This week, the House is all about money and marijuana.
The House Appropriations Committee reached agreement on a $5.77 billion spending package Friday, and reconvened Monday to vote on the bill.
The budget passed out of the committee with strong support in a 10 to 1 vote. Rep. Marty Feltus, R-Lyndonville, was the lone nay.
Though the big bill is on the way to the printers, the committee’s work is not yet done.
The budget will come up on the floor Wednesday, along with the other part of the equation — the revenue bills. The fee bill and the miscellaneous tax bill will both come up in coordination with the budget this week.
House Ways and Means approved a $48.1 million revenue package last week on a 7 to 4 vote. The committee could shave that down by $1.3 million, based on final budget numbers. But the small reserve fund is not likely to make the bill more palatable for Republicans who are reluctant pass a hefty tax and fee hike in an election year.
There also could be pushback from lawmakers who feel the budget does not go far enough. The budget does not restore a cut to Reach Up in last year’s budget that reduced benefits for households that receive a federal disability benefit.
Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, said Monday that it’s still early, and the Progressive Party is waiting to see the full scope of the budget.
“Progressives will be watching to see how the budget treats job creation and Vermonters living in poverty,” Pearson said.
House Minority Leader Don Turner, R-Milton, said that there will be some amendments to the budget bill from his party, and there’s likely to be pushback on the revenue packages as well.
“It’s a heck of a lot more money being spent than we would like to see,” Turner said.
But Turner said that he sees only so much room for members of his party to make changes on the floor.
“We can spend three, four, five hours debating whether you spend this money,” Turner said. “At the end of the day the numbers are going to add up the way they are.”
House members could be looking at a few very long days this week. The body is convening for afternoon sessions, reserving mornings for committee work.
The budget and general fund revenue bills will be the main focus this week, but money bill work will continue into next week with the transportation and the capital bills.
Meanwhile, off the House floor, marijuana will take center stage in the House.
This week the House Judiciary Committee, headed by Rep. Maxine Grad, D-Moretown, plunges into S.241, the bill that would legalize and regulate sales of small amounts of marijuana.
The panel began to walk through the sizeable Senate bill last week. This week they begin taking testimony, and are scheduled to hear from law enforcement, health professionals, and community leaders.
The temperature in the House on the pot bill is still lukewarm, and it will be April by the time the lower chamber gets through the major money bills.
Things are a bit quieter in the Senate, where most of the heavy lifting of the session has been completed.
Senators feel the session is winding down, and with what will likely be a more competitive election cycle this year, a number are getting anxious to go back home and connect with constituents.
Senators are now waiting for the House budget bill to reach their desks, and they working to push a few bills over to the bigger chamber.
Sens. Dick Sears, David Zuckerman and Joe Benning are spending some time in the House, hoping to convince legislators that their marijuana legalization bill is worth a ‘yes’ vote.
Last week the Senate Finance Committee reviewed S.243, a bill aimed at curbing opioid abuse. It will now head to to the Appropriations Committee, where it will be considered and likely move to the Senate floor early this week.
The other bill to watch is S.230, which aims to improve siting guidelines for energy projects. Insiders say the version that was passed by Senate Natural Resources will be watered down by the Senate Finance and Appropriations committees before it reaches the floor of the Senate on Thursday.
The Senate will also consider a number of recently passed House bills, including H.171, which limits the sale and use of electronic cigarettes, and H.571, a bill that eases fines for low-income drivers whose licenses have been suspended for failure to pay tickets. Senators aren’t expected to make major changes to the recently passed House bills.
