— Senate Econ is continuing to wrestle with language in a House bill that would place a moratorium on evictions and some foreclosure action during the COVID-19 state of emergency.
Some witnesses disagreed with an added provision that under such a moratorium, landlords could still evict tenants “based solely on the need to protect the health and safety” of other residents or the building.
Jean Murray, an attorney with Vermont Legal Aid, warned that this provision should be used only in emergencies so that public health is protected by keeping people in their homes. “What if a tenant has a meth lab in their home?” she said. “That might justify moving somebody during a state of emergency. Beyond that, I don’t know.” – Grace Elletson
— Senate Judiciary is putting off, for now, a proposal that would give greater “flexibility” to reduce sentences for prisoners in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The idea, brought forward by Chief Superior Court Judge Brian Grearson, would have allowed a prison sentence to be modified outside of the current 90-day window from when it is formally imposed, if both the prosecutor and defense attorney are in agreement.
But committee members indicated the proposal was too controversial to push forward as part of a larger package of changes Grearson has proposed to address issues that have arisen due to COVID-19. The idea was part of a broader bill package which includes extending the statute of limitations to bring civil cases as well as resetting other deadlines for court proceedings.
Committee Chair Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, said sentence modification provision might sink the whole legislation. – Alan Keays
— Once it’s up and running, the Legislature’s new Joint Small Business Solutions task force is going to start meeting virtually, probably more than once a week, says Rep. Mike Marcotte, R-Coventry, who is chairman of House Commerce.
Marcotte said the goal of the committee is to make sure Vermont businesses — especially small businesses — are able to navigate the state and federal bureaucracies so they have access to assistance designated for them during the COVID-19 epidemic and the aftermath.
Officials have discussed using navigators or assistors located around the state – similar to the system used in the establishment of Vermont Health Connect – that can assist small businesses in getting questions answered.
“It seems like a good idea,” Marcotte said. “It’s something we need to have a conversation on.” – Anne Wallace Allen
— Senate Education and Senate Health and Welfare held a joint meeting today to hear from special education specialists about the challenges they’re facing teaching high-need students remotely.
Rachel Seelig, an attorney with the Vermont Special Education Advisory Council, said support for students across districts varies widely. She recommended the state create some form of training for parents to fill the roles that teachers once held.
Parents are suddenly in the position of being their kid’s general educator, special educator, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist,” Seelig said. “And they are not trained for all of those jobs.” – Grace Elletson
— At one point during the joint committee discussion, Senate Education Chair Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden, asked Jacqui Kelleher, state director of special education for the Vermont Agency of Education, if the state had considered compensating parents financially for the work that they’re doing teaching their kids.
To which Kelleher was a bit taken aback by. “Wow that is quite a question,” she said. “No that has not come up. Not to say that we can’t discuss. … That is a very interesting question.” – Grace Elletson
— Top educators told Senate Finance lawmakers that many students lack reliable internet connection to adequately continue virtual learning for the rest of the school year. Jeff Francis of the Vermont Superintendents Association said that families in the same school district often have varying access to broadband.
He pointed out that in Thetford, for example, fewer than 3% of families lack broadband connections.But in the town of Newbury, which is in the same supervisory union, 30% of students don’t have internet connection.
He said that he’s getting requests from superintendents to ask the state to fund or require telecommunications companies to provide emergency broadband connections for the families of students that don’t have it. – Xander Landen
