Rep. Ashley Bartley, R-Fairfax, started her first term ready to “leave it all on the field” both under the golden dome and at her full-time position as human resources director for a small property management company. Instead, she lost her job in January, just one week into the session.
Bartley told her story to the Senate Committee on Government Operations on Wednesday. The committee is considering S.39, a bill that would make state lawmakers eligible for state employee health benefits, expand expense reimbursements to child care, and create an off-session weekly compensation rate, among other changes.
Not to be left behind, House members are introducing a similar bill, H.281, which would create an annual salary for legislators of 50% of the statewide annual average income, now just under $33,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Both current and former state representatives testified on the Senate bill, emphasizing that lack of health care and low wages limit who is able to participate in lawmaking.
Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun, D-Westminster, put it this way: “You shouldn’t have to be wealthy or retired or married to serve in the Statehouse,” she said, noting her health insurance comes through her husband’s job as a middle school teacher.
The Senate bill also revisits legislative leave, expanding protections to those with part-time jobs. The law says full-time employees seeking leave to serve in the Legislature shall not lose their job status, seniority or benefits as a result.
Bartley, who is also a new mom, said she felt sure she had secured her employer’s backing when she ran for her seat and won last fall. She knew it would be difficult, and was readying herself for long hours.
But as she prepared to start the biennium, her employer became upset by how much she was out of the office. He asked her to switch from a salaried to an hourly position, and let her go when she refused, she said.
The current law wouldn’t have helped her, Bartley said, because it requires that an employee wanting to serve give an employer written notice of the need for leave prior to filing to run.
In response, Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, the bill’s primary sponsor, said legislators would be looking at that language as well. “Your experience certainly underscores the need to do that,” she said.
— Kristen Fountain
IN THE KNOW
Vermont’s infrastructure is “mediocre” — on a school report card, it would get a C, according to a report issued Thursday by a statewide group of civil engineers.
The report gives Vermont letter grades across nine categories, ranging from a B-minus for its bridges to a D-plus for its wastewater systems. Energy, roads and solid waste scored a C-plus; aviation, dams and drinking water scored a C; and stormwater systems drew a C-minus.
The state’s overall grade is the same as it was four years ago, the last time Vermont’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers published a letter. The C grade is slightly higher than the society’s national average, which is currently a C-minus.
The group of engineers said that Vermont has some of the oldest infrastructure in the U.S., and the state needs to make its existing systems more resilient to deal with the impacts of the climate crisis.
— Shaun Robinson
As U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was launching a hearing on Capitol Hill related to the health care workforce shortage, his state director, Katie Becker Van Haste, underwent her own grilling — under the golden dome.
Becker Van Haste appeared before Vermont’s Senate Health and Welfare Committee for introductions today with fellow state directors Rebecca Ellis (U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.) and David Scherr (U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt.).
Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, the committee chair, had just a few simple questions for Becker Van Haste to take back to Bernie in his new role as chair of the so-called HELP Committee (Health, Education, Labor & Pensions).
What is it going to take to get Medicaid tied to the consumer price index? That is imperative to create more financial stability for primary care providers, Lyons said, calling it “an ongoing unbelievable concern.”
Was there a way to give states oversight over employer self-funded health insurance plans? (These are called ERISA plans after the legislation that created them, and they cover a significant chunk of the state’s population.) Without it, executing health care payment reform in Vermont is a challenge, Lyons said.
Becker Van Haste promised to follow up.
— Kristen Fountain
ON THE MOVE
The Vermont Senate advanced a bill Thursday that would ban paramilitary camps that train people with “the intent to cause civil disorder.”
The bill, S.3, was prompted by Slate Ridge, a “gunfighting” training facility in West Pawlet operated by Daniel Banyai, whom neighbors have accused of harassment and failing to get necessary permits.
Sen. Terry Williams, R-Rutland, cast the lone dissenting vote. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden-Central, spoke Thursday on the Senate floor, urging his colleagues to pass the legislation.
“I expected there might be pushback,” Baruth said, adding that he so far has been pleasantly surprised by the consensus on the measure. “It is my hope that (it) will continue in this chamber. and then the other body.”
If the Senate gives the bill final approval, it will head to the House for consideration.
— Alan J. Keays
It’s on its way. The House’s paid family leave bill, H.66, was advanced out of the House General & Housing Committee on Thursday afternoon by a 9-3 vote that fell along party lines. (Dems and Progs for, Republicans against.)
The measure, which would guarantee 12 weeks of paid leave, would offer a 100% wage replacement capped at Vermont’s average weekly wage ($1,135 in 2022). It would represent “the most generous benefit of all states with paid family leave programs,” according to the Legislature’s fiscal analysts, and could be covered by an estimated 0.5% payroll tax, although the state would adjust that levy on an annual basis based on claims.
Next stop: the money committees.
— Lola Duffort
LAW AND ODOR
Lawmakers unanimously re-elected Sergeant-at-arms Janet Miller to her post in a joint session just before lunch on Thursday. It’s a job that no doubt requires her to answer important questions, like this one: Why were the front and side doors of the Statehouse propped open this morning as lawmakers (and a VTDigger reporter) came into the building?
“There was an odd smell,” Miller explained this afternoon. She said the stench came from the building’s machine room, where someone had been grinding metal.
Fortunately, the smell seemed to have dissipated by early afternoon. Doubly fortunate, I might add, was how the doorways let in a nice breeze. “At least it wasn’t 20 below,” Miller said.
— Shaun Robinson
MILESTONES
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— Jeralyn Darling, Final Reading editor
WHAT WE’RE READING
A ‘Vermont perfect storm’: Statewide data shows record spike in housing prices (VTDigger)
In hockey country, a figure skate sharpener is a rare find (Vermont Public)
Vermont’s sole Olympic-size ski jump fights a rising foe: winter temperatures (VTDigger)
At a public meeting on proposed wake boat regulations, many call for stricter limits (VTDigger)
