Vermont is exploring microtransit as a way to expand public transportation in rural areas across the state. But the Agency of Transportation cautioned lawmakers this might not be a silver bullet.
“I’ve heard so many good things about it, maybe that caused or created a little bit of an irrational exuberance on my part, to talk about how it’s going to transform rural transit,” Ross MacDonald, Agency of Transportation public transit manager, told lawmakers Wednesday.
Microtransit functions much like Uber or Lyft, in that users can summon a ride via their phone. Companies like Via — a main player in microtransit tech — argue this approach can be more convenient and environmental than traditional bus routes, while expanding service in rural areas.
Green Mountain Transit launched a fare-free microtransit pilot, called MyRide, in January 2021. Since then, it has provided 34,860 rides, according to the Agency of Transportation.
An average MyRide trip in Montpelier is a little over 3 miles long, and costs taxpayers $16.75, Bloomberg reported last month.
About 40% of trips have been along the old Hospital Hill bus route, MacDonald told the House Transportation Committee.
“I would call it largely successful, but it isn’t the slam dunk that has shown such an efficient service, with a reduced per-mile cost, with every user saying this is a far improvement over what we had,” MacDonald said.
The future of microtransit could be a hybrid approach, MacDonald said, such as offering on-demand rides as shuttles between Montpelier and Barre, while keeping traditional bus routes.
The Agency of Transportation is working on feasibility studies in 12 other Vermont communities: Barre, Brattleboro, Ludlow, Manchester, Middlebury, Morrisville, Randolph, Rutland, Springfield, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury and Windsor. The agency plans to award three or more microtransit pilot programs in FY2023.
— Riley Robinson
IN THE KNOW
Vermont’s eyeball war began with a controversial request to let non-physician doctors cut into eyeballs. The battle ended Tuesday with a bureaucratic whimper.
The factions in this fight — two kinds of eye practitioners — disagree on who should have the right to cut into eyes and eyelids.
Optometrists, the primary care providers of the eye world, are asking for the right to perform some superficial surgeries in Vermont. Their medical counterparts, ophthalmologists, argue that non-physician practitioners can’t conduct these procedures safely.
But after hours of impassioned testimony — and accusations — from both sides, lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Government Operations on Tuesday reached a stalemate on S.158.
Committee members were locked 3-2 in favor of the bill. Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, who sponsored the bill, said S.158 couldn’t survive a floor vote without more buy-in.
The move effectively killed the bill for now, though lawmakers said they’d like to revisit the proposal in a future legislative session.
— Liora Engel-Smith
The Senate’s bill to end qualified immunity for police officers has gotten a makeover — but not necessarily a pretty one, at least according to stakeholders.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday walked through the latest iteration of S.254, featuring a strike-all amendment that essentially replaced the bill with the Vermont Supreme Court’s 2018 Zullo v. Vermont case precedent. Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, who chairs the committee and is leading the bill, said the rewrite was his attempt at a compromise.
Ultimately, both proponents and opponents agreed … that they don’t like this version, according to Sears.
“Once I’ve heard from both sides that they don’t like this version, it’s probably a good sign that it’s probably not gonna fly,” he said.
There’s not much time left to get the bill across the committee’s finish line before lawmakers’ deadline. The committee isn’t scheduled to hear the bill again until the morning of Crossover Day, Friday, when it’s set for a mark-up and possible vote.
— Sarah Mearhoff
Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, opened a Senate Education Committee meeting with a big question: How do we deal with the teacher shortage?
Campion then kicked off the brainstorm — meant to result in a letter to the Agency of Education — with a follow-up question. What if Vermont created a minimum teacher salary? He pointed to New Mexico, which recently increased teachers’ minimum salary by $10,000.
Sen. Cheryl Hooker, D/P-Rutland, a former teacher, then suggested debt forgiveness and scholarships.
“One of the things we actually talked about in committee this morning was having workshops for teachers, the wellness workshops that have been so lacking recently,” said Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden. Other committee members offered vocal agreement for the idea.
The committee volleyed a few other suggestions: a more efficient licensure and application process, more flexible child care. But they came full-circle about 20 minutes later: “You know, bottom line, it’s the money,” Hooker said.
— Riley Robinson
The House was scheduled on Wednesday to attempt an override of Scott’s veto on the bill that would grant Brattleboro a charter change allowing 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in local elections. But lawmakers ultimately postponed action on H.361 to March 11.
House leadership believes they have just enough votes to override, but a few too many people were absent Wednesday.
