On the precipice of the Vermont Legislature’s approval of a bill outlawing so-called ghost guns, a third party is slated to weigh in on the question of regulating untraceable, unserialized firearms: the U.S. Supreme Court.
The nation’s highest court on Monday agreed to take up an appeal on a 2022 Biden administration rule, which altered the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ definition of a firearm to include unfinished parts, the Associated Press reported. The intent of the rule was to require serial numbers and any corresponding licenses or background checks for such parts, which can be assembled to build a fully operational gun.
The Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, which opposes the bill currently being considered in Vermont, flagged the SCOTUS docket for legislators in a Tuesday memo, ahead of a scheduled House floor vote on the bill. “It is currently unclear what effect this may have on S.209,” the federation wrote.
However, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, S.209 utilizes a slightly different enforcement mechanism from the Biden rule. Per S.209, — of which Baruth was among the lead sponsors — Vermonters who build their own guns using disparate parts or a 3D printer would be required to take the assembled gun to a licensed firearm dealer, who would then conduct a background check and emboss a serial number on the weapon. If passed, S.209 would also require serialization of frames and receivers, which are vital pieces for an operating gun — similar to ATF’s rule.
Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, told VTDigger on Tuesday that with the ATF rule making its way to the Supreme Court this fall, it’s even more important for the Legislature to pass S.209.
“If the Supreme Court strikes down that rule, it’s really critical that we have this law in place to make sure that there aren’t unserialized parts to firearms and firearms coming into the state,” LaLonde said. “We believe that having that law would not be in violation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, or Article 16 in the state constitution.”
LaLonde also noted that the crux of the lawsuit headed to the Supreme Court is not whether regulating ghost guns violates the Second Amendment to the constitution. The question, he said, is whether ATF usurped its constitutional authority in establishing the rule without Congress’s approval.
Baruth wasn’t so confident that the court would keep blinders on while considering the case. He told VTDigger on Tuesday that he is wary of the court leaving the door open to the question of whether serialization, at all, is constitutional.
“That’s going to take them ultimately to the question of serialization itself,” Baruth hypothesized. “And if they overturn that, all bets are off.”
The Vermont House in a preliminary vote last week approved S.209 by a 110-31 vote. The bill will face another House vote this week, then it will head back to the Senate to consider House amendments.
— Sarah Mearhoff
In the know
In a small and crowded room, the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday held a more than 90-minute confirmation hearing for Zoie Saunders, Gov. Phil Scott’s pick for the next secretary of education.
Despite the contentious nature of Saunders’ nomination, particularly over her prior work experience, the hearing proceeded mostly smoothly.
“Your nomination has garnered a tremendous amount of interest,” Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, chair of the committee, said in kicking off the afternoon.
Saunders’ background working for the for-profit education management company Charter Schools USA guided many of the afternoon’s questions both explicitly and implicitly.
— Ethan Weinstein
Longtime Northeast Kingdom state senator Bobby Starr will close a 46-year legislative career when his current term expires in January.
At a legislative breakfast with constituents Monday morning, the Orleans County Democrat announced his impending retirement. Pointing to his “hair and wrinkles,” the 81-year-old said he and his wife “have come to the conclusion that maybe it’s time that I retire.”
Starr has served in Vermont’s Legislature since 1979, when he was sworn in as a first-term House member. He served in the lower chamber until he won his first election to the state Senate in 2004, and there he has served since.
In a chamber which highly values seniority, Starr is a member of an old guard of the Senate: a cohort of longtime, moderate senators who steer policy decisions closer to the center.
— Sarah Mearhoff
On the move
Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Monday signed into law S.278, a bill which removes comparative negligence from consideration in civil sexual assault lawsuits.
Comparative negligence, as used in civil cases, can best be described with an example: Imagine a tenant walks up to her apartment building during an ice storm. Her landlord did not salt the sidewalk. She slips and falls and injures herself, then sues her landlord for liability.
It’s then revealed that when she slipped and fell, she was wearing stiletto heels. Using Vermont’s comparative negligence statute, the landlord would then be able to argue in court that the tenant was partially responsible for her injuries.
With S.190, that same argument can no longer be applied to a sexual assault case in Vermont civil court.
With Scott’s signature on Monday, the law went into effect immediately. Scott on the same day also signed S.190, an act relating to statements made by a child victim of an offense involving serious bodily injury.
Read VTDigger’s previous coverage of S.278 here.
— Sarah Mearhoff
Visit our 2024 Bill tracker for the latest updates on major legislation we are following.
The third member
The Senate on Tuesday offered its blessing to Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, who becomes the third member of the chamber’s influential Committee on Committees. Kitchel assumes the quietly powerful role from former-Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle, who resigned earlier this month for health reasons.
The three-member Committee on Committees — composed of the lieutenant governor, Senate president pro tempore and the third member — assigns senators to their committees and committee chairmanships.
The role is particularly important at this juncture in the legislative session, as conference committees will no doubt be assembled to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of legislation.
Kitchel — already a high-ranking, powerful member of the chamber — was unchallenged for the position. Her colleagues unanimously elected her via voice vote, and just in time: The budget crafted by the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which she is chair, is poised for a floor vote this week. From there, it will surely go into conference with the House.
— Sarah Mearhoff
On the campaign trail (or not)
A majority of Vermonters surveyed recently said they want to see Republican Gov. Phil Scott and independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders run for reelection this fall. But the two top politicians remain tightlipped about their reelection plans as the state’s campaign filing deadline fast approaches.
According to a University of New Hampshire poll released Tuesday, 58% of those surveyed said they want Scott to seek a fifth two-year term as governor, while 30% said they do not want him to run and 12% were undecided.
Slightly fewer respondents, 54%, said they think Sanders should run for a fourth six-year term in the U.S. Senate. But 40% said they think Sanders should bow out, and only 6% of respondents said they were undecided on the matter.
Read more soon at VTDigger.org
— Sarah Mearhoff
What we’re reading
New ‘incentive calculator’ launches to help Vermonters electrify their homes, VTDigger
Amid empty storefronts, Brattleboro asks a statewide question: What’s the future of downtown? VTDigger
Vermont awarded $62 million in federal solar incentives, Seven Days
