The House and Senate are convening Saturday to wrap up the 2018 legislative session, and VTDigger editors and reporters will be bringing you hour-by-hour coverage throughout the afternoon, evening, and if needed well into the night.
[Editor’s note: The post at 5:45 on stop-gap funding was corrected.]
12:20 p.m., Sunday, May 13 (Colin Meyn)
House adjourns
Gov. Phil Scott just finished delivering his end-of-session speech to the House, and cheers erupted as House Speaker Mitzi Johnson banged the gavel for the last time. The session is officially finished, but there is much business yet to be done.
Here’s our editor Anne Galloway’s analysis of where things stand, and how we got here. We’ll be back at the Statehouse with the lawmakers in a few weeks.
10:40 p.m., Saturday, May 12 (Colin Meyn)
Senate adjourns
The work of the Senate is done.
Until they return for a special session in a few weeks that Gov. Phil Scott has promised to call after he vetoes the budget and a number of other bills that contain new taxes or fees.
Senate leader Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, made the motion to adjourn at 10:30 p.m.
Despite not reaching a deal with the administration on the budget, Ashe and Speaker of the House Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, are not scheduling a veto session, forcing the governor to call them back to keep the government funded, assuming he follows through on his veto threat.
Ashe asked three colleagues to ceremoniously inform the governor that the Senate was adjourned: Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison; Sen. Carolyn Branagan, R-Franklin; and Sen. Peg Flory, R-Rutland. All three are longtime senators retiring from the Legislature this year.
“I wish you all much happiness and I thank you for your years of service,” Scott told the three upon arriving in the Senate, where he served for years.
“Admittedly we’ve struggled a bit with this new reality and relationship,” Scott said of his time as a Republican governor working with a Democratically controlled Legislature.
“I’m sure we’ll see each other soon.”
9:04 p.m., Saturday, May 12 (Alan Keays and Colin Meyn)
Stop-gap funding plan rejected
As the Saturday session extended into the evening, House Minority Leader Don Turner, R-Milton, proposed an amendment to the Pay Act to provide stopgap funding for the operations of state government through Aug. 1.
He said it was the prudent step to take given the uncertainty of the budget and tax bills and the certain vetoes of them by Republican Gov. Phil Scott. “This is simply an insurance policy,” Turner said on the floor.
That prompted Rep. John Gannon, D-Wilmington, who appeared quite agitated, to jump out of his chair and bellow, “Point of order,” contending that Turner’s amendment was not germane to the Pay Act legislation.
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, called for a “huddle” of the House Government Operations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee to consider Turner’s amendment.
Both of them voted down the amendmendment, sending it back to the floor without recommendation.
Rep. Kitty Toll, D-Danville, said she contacted state Treasurer Beth Pearce during the break in proceedings to ask what she thought of the idea. Pearce did not like it, and said an unsustainable funding of the state government would be frowned upon by Wall Street.
The amendment was voted down in a mostly party-line vote. Toll said after the vote that Vermont’s system of government must not be undermined in the name of politics.
7:48 p.m., Saturday, May 12 (Colin Meyn)
Evening action underway
Dinners have been delivered and devoured, and the House is finally back in action.
The evening began with the passage of S.260, a clean water funding bill that was stripped of any funding mechanism in the Senate on Friday. It passed unanimously in the House after rules were suspended to move it onto the action calendar.
House Minority Leader Don Turner, R-Milton, is driving this car, at least for today. He told his caucus Saturday afternoon that he would negotiate nine to 10 bills that would be taken up in the House today, including six Republican priorities.
Crucially, he said Republicans would agree to suspend the rules to take up the budget and main tax bill when they come to the floor, but would vote against the bills. That would allow lawmakers to finish their work tonight — probably well into the night.
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, is calling bills to the floor one-by-one, and has not announced which bills will be taken up tonight. Those that don’t come to the floor tonight could still be passed when lawmakers return for what is almost certain to be a summer session after Gov. Phil Scott vetoes the budget and bills that include new taxes or fees.
6:05 p.m., Saturday, May 12 (Mike Faher)
Senate rejects O’Neill’s confirmation
The Senate has rejected the controversial nomination of a retired utility executive to the state Labor Relations Board.
Senators on Saturday refused to confirm Gov. Phil Scott’s nomination of Karen O’Neill, whom the governor had appointed as a “neutral” member on the labor relations board in February.
Opponents of O’Neill’s nomination said her extensive experience in management positions means she is not qualified under state statute for serving as a neutral board member. They also said no applicants for the position, including O’Neill, were interviewed prior to the nomination.
“I think that the process of getting this nomination to us was flawed,” said Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden.
Supporters of the nomination said there was no evidence that O’Neill would be biased against labor issues.
