As the House this week approved one of the major crime bills to come out of the Senate this biennium — S.58 — some Progressive lawmakers and advocates have raised alarm over concerns that the bill could do more harm than good for many vulnerable Vermonters.
Among other measures, S.58 would add three offenses to the list of those that could be filed in criminal court, even if the offender is young enough to go to family court for more minor charges. Those additions would be aggravated stalking, using a firearm while committing a felony and trafficking a regulated drug, according to the version of S.58 that’s passed both chambers.
Teenagers who commit — or attempt to commit — those three offenses could be charged in criminal court starting at age 16, the bill states.
Proponents of the measure, including the Vermont Department of State’s Attorney and Sheriffs, have argued that it would give prosecutors critical discretion to hold more people accountable for dispensing substances that could easily result in an overdose death.
But according to officials in Vermont’s Office of the Child, Youth and Family Advocate, it’s nearly impossible for someone as young as 16 to traffic drugs without also being a victim, possibly of human trafficking, themselves. To their office, the bill doesn’t account for that reality.
“If we think of that youth who trafficks drugs — who is a victim themselves — and they are automatically cast into the adult, criminal division, then they are re-victimized,” said Lauren Higbee, the office’s deputy advocate, in an interview Wednesday. “That has significant impacts on their ability to become productive adults and citizens.”
Several Progressive representatives raised similar concerns on the floor this week ahead of the bill’s preliminary approval, including Rep. Brian Cina, P/D-Burlington. Cina and other lawmakers also said they were concerned that the bill could lead to more people being incarcerated.
Asked about those concerns in an interview, Rep. Joseph Andriano, an Orwell Democrat who reported the bill on the floor Tuesday, pointed to alternative resolutions in the criminal justice realm beyond incarceration, including court diversion and probationary measures.
And he said that a working group proposed in the House’s version of the bill could take on issues related to charging youth offenders in the criminal court system going forward.
The House concurred with many of the Senate’s proposals in S.58 — including a controversial measure to again delay the next phase of Vermont’s “raise the age” initiative at the request of Gov. Phil Scott’s administration — but also made changes.
Both versions of the bill would make it harder for offenders to claim they didn’t know that a product they sold someone contained a deadly substance, but the House version included a narrower scope than the Senate’s, only applying to certain types of drugs.
The House also nixed a provision that would bar someone who is charged with a drug crime they allegedly committed at someone else’s residence from coming back to that residence while awaiting a trial. The measure drew criticism from some housing advocates in recent weeks.
S.58 will now head back to the Senate to consider the House’s amendments.
— Shaun Robinson
In the know
Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday defended his decision to appoint Zoie Saunders interim education secretary despite the Senate’s historic vote to reject her permanent appointment to the role.
“I think this was a partisan political hit job,” Scott told reporters at his weekly press conference, adding that he might reappoint Saunders in a permanent capacity. “I’m not ruling anything out at this point, but we’ll contemplate that over the next few weeks.”
— Ethan Weinstein
Homelessness advocates and service providers are sounding the alarm that a last-minute Senate proposal to put a lid on the number of rooms available through the state’s motel voucher program would push more Vermonters into unsheltered homelessness.
“Closing off available beds, and forcing people outside is a policy choice — not an inevitability,” said Falko Schilling, advocacy director of the ACLU of Vermont, at a Statehouse press conference on Wednesday.
— Carly Berlin
In a letter on Wednesday to the state budget conference committee, Kristin Clouser, secretary of the administration, hinted at new ideas for reducing property taxes coming from the fifth floor.
“While property taxes are traveling in a different vehicle (H.887) the General Fund surplus estimates for the current year present an opportunity to reduce the property tax burden on Vermonters,” Clouser wrote.
“Surplus revenue, reduced contingent appropriations, a deferred savings plan, a needs based school meal program, education fund reserves and cost containment could be combined to get the FY’25 forecasted property tax increase down to the low single digits,” she continued.
Currently, the average Vermont homeowner’s education property tax bill is expected to rise 15%, with commercial property and second home owners facing a closer to 18% increase.
Clouser’s suggestions come weeks after Craig Bolio, Vermont’s tax commissioner, suggested the state defer education spending increases into future years, a plan rejected by State Treasurer Mike Pieciak for its possible negative impact on the state’s bond ratings.
Still, Clouser’s memo makes reference to “a deferred savings plan,” a nod to Bolio’s big idea.
— Ethan Weinstein
On the move
The Senate by a 21-8 vote Wednesday gave preliminary approval to H.72, which would allow the establishment of Vermont’s first overdose prevention site, also called a safe injection site, in Burlington. The Senate’s version differs in several ways — reducing the number of sites from two to one, and changing the funding source — from what the House passed in January, so the bill will go back to the other chamber for review of those changes.
Also, the House adopted H.R.18, a resolution that calls on Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore “to resign his office for the benefit of the people of Franklin County.” The resolution was put forward by the members of the House’s Special Committee on Impeachment Inquiry, which last month determined that despite concerns about several of Grismore’s actions, they did not amount to impeachable offenses, largely because they occurred prior to his being elected sheriff in November 2022.
— VTD Editors
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On the campaign trail
In his first public remarks on why he might seek a return to the state’s top office, former Gov. Howard Dean said Wednesday he was “deeply alarmed by the coming fiscal crisis in Vermont” and “dismayed … by the current poisonous atmosphere in Montpelier.”
The Burlington Democrat shared those views in an email to reporters days after WCAX broke the news that he was considering challenging Republican Gov. Phil Scott in this fall’s elections. Dean subsequently confirmed his interest in the race to VTDigger, but he has otherwise declined to elaborate on his thinking.
Asked for an interview Wednesday after he emailed reporters, Dean replied to VTDigger in a text message, “Thanks for asking but not doing interviews until I file.”
— Sarah Mearhoff
Notable quotable
T-minus 9 days ‘til session’s supposed adjournment date, Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, while reviewing a sprawling bill in Senate Government Operations this afternoon, said what we’re all thinking: “It’s all blending together.”
— Sarah Mearhoff
What we’re reading
UVM agrees to disclose investments in response to pro-Palestinian protesters, VTDigger
‘A very hard way to make a living’: Herd departs Hartford’s last remaining dairy farm, Valley News
