A conference committee Wednesday began hashing out differences between House and Senate versions of a sweeping criminal justice bill, optimistic they can reach a compromise soon.
The Shumlin administration shepherded S.295 through both chambers and legislators agree the bill has improved during its journey, but there are still several sections where the House and Senate disagree.
The bill lays out a process for courts to gather more information about people who are arrested before they are charged and creates ways to funnel them into treatment and other services.
The bill also contains sections about the opiate treatment drug buprenorphine as well as burglary and drug trafficking and other measures.
Two key differences between the House and Senate versions are sections about drug trafficking and burglary. The House version makes transporting regulated drugs into the state an aggravating factor for a judge to consider when proposing a sentence for a drug-related felony, whereas the Senate proposal makes importing heroin into Vermont a separate crime.
A section on burglary creates new crimes when the burglary involves an occupied dwelling, a weapon or threat or use of force. The House version makes those elements aggravating factors.
The House version also has a phase-in of the pretrial services whereas the Senate version starts more quickly.
At the first conference committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, senators presented a proposal on how to amend the House version, which they say is in many ways an improvement, except for a few sections.
Both sides made it clear they agree in principle on the bill. They plan to meet again Thursday after House members review the Senate’s proposed changes.
The conference committee is made up of Sens. Dick Sears, Joe Benning and Virginia Lyons and Reps. Sandy Haas, Bill Lippert and Alice Emmons.
“Sen. Sears and I have negotiated our way to agreement on many different issues in the past, this is quite achievable,” said Lippert, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee after the conference committee Wednesday.
Sears, the Senate Judiciary chairman, said he has not decided yet whether he would support burglary and drug transport as aggravated factors instead of crimes.