“I believe that Ms. O’Neill can be neutral in her decisions,” said Sen. David Soucy, R-Rutland. “She’s qualified. She has legal experience, which the board needs badly. And she also brings diversity to the board, which also is important.”
Both Sirotkin and Soucy are members of the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee, which voted 4-1 against O’Neill’s confirmation.
O’Neill recently came under fire for supporting the governor’s “last, best offer” in a lengthy contractual battle with the Vermont State Employees Association.
The labor union, in turn, called on senators to block her confirmation.
A spokesperson for Scott, a Republican, has said it would be “shocking – and clearly political” if the Democratically controlled Senate rejected O’Neill’s confirmation.
The governor can now reappoint O’Neill and hope for a different result or pick a new candidate for the labor board.
5:45 p.m., Saturday, May 12 (Anne Galloway, Alan Keays)
Minority leader looks to keep gov’t running into August
With no deal in sight on budget and tax bills, House minority leader Don Turner is looking to authorize a provision that would allow state government to keep running through Aug. 1. The fiscal year ends June 30. Spending would continue at fiscal year 2018 levels through that period.
It would be the first time in memory that the Legislature has employed a D.C.-style, continuing resolution stopgap for a disagreement over taxes and spending.
Under state law, there is no requirement to balance the budget, although lawmakers have historically done so as a matter of principle.
House GOP, Dems inch closer to adjournment
The House GOP is negotiating with the Democratic majority over the number of bills that will be taken up before adjournment. Minority leader Rep. Don Turner, D-Milton, says he is negotiating with House Speaker Mitzi Johnson over the total number of bills. He is pressing for a total of nine to 10 bills — six of which are Republican priorities.
The six pieces of legislation include: transportation, budget, tax, clean water, the pay act for state workers, and a miscellaneous Department of Motor Vehicles bill.
Turner told the GOP caucus that he had set a 6 p.m. deadline for the negotiations. The Senate also adjourned until that time.
House Democrats caucused at the same time with party leaders encouraging members to be present for votes to suspend the rules.
The GOP caucus has threatened to refuse to fast track bills, which require a suspension of the rules on a three-quarters majority vote. Fifty out of 150 members of the House are Republicans.
Without the suspension of the rules bills that have not cleared both houses are likely to die.
The looming battle over education funding will not be resolved tonight, according to Turner. He hopes the GOP proposal, which mimics the governor’s use of one-time money to buy down rates and includes a cost containment provision that the House Dems also like, will survive as “common ground.”
Democrats want to use the $58 million in one-time money for reserves and paying down teachers pensions. Republicans and Gov. Phil Scott want to use the money to buy down property tax rates to ensure there will be no increase.
Turner said he and Johnson “didn’t talk much about education.”
“I’m not sure we’ll have much more movement,” he told the GOP caucus.
He urged Republican lawmakers to vote against the budget and tax proposals, among other bills.
Turner said there will likely be a special session or veto session to address the money bills in June.
4:45 p.m., Saturday, May 12 (Anne Galloway)
House GOP, Dems $34M apart
The House GOP met with Republican Gov. Phil Scott about an hour ago and Rep. Don Turner, R-Milton, met with House Speaker Mitzi Johnson to press again for a proposal to buy down tax rates with $58 million. So far, House Dems have been willing to buy down rates with $9.6 million in one-time money and there is no deal yet on the remaining $48 million.
As the dinner hour approaches, there is still no deal. And Turner isn’t bending on a suspension of the rules.
Turner and the GOP caucus could delay the session into next week if they refuse to suspend the rules. The Republicans have been adamant that they will do everything they can to back the governor’s proposal.
As the dinner hour approaches, everything on the House floor has stalled. A caucus of the whole has been rambling on for more than an hour.
It is not clear when the House will go back into session.
4:05 p.m., Saturday, May 12 (Colin Meyn)
Lottery probe intact
A bill that would merge the liquor and lottery commissions has come out of the conference committee with slight changes and was passed by the Senate.
It includes an amendment added late in the session that requires the commissioner of the new body to conduct of the review of the lottery system in response to an investigation published by VTDigger last month.
The bill also has rules regulating signs for alcoholic beverages, how nonprofits can conduct raffles for charitable purposes, and when and where “casino games” can be played.
The bill needs to be approved by the House before it goes to the governor.
3 p.m., Saturday, May 12 (Mike Faher)
Health insurance requirement OK’d by conference panel
A legislative panel on Saturday morning reached an agreement requiring Vermonters to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.
The compromise on H.696 says the state’s “individual mandate” would begin Jan. 1, 2020.
A working group would come up with recommendations on administration, enforcement mechanisms and possible exemptions for a state health insurance mandate. An enforcement mechanism would be enacted during the 2019 legislative session and would go into effect in 2020.
