Not me!
Legislators have plans to expand the Statehouse. The governor opposes the idea. This led to some interesting separation-of-powers questions Thursday morning in a meeting of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions.
To kick off the project, legislators would need to spend about $1.5 million on the design process, said committee chair Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Springfield. If they got the money — over Gov. Phil Scott’s objections — they’d have to make a choice.
They could direct the $1.5 million to the Department of Buildings and General Services, which knows how to carry out large construction projects. But BGS is part of the executive branch — and the executive doesn’t agree with the project.
If the Legislature decided to go it alone, they could hand the money over to the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, which is part of the legislative branch but has little to no experience with a construction project of this scale.
If the Legislature went that route, “Formally, you guys would be on the hook for the project,” said BGS principal assistant Erik Filkorn, who attended the meeting.
Though legislators have yet to commission designs, the general idea presented Thursday was to build an additional story on top of the existing Statehouse cafeteria, build a larger
cafeteria upstairs and convert the current cafeteria into roughly five larger committee rooms. The construction is expected to cost somewhere in the $20 to $25 million range, and would be financed with federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
In Scott’s view, that’s a poor use for ARPA funds.
“We have so many needs across the state, like broadband, housing, water-sewer and storm projects that will not only protect our environment, but spur economic growth in rural areas that are underserved,” Scott said in a written statement to VTDigger. “Every limited ARPA dollar the legislature spends on themselves would be a dollar being taken from initiatives that will help workers, families and communities throughout Vermont.”
Jason Maulucci, a spokesperson for the governor, clarified the project “is not a priority” no matter the funding source because Scott believes the money is better spent elsewhere.
Emmons warned her committee that if it was going to use ARPA funding, it would have to move quickly for a project of this scale: Federal rules require those funds to be spent by 2026.
Rep. Marcia Martel, R-Waterford, urged her colleagues to move ahead. “Somebody should get off the top of the can here, and go make a plunge and do this, because it’s our one and only chance,” she said. “Just think about it. That money will go down the drain if we don’t use it.”
But several committee members had reservations about doling out millions to a body with no construction management experience. Rep. Curt Taylor, D-Colchester, asked whose signature would be scrawled on the construction contracts.
“If we’re saying it’s the legislative branch, I need something more specific than just ‘the legislative branch,’” he said.
Sergeant-at-Arms Janet Miller told the committee that if the responsibility was delegated to her office, she would still lean heavily on BGS’ expertise and on private contractors.
Said Emmons, “The question is, you really need whoever oversees this whole (request for proposal) and project development needs to be very astute in construction. I don’t know, Janet, if you want to weigh in?”
“So obviously, that is not me,” Miller said. “Just so we’re all clear about that.”
— Riley Robinson
IN THE KNOW
The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy heard an update Thursday from legislative lawyer Ellen Czajkowski on GlobalFoundries’ petition to become a “self-managed utility.”
The company, which manufactures semiconductors and is the largest private-sector employer in Vermont, uses 8% of the state’s electricity. It’s looking to get it from the regional wholesale market, rather than Green Mountain Power, and it’s asking for “de minimus” regulation, which could exempt it from Vermont’s renewable energy laws.
Committee members wondered about the Legislature’s role in the case. Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison, who chairs the committee, said if the case moved forward, legislators could consider “how many other entities in the state of Vermont might judge themselves to be in a better position by doing something similar.”
“There’s a question about what happens to things like our energy system in the state of Vermont if we start to have large consumers step out of traditional regulation,” he said.
The Public Utility Commission hasn’t seen action for several weeks on the case, and has yet to announce the remainder of the case schedule.
— Emma Cotton
A bill introduced by Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, would prohibit parents from claiming religious exemptions to school vaccine mandates for their children.
Currently, parents can opt out of required vaccinations — for polio, measles and tetanus, among others — for religious reasons. Campion’s bill would end that.
“We have to do what we can do to protect children, teachers, school personnel and all their families,” Campion said.
But legislators have tried and failed to eliminate the exemption before. And with emotions over vaccine mandates at a possible all-time high, lawmakers may have little appetite to take up the contentious issue.
“I am eager to hear the testimony, but this bill is not currently a priority for the caucus in the Senate,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham.
Sen. Randy Brock, R-Franklin, the minority leader of the Senate, appeared to agree.
“I don’t know (that) this has to happen in this particular session,” Brock said.
