— House Human Services heard from Chris Herrick, the deputy public safety commissioner, about the state’s preparedness for a surge of COVID-19 cases. In addition to the three surge sites set up by the National Guard in Burlington, Barre and St. Albans, Herrick said the Northeast Kingdom will also soon have a designated surge site.
The site, he said, will be set up at Colebrook Academy on the New Hampshire-Vermont border. Herrick said the state will be providing a “mass casualty trailer” to that site with medical equipment. – Grace Elletson
— Herrick also said that hospitals around the state have been instructed to save their used N-95 masks, which have been in short supply across the country, so that they can be sterilized and reused. “They’re like gold right now,” Herrick said, referring to the masks.
No masks have been able to be reused yet, Herrick said. The state is currently buying the machines needed to sterilize the masks. – Grace Elletson
— In Senate Health and Welfare, Martha Maksym, president of Wake Robin, briefed lawmakers on how Covid-19 was affecting the retirement community of 375 residents and its staff in Shelburne. As of Tuesday morning, Maksym said Wake Robin has not had any confirmed coronavirus cases.
Maksym said she is most concerned about maintaining her workforce, adding that she is in favor of hazard pay for frontline workers. Wake Robin has already started providing cloth masks and uniforms as well as free meals and groceries to employees.
Maksym said Wake Robin is also actively looking for staff housing in the event there is a Covid-19 case and people will have to care for residents. – Kit Norton
— Mark Hughes, executive director of racial justice organization Justice for All, told House Corrections lawmakers that he doesn’t think justice reinvestment bill S.338, which would adjust the state’s furlough system in an effort to decrease recidivism, puts enough emphasis on decreasing racial disparities in Vermont’s criminal justice system.
The bill does include a section that would require the state to research “the relationships between demographic factors and sentencing outcomes” in parts of the criminal justice system. Hughes wants this section to specifically require the study of racial disparities.
He also wants the research charge to be more specific. “We know there are racial disparities in the criminal justice system,” Hughes said. “We just need to find out where they are.” – Grace Elletson
— The Vermont ACLU says it will call on Gov. Phil Scott and the Legislature to consider an emergency order that would expand the Department of Corrections’ ability to release inmates on medical furlough.
Falko Schilling, the ACLU’s advocacy director, told House Judiciary lawmakers that under current law, DOC can only release inmates who have chronic conditions on medical furlough. The ACLU is calling for a measure to expand the program so that inmates who are at “high risk” of contracting Covid-19 could also be released.
The ACLU’s push comes as the Senate has stalled on a proposal that would grant flexibility in reducing prisoners’ sentences during the pandemic. – Xander Landen
— The commissioner of Vermont’s Department of Public Service, June Tierney, told lawmakers that electric utilities in the state are eager to “put poles in the ground and string wires” to help expand broadband and wireless internet service in rural areas during the Covid-19 crisis.
But she said that the utilities are concerned about statutory limitations around placing poles. These regulations could typically trigger permitting processes, and Tierney recommended easing them temporarily.
“It would be helpful in these emergency circumstances, to be able to get some relief from that,” Tierney told the Senate Finance Committee, which is currently considering how to build out broadband in response to the pandemic. – Xander Landen
— Vermont Taxpayer Advocate Jeffrey Dooley told Senate Finance lawmakers that temporarily eliminating penalties on late property tax payments would provide relief during the Covid-19 crisis.
“That probably would be a good first step to both help taxpayers and immediately alleviate some of those concerns about them not being able to get their returns in on time,” he said.
Municipalities can issue 8% penalties for late property tax payments, and lawmakers, or towns acting on their own, could temporarily waive penalties. – Xander Landen
— It’s been nearly two months since Matt Trieber resigned from the Legislature. By the end of this week, he’ll finally get a replacement. On March 6, Democrats in the Windham-3 district chose two names for Gov. Phil Scott’s consideration.
His choice has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but spokesperson Rebecca Kelley says Scott will make a decision later this week.
The two nominees are both Rockingham Democrats. Leslie Goldman is a retired nurse practitioner and vice-chair of the Windham County Democratic Committee. Kelley Cota Tully is a vice-president of Cota & Cota, her family’s oil business.
Goldman received 20 votes at the March 6 meeting, while Tully got only eight. Both women say if chosen, they will run for a full term this November. – John Walters