State officials are taking action on the issue because Congress, in a tax overhaul approved last year, eliminated the financial penalty for the federal individual mandate as of 2019. Some say that will cause many people to drop their insurance, possibly increasing premiums for those who maintain coverage.
The Vermont House previously voted to enact a state individual mandate as of Jan. 1, 2019 – even before a penalty was in place for those who don’t buy insurance. The Senate had rejected that plan.
Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, said the compromise plan enacting a mandate for 2020 “sends a huge message for people … it puts people on notice.”
The conference report must clear the House and Senate before the 2018 legislative session adjourns.
2:54 p.m. Saturday, May 12 (Anne Galloway)
Primary seatbelt provision ditched
A House proposal that would have given police the authority to pull over drivers for not wearing a seatbelt has been tossed from the transportation funding bill in a conference committee.
The so-called “primary seatbelt” provision would have allowed law enforcement to fine scofflaws $25 fine for the first offense, $50 for the second and $75 for the third.
Rep. Patrick Brennan, R-Colchester, chair of the House Transportation Committee, said lawmakers were concerned about an increase in the number of driving fatalities and proposed the measure to bring more attention to seatbelt use.
Fatalities have gone up over the past four years from 44 to 69 annually. Passengers were not wearing a seatbelt in 52 percent of those fatal accidents, Potter said.
Senate leader Tim Ashe, D-Chittenden, opposed the provision because he said in Florida primary seatbelt laws have led to an increase in the number of times people of color are pulled over for traffic stops.
The Senate ultimately opposed the measure and prevailed in conference committee.
A final sticking point was horse trading over how to appropriate $150,000 of the $612 million transportation budget. The issue was resolved by divvying up the money: $75,000 will go toward more paving (what the Senate wanted) and $75,000 will go to the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (what the House wanted).
2:42 p.m. Saturday, May 12 (Colin Meyn)
House gets rolling
The House had begun taking up legislation. The first bill of the day, H.764, would regulate data brokers and protect consumers who give companies their personal information. It passed by a voice vote.
The bill would be one of the first of its kind in the country. It provides consumers with more information about data brokers and their right to opt out, and lays out certain security standards for those companies.
The House is now in recess for caucuses so that members can familiarize themselves with the budget and other major bills that are just coming out of conference committees.
2:08 p.m. Saturday, May 12 (Xander Landen)
Turner plays hardball
House Republicans said early Saturday afternoon they are not promising to suspend rules to bring about a dozen proposals to the House floor, including the budget and tax bills.
The House, which is dominated by Democrats, needs the support of the GOP caucus to suspend rules in order for the Legislature to adjourn by Saturday evening. The House needs a three-quarters vote to suspend rules. Republicans make up a full third of the 150 members of the House.
Republican minority leader Rep. Don Turner, R-Milton expressed dismay over the fact that many bills had not been finalized as of Saturday afternoon. Fourteen bills were still in conference committees between 5 p.m. Friday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Two more pieces of legislation were still booked for conference after 2 p.m.Saturday.
The main sticking point remains an increase in the property tax rate. House Democrats have lowered the homestead rate increase from 5 cents to 2.6 cents and the nonresidential rate from 7 cents to 5 cents.
Turner says his caucus won’t accept any increase in the property tax rate — and the upshot is they won’t agree to suspend the rules on anything — at this point unless the Democrats eliminate the rate increase altogether.
Turner is also concerned that members will not have time to review bills, some of which are still in conference committee.
Republicans raised concerns that they would not have enough time to review the budget bill before voting on it.
“Our people want to make sure we know what we’re voting on. And I think everybody deserves that,” Turner said in an interview.
During an early afternoon caucus, Republicans said they have unique, make-or-break leverage. The GOP could force the session to drag into next week.
“We’re going to continue to work on negotiating these things as long as we’re here. If at the end of the day, that means coming back Wednesday or Thursday, then that’s what we’ve got to do,” Turner said in an interview.
12:05 p.m. Saturday, May 12 (Colin Meyn)
Long to-do list…
The budget and major tax bill both need to be voted on by both chambers, and it’s all about suspending rules to speed up the process.
Republicans in both chambers have enough seats to prevent their colleagues from achieving the three-quarters of votes necessary to suspend rules, giving them the power to slow things down and possibly force their colleagues to return for final votes on Monday.
There are also a half-dozen bicameral conference committees meeting throughout the day to hammer out compromise bills on an individual health care mandate, regulations of short-term rentals and promoting remote work.
The Legislature’s website has calendars for the House, Senate and conference committees, but they will be in flux throughout the day.
The Senate met briefly Saturday morning and will return to work this afternoon. The House convenes for the first time at 1:30 p.m.
CORRECTION: A post at 5:45 mistakenly said the House and Senate had agreed to a stop-gap funding resolution. House minority leader Don Turner said he would propose a plan to fund the government through August.