— Peter D’Auria
A meeting of the Joint Rules Committee scheduled for Thursday afternoon was canceled at the last minute and will be rescheduled at a later date. The committee was set to discuss how — and under what conditions — lawmakers should return to work in person. Conor Kennedy, chief of staff to House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said the meeting would likely be set for Friday or Monday.
The clock is ticking. If lawmakers do nothing, the House is set to return to in-person business come Jan. 18.
— Lola Duffort
Vermont’s unprecedented worker shortage is shaping up to be a top policy priority in this year’s legislative session.
At a meeting of the House Committee on Health Care Thursday, lawmakers considered a request from the Department of Mental Health for additional money for mental health clinicians. The state’s short-term strategy has thus far relied on hiring temporary staff at a much higher rate compared to regular full-time employees.
Rep. Woodman Page, R-Newport, expressed frustration with that approach, especially given that Vermont’s health care workforce shortage was an issue well before the pandemic.
“It just seems a little odd to me that we’re not looking at the big picture and solving this at all,” he said at the meeting.
Rep. Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, who chairs the committee, said some staffing gaps need to be filled immediately.
“We’re having to work collaboratively to figure out how to plug these holes as we try to find some longer-term solutions, none of which are immediate or easy,” he said.
— Liora Engel-Smith
COVID CORNER
The Vermont Department of Health reported 2,188 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, the first time the state has reported more than 2,000 cases in a single day.
The latest data follows a trend of steep upward growth that began right before the new year. The state is now averaging more than 1,000 cases a day, compared with about 400 cases a day on Christmas, and about 750 cases a day on New Year’s Eve.
— Erin Petenko
ZOOM OF THE DAY
“That is our auditory signal for, ‘You’re on mute!'” Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, D-Bradford, told colleagues in the House Government Operations Committee Thursday morning.
— Sarah Mearhoff
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., cut a new campaign video focusing on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and calling on the Senate to support voting rights legislation.
ON THE FIFTH FLOOR
The state is partnering with the National Institutes of Health to send 500,000 free Covid-19 rapid antigen tests to Vermonters’ homes in the coming weeks, Gov. Phil Scott announced Thursday.
The QuickVue tests, manufactured by Quidel, will come in packs of two, according to the governor’s office. Vermonters will be able to order them online and need to provide their name and mailing address. Additional details about how to order will be released next week.
Other states, including Missouri, New Hampshire and New Jersey, have also attempted to deploy large numbers of free Covid-19 tests by shipping them directly to residents who ask for them. Basically all have run into the same problem: high demand, and too little supply.
The announcement from the governor’s office sought to manage expectations, and stressed that the initiative should be considered a pilot project. The state is gauging “how well the system works so we can continue to improve testing options and work with President Biden’s team to make future testing programs successful,” the governor said in a written statement.
“As with every new program, there are going to be unanticipated challenges, the number of kits each household can order will be limited, it could take up to a week for them to be delivered, and we expect that they will go very, very quickly,” Scott added.
— Lola Duffort
IN CONGRESS
Speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate Thursday morning, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., recalled the chaos that unfolded there exactly one year earlier and said that former President Donald Trump needed to be held accountable for inciting “an attempted coup” that day.
Leahy said he was shocked to see police officers rush into the Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, responding to what he soon learned was a violent attack by Trump supporters attempting to stop Congress’ formal certification of the results of the 2020 election.
“We are in the business of words, but there are none to adequately capture the damage that (Trump) and his henchmen have done and are doing to our country,” Leahy said in what he called some of the most somber remarks of his eight-term Senate career.
— Shaun Robinson
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
“I think we’re dancing around the fire here and we have to get our marshmallows out.” — Rep. Bob Hooper, D-Burlington, referring to the time crunch the House Government Operations Committee faces as it debates legislative redistricting.
— Sarah Mearhoff
WHAT’S ON TAP
For Friday, Jan. 7
9:05 a.m. — Department for Children and Families officials talk childcare financing with Senate Health and Welfare
9:30 a.m. — House members take part in a training on ethics and discrimination
9:30 a.m. — Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington testifies before Senate Economic Development and General Affairs on unemployment insurance and workforce issues
9:30 a.m. — House Government Operations marks up and votes on S.172, which would allow municipalities to make Covid-adjustments to Town Meeting Day
1:30 p.m. — Senate Education discusses church and state issues related to schools
WHAT WE’RE READING
Vermont aims to weatherize 90,000 homes this decade. Can it find enough workers to finish the job? (Energy News Network)
Vermont credit union developing a lending program that complies with Islamic law (VTDigger)Burlington runner to compete in Antarctica marathon (WCAX)