— Lola Duffort
ON THE MOVE
The Senate Committee on Finance voted unanimously to advance a bill to update the school funding formula’s “pupil weights,” mathematical tools intended to make the K-12 system’s funding system fairer.
The as-yet-unnamed bill would replace the current weights with new, upgraded weights that would give “underweighted” districts — low-income or rural districts, or districts with many students learning English — more tax capacity.
If school funding across the state’s school districts did not change from today’s amounts, the shift in tax capacity means that “some towns’ tax rates would increase, while other towns’ tax rates would decrease,” according to an analysis by the state’s Joint Fiscal Office.
The bill also would establish a grant program for districts with small numbers of students learning English, and would establish a committee to monitor the state’s school funding into the future.
Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, a member of the Senate Finance Committee and a task force that examined the issue last year, said it would “(move) us toward a funding system that is more equitable for all students.”
The legislation must now pass through the Senate Rules Committee and the Appropriations Committee before reaching the floor.
— Peter D’Auria
Miracle of miracles: A bill creating a state ethics code binding all three branches is moving after all. Despite earlier concerns from advocates that lawmakers would revise the legislation to death, the Senate Government Operations Committee voted 5-0 to endorse the latest draft of S.171 and send it along to the floor.
— Lola Duffort
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
The Democratic National Committee really wants you to know it’s paying attention to — and investing in — the Green Mountain State. A DNC official reached out to VTDigger to pitch a story about the party’s generous infusion of cash to the Vermont Democratic Party, and when we did not immediately reply, they made sure to call.
The DNC has made a big show of investing at the local level ahead of the midterms, and, since June, its monthly contribution to the state Democratic Party has been upped to $12,500 a month, a 25% increase from base funding levels in 2020, according to a representative who, for some odd reason, insisted on speaking to VTDigger without being named. For the first time ever, the national party has also awarded the Vermont Democratic Party a grant to pay for its coordinated campaign director, the staffer charged with coordinating between Democratic campaigns up and down the ballot.
But how much is this grant for? The DNC official would not say — five figures is all they would offer in the way of clarity.
They also offered this written statement from DNC Chair Jaime Harrison: “With open Senate, House and governor’s seats, we have the opportunity to elect strong Democratic leaders who will work for working families, fight for lower costs, continue growing the economy and stand up for Vermonters everywhere.”
An open gubernatorial race? I wonder what the DNC knows about Gov. Phil Scott’s plans that we do not!
— Lola Duffort
The Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO endorsed David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat, in his bid to reclaim the lieutenant governorship.
The Vermont AFL-CIO is made up of nearly 100 locals representing more than 11,000 members, according to the campaign’s press release. Zuckerman, who was lieutenant governor from 2017 to 2021, got a unanimous vote of approval from the executive committee.
— Riley Robinson
IN CONGRESS
Earmarks are back, baby!
It’s been more than a decade since members of Congress could request money from the annual appropriations omnibus bill to fund specific projects in their home states. Colloquially, such requests are dubbed “earmarks” — but you probably already knew that if you’ve read this far down in the newsletter, right?
Vermont is set to reap hundreds of millions, due in large part to Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy’s outsize influence as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
— Sarah Mearhoff
MARCH MADNESS
Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Chittenden, informs us that the annual Statehouse March Madness tournament is back on this year. “It reminds us that we all have a life and something to talk about other than the goings on of the Statehouse!” the House Appropriations member wrote in an email that went out to lawmakers and legislative staff this morning.
We’re not actually sure about that, but as it happens we at Final Reading also need a life, and so will sheepishly accept his invitation to join. The deadline for entries on who will win the national collegiate basketball championship is Thursday, March 17.
— Lola Duffort
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH
Tomorrow, salmon is the special. Always one to ask the tough follow-up questions, I pressed chef Bryant Palmer for more details: What about the sides? Any rice? “Probably rice,” he answered. Vegetables, too.
— Lola Duffort
WHAT’S ON TAP
THURSDAY, MARCH 10
9 a.m. — Senate Natural Resources to discuss and possibly vote on S.129, an act relating to the management of fish and wildlife.
9 a.m. — House Judiciary to discuss and possibly vote on H.505, which would reclassify penalties for unlawfully possessing, dispensing and selling a regulated drug.
1 p.m. — House Government Operations takes testimony on H.661, which would amend the licensure requirements for mental health professionals.
WHAT WE’RE READING
Senate advances a bill providing incentives for more housing (VTDigger)
NEK educators noticing student behavioral changes since onset of pandemic (VPR)