— The Vermont House canceled its committee hearings while the Senate went ahead after a technical problem Thursday prevented the public from viewing the proceedings live online.
The House halted its committee work around 10:30 a.m. while the Senate continued with its meetings as scheduled. The hearings were taped and multiple committee assistants said videos would be posted this afternoon.
But Senate Ag and Senate Econ hearings were still missing from their YouTube pages at the time this newsletter was published.
The Office of Legislative Council told House lawmakers that holding the meetings without livestream access was not in violation of Vermont’s open meeting laws, according to Katherine Levasseur, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson’s chief of staff.
Levasseur said the speaker had “discomfort with the idea that the public wouldn’t have access to the meetings as they were going on.”
“Since taking the legislative process online we’ve tried really really hard to keep things as transparent and open as possible,” Levasseur said.
In an email, Sen. President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, D/P Chittenden, said that he only learned of the Zoom glitch in the afternoon “just as it was being resolved.” – Xander Landen
— Gov. Phil Scott announced today that he will be running for reelection. But he won’t be campaigning “until the state of emergency is over,” he wrote in an announcement.
“As our state and nation continue to navigate a once-in-a-century challenge, Vermonters need and deserve a full-time governor who is focused on leading Vermont through the public health and economic crisis COVID-19 has created,” he wrote.
Scott, 61, will be seeking his third term as Vermont’s governor. But he’ll be doing it without a campaign staff, fundraising or campaign events, for now.
“I know this may seem a bit odd coming from someone in my position,” Scott wrote, “but I can honestly say the least favorite part of my experience in public service has been the politics.” – Xander Landen
— Elected officials and many government employees who aren’t represented by unions will be forgoing bonuses and raises for fiscal year 2021, as the state struggles to address budget shortfalls.
Additionally, due to Covid-19, the governor’s paid leave program for government employees is also being postponed because the state couldn’t find a vendor to institute the program in time. Democratic lawmakers have attempted and failed to pass their own statewide paid leave program.
“I just think to get a pay raise in this situation … I just think is not an appropriate time for an appointed official to be getting a pay raise,” Beth Fastiggi, commissioner of the Department of Human Resources, told lawmakers. – Grace Elletson
— House Commerce Chair Mike Marcotte, R-Newport, told VTDigger that his committee will be sending a letter to Department of Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington requesting that the division forgo penalty weeks for unemployment insurance benefits.
Those who have previously defrauded the benefit system or have incurred other infractions can be served with penalty weeks — a time period when they cannot receive any payments. But Marcotte and other committee members feel that everyone should be able to receive assistance during Covid-19 because finding another job in the current climate isn’t easy.
He said the letter requests that penalty weeks be served after the Covid-19 state of emergency ends. – Grace Elletson
