Dear Constituents –
This week, Committees got to work on the task of reading their counterpart’s bills, hearing testimony, and deciding which pieces to keep, concur with, scrap, or amend. My Committee, the General, Housing, and Military Affairs Committee, did a deep dive into the affordable housing and rental safety bills sent to us by our colleagues in the Senate, S.210 and S.226. We also continued to hear testimony on H.329, amending prohibitions against discrimination, and H.625, protections against eviction, foreclosure, and tax sales, both of which are rumored to be contenders to add in to the already Christmas tree-like housing bills.
We began our week hearing from the National Guard on their annual Sexual Assault and Harassment Report to the Legislature, noting that much progress has been made in recent years on changing the culture of reporting within the Guard, highlighting our Vermont Guard as an example to the rest of the country for forward-thinking leadership and zero tolerance.
Several of the Franklin County delegation had the pleasure of meeting with MVU students and advisors representing the OVX and VKAT groups, who were on the Statehouse steps in the rain advocating for our awareness around smoking and vaping use in school-aged youth.
On the House Floor, several bills were re-committed to committees, and a handful of bills were passed to the Senate. Of interest to readers : S.113, establishing a cause of action for medical monitoring expense ; S.72, Interstate Compact on placement of children ; S.239, enrollment in Medicare supplemental insurance policies ; H.744, amendment to the Charter of the City of Burlington ; S.184, defense of others and justifiable homicide, and S.265, expanding criminal threatening to include threats to third parties.
This last portion of the biennium will be busy, with legislators wanting to wrap up their priorities before heading to the campaign trail ; we’ve been told to expect long days working into the evening as we attempt to keep legislation at a reasonable and practical standard.
It is an honor to serve as your Representative in the Statehouse. Please reach out to me with comments at [email protected]
Stay well,
Rep Lisa A Hango, Berkshire
Franklin-5