Updated at 6:22 p.m.
MONTPELIER — Lawmakers voted Monday afternoon to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of a bill that allows for the creation of an overdose prevention center in Burlington, reversing course after a rollercoaster day of uncertainty over the measure’s fate.
After Senate lawmakers failed to override the veto during an initial vote, the measure passed on a second attempt when Sen. Richard Westman, R-Lamoille, changed his vote from “no” to “yes.”
H.72 will lay the legal framework to open a pilot site in Vermont’s largest city, funded by $1.1 million from settlements with pharmaceutical companies. It will also commission a study of the facility’s impact.
Proponents of the bill have said an overdose prevention center, also known as a safe injection site, would create a safe and sanitary facility where people could use substances without fear of overdose. Amid near-record opioid overdoses in Vermont, advocates have said that such a site would be a crucial, lifesaving tool.
But critics, including the governor, argued that such facilities were untested, and that the state’s limited funds would be better used to support recovery and treatment. After the legislature passed the bill last month, Scott vetoed it.
Legislative leaders believed they had the votes to override that veto, and the House voted Monday morning without incident to approve an override. But around noon, the override effort stalled in the upper chamber.
Senators needed 20 votes to meet the two-thirds margin required to override the veto, but came up one vote shy, at 19.
Legislators and advocates outside the Senate chamber just after the Senate’s first vote were clearly surprised at the result. Some were visibly distraught.
“It was absolutely a surprise. I thought we had the votes,” Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden Central, a strong proponent of the legislation, said after the vote. “And probably the most heartbreaking surprise that I’ve ever experienced in this building. I mean, that vote will kill people.”
Later in the afternoon, however, the bill was back on the Senate floor.
Westman, who voted against overriding the veto earlier that day, rose to ask lawmakers to take another vote on the measure Monday afternoon.
Westman voted in favor of the bill last month when it came before the Senate initially. In an interview after the veto session, he said that he supported the bill but had gotten mixed up about what legislation was up for a vote.
“I wasn’t paying as close attention as I should,” Westman said. “I embarrassed myself. It’s the first time in 40 years I’ve ever had to make a motion like that.”
Westman’s reversal allowed the Senate to meet the threshold of 20 votes, completing the veto override effort.
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, hailed the override in a statement issued shortly after its conclusion.
“Today a tripartisan majority of the Senate voted to override Governor Scott’s misguided veto of the overdose prevention center bill, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to addressing Vermont’s opioid crisis,” Baruth said. “Governor Scott’s veto of this bill was an incredible disappointment, but I’m proud that the Vermont Senate delivered on our commitment to do everything in our power to accelerate the end of the opioid crisis in Vermont.”
The bill appeared to be imperiled by the shifting membership of the Senate between last month, when the chamber initially approved the bill, and Monday.
A roll call record for the bill showed that Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, initially voted in favor of the bill in May. Sears passed away earlier this month, and his seat is currently vacant.
Sen. Andy Julow, D-Grand Isle, who was appointed last month by Gov. Phil Scott to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of the late Sen. Dick Mazza, also voted against overriding the bill Monday.
Julow said in an interview that he believed the state’s limited resources should be used to reduce addiction and “dry up demand” for deadly opioids.
The decision to vote no, he said, was “a really difficult one for me.”
Sarah Mearhoff contributed reporting.
