IN JAN. 30’S FINAL READING…
Marijuana bill may soon land on the House floor, Vermont follows California’s lead to allow student athletes to profit from their image, and new data shows Vermonters support prison reforms.
THE TOP TAKE
One step forward, two steps back, as they say. Or in the case of the marijuana tax and regulate bill, one step back to start moving forward.
For the first time since May 3, 2019, action was taken on the cannabis bill Wednesday. It was a formality — moving the bill from one committee to another — but it signals that there’s a path to passage on the House floor, perhaps by the end of next month.
The bill, S.54, would create a taxed and regulated market for marijuana, which is currently legal to possess but illegal to buy or sell. Last year, S.54 was approved by the full Senate and the House Government Operations Committee, but it stalled in the tax-writing House Ways & Means Committee.
This month, three House committees (Agriculture, Natural Resources and Health Care) have given their input. Today the bill was sent back to Gov Ops from Ways and Means. “We are hoping we can have the bill on its way by the end of the week,” said Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, D-Bradford, chair of the committee.
David Silberman, an unpaid advocate for tax-and-regulate, is cautiously confident. “This bill has now gone through 11 committees and has to clear two others,” he said, noting that there are only 14 House committees in all. “I’m always nervous when it goes to a new committee. But I’m not worried. I’ve seen a soft count [of the House], and I’m confident we have the votes.”
House Ways & Means chair Janet Ancel, D-Calais, said, “I don’t anticipate it will take very long” to clear her committee once it comes back. The bill would then move to the House Appropriations Committee, its final stop before the full House.
“We’re on track to get this to the floor,” said House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington. She’s the self-described air traffic controller of scheduling floor time, and S.54 is one of several big bills likely to land in February.
If S.54 is approved by the House, it would go to a House-Senate conference committee. After that, it would go to Gov. Phil Scott, who is skeptical of tax-and-regulate but has expressed willingness to sign a bill if it allows for roadside saliva testing and provides funding for education and prevention efforts. – John Walters
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
— The ACLU of Vermont is touting new data that shows that 68% of Vermonters said they support reducing the state’s prison population. The results come as lawmakers are considering a justice reinvestment proposal that includes furlough reform and expanded good time.
“Vermonters are saying loud and clear: we need smarter criminal justice policies that invest in people, not prisons,” Falko Schilling, ACLU of Vermont advocacy director, said in a press release. – Grace Elletson
— The House Judiciary Committee is poised to advance H.568, a bill that would prevent law enforcement officers from charging victims of crimes with prostitution and low-level drug possession when they respond to the scene.
The bill, which is expected to pass out of committee Thursday, would also create a study committee to look into whether Vermont should look to decriminalize and/or tax sex work. – Xander Landen
— Officials from the Barre tiny house project gave lawmakers an update on an “experiment” to house people with mental health problems and a history of homelessness.
Keith Grier with Downstreet Housing and Community Development told lawmakers that one of the tiny houses has been built and another will be done this spring. No one has moved into the existing tiny house yet. – Grace Elletson
— H.606 passed the House Thursday, clarifying that Vermonters can’t live in storage units. The bill also allows for renters to be notified by email — the previous law required only snail mail — if their unit rent is overdue before the items in the unite are auctioned off. – Grace Elletson
— More than 100 students and parents flocked to Montpelier Wednesday to lobby for school choice. The activists particularly emphasized school choice’s potential to draw more young families to the state to help address Vermont’s demographic crisis.
“When we were looking to come up to Vermont, we only looked at school choice towns, and we landed in Stannard, and started farming on an 1800s farm that hadn’t been farmed in over 50 years,” said Johanna Polsenberg. – Ellie French
— Advocates marked Mental Health Advocacy Day with awards given to advocates and lawmakers for their work to better mental health services in the state. Rep. Diane Lanpher, D-Vergennes, and Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, received “legislative champion” awards.
“All of the work they do goes way above and beyond,” said House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero. Lanpher and Wood were awarded specifically for their work over the summer to improve Vermont’s developmental disability systems of care. – Grace Elletson
— Capitol Police Chief Matt Romei would not tell a VTDigger reporter, despite her pleas, when Thursday’s building evacuation test would take place. He recommends people keep their coats with them, because there will not be time to grab winter gear before being ushered outside.
Sergeant-at-Arms Janet Miller has looser lips — she hinted the evacuation would likely happen in the afternoon. – Grace Elletson
— John Bloomer, secretary of the Senate, chastised VTDigger reporter Xander Landen for typing loudly during the devotional Wednesday. A few minutes later, a page delivered a note. “Xander — What did he give you s**t (I mean grief) for?” signed, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman. – Grace Elletson
— Peter Sterling, the Senate Pro Tem’s chief of staff, is out of town this week; he went to Poland for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. So when Senate committee chairs started gathering for their weekly 8 a.m. meeting at the Pro Tem’s office, they found it locked.
Senate President Tim Ashe, D/P Chittenden, arrived at about 8:05. But he didn’t have a key to his own door. He went to the sergeant-at-arms office, but couldn’t find anyone with a key. The group eventually made their way to Senate Appropriations and held the meeting there. – John Walters
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
Following California’s controversial lead, Sen. Corey Parent, R-Franklin, has introduced a bill, S.328, that would allow student athletes in the state to profit from their “name, image, or likeness.” The bill might be taken up by Senate Education. Parent said there are more pressing priorities the committee is considering.
VTDigger’s Grace Elletson caught up with Parent to learn more about the bill and why it may raise the ire of the NCAA.
GE: Why did you introduce this bill?
CP: It would really pressure the NCAA to do what I think is the right thing to do and allow college athletes to make a little bit of money off of their image. If you get into the details of the bill, it’s not the school paying the athletes, it’s not a conference paying an athlete. But if you’re a division one tennis player and you want to host a summer camp to help local kids learn to play and use your name and likeness to make a little money, which is against NCAA rules, it would allow them to do that. Or allow a car dealership to have someone come in for a day and sign autographs.
GE: What do you think of the NCAA’s argument that paying athletes ruins the spirit of sport?
CP: The Olympics used to make that argument and now Olympians make a living outside with endorsements. I think it’s very hard for me to look at college coaches and athletic directors making millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars a year off of programs that make a lot of money that isn’t trickling down to the players who are making the money for those institutions. So I don’t quite buy that argument.
