[I]n the 30 years that advocate Karen Horn has been fighting for Vermont cities and towns, a bill the Senate approved this spring represents the strongest effort to grant communities increased independence.
The bill, S.106, would create a pilot program. It passed the Senate in April and it awaits a vote in the House next January.
“The fact that they actually had a very good conversation and testimony in the Senate Government Operations Committee, and then felt like this was a model that they could defend and pass the Senate — that’s huge,” said Horn, a lobbyist with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns.
As S.106 currently stands, the bill outlines a five-year pilot program where up to 10 towns could elect to take part in a municipal self-governance program. In the pilot, the towns would submit any proposals or rule changes to a 12-member commission that would serve as the towns’ central regulatory body.
“It sounds a bit cumbersome, but the most important thing, I think, is that the commission would be outside of the Statehouse,” Horn said.
According to Horn and the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, S.106 is based on a model enacted in West Virginia in 2007. Unlike West Virginia, Vermont is a “Dillon’s Rule” state — or a state where changes at the municipal level must be approved by the state legislature. The West Virginia pilot helped shift the state more firmly toward “home rule,” a model where towns have increased power. S.106, however, was designed with Vermont’s current adherence to Dillon’s Rule in mind.
White said she believes the bill like could make a significant impact on local decision making because so much power rests at the state level.
“I think that we in Montpelier like to have a lot of control over the municipalities, and I think that sometimes that’s very stifling for the municipalities,” she said. “They can’t act quickly on issues that are of concern only to their municipality.”
While the bill might grant towns more authority to make their own choices, both White and Horn stressed that the bill would not permit municipalities to violate the Constitution or overstep basic Vermont law.
“We’re not talking about them being able to flush their waste into the river or anything like that. We’re talking about them being able to put up stop signs,” White added. “We’re really talking about local issues.”
Several towns have already granted the League of Cities and Towns their support. Ludlow, Springfield, Enosburg Falls and Vernon have all written resolutions in favor of the legislation, and Brattleboro’s town manager has worked closely with both White and VLCT to advance the bill.
Despite Senate approval, it remains unclear how far it will progress in the House next year. Eight senators voted against the bill this spring, and Horn predicted that it might face similar opposition in the House next year.
But either way, Horn said that she and VLCT will continue to advocate for towns’ rights.
“There was a boat that sank in Malletts Bay off of Colchester, and it sat in the waters for a year and a half while the state and town tried to figure out who had authority to get it out of the water,” Horn said.
“In the meantime, it was leaking — it was really kind of a mess. And if the town had had the authority, they would have just gone in and taken the boat out.”
