left lawmakers scrambling to put together a bill in very short order. The House will vote on the $10.10 increase set for Jan. 1, 2015, this week.
The must-pass money bills — budget, transportation, capital, miscellaneous tax, property tax and fee bills — are now all in the Senate, awaiting approval and will take time for Senate Finance and Appropriations committees to vet.
The Big Bill is typically one of the last pieces of legislation to pass, and Senate Appropriations is just finishing up testimony on it this week. Mark-up will be next week. The earliest the budget could be voted out of committee is April 25. The Senate floor would take up the state spending bill the following week.
While there could be minor disagreements over tax and spending bills, it’s unlikely there will be a repeat of last year’s drama over how lawmakers and the governor will close the budget. That’s because the House managed to close the budget without raising new taxes.
Anything can blow up before adjournment, and there likely will be a few minor eruptions as nerves fray and tensions build at the conclusion of the session.
But lawmakers will want to finish without a big bang. After all, it is an election year, and they will be anxious to get home and begin rallying support from constituents in the build-up to the November elections.
