News from Montpelier 2019 week 8

Senate bills are being passed out of that Chamber to the House for committee referral in increasing numbers as new House bills continue to be introduced and referred to committees of jurisdiction. More than 100 House bills were read for the first time and referred or placed on the Calendar this week. Two bills, H. 275, an act relating to the Farm-To-Plate Investment Program and H. 73, an act relating to approval of amendments to the charter of the City of Barre were on Friday’s Calendar for second reading and after a floor vote the rules were suspended to allow a third reading to occur immediately and they both passed. H. 327, an act relating to automatic renewal contract provisions was also brought to the floor for consideration Friday. The bill amends some of the language in a broader Consumer Protection bill that passed into law last session. Language is added that specifies consumer mechanisms for canceling a contract which has an auto renewal provision and removes a required secondary acceptance of the contract. Third reading was ordered but rules were not suspended to allow final action to be taken without the required twenty-four-hour interval.
In the House transportation committee there are forty-three bills that have been referred for consideration. Sponsors have been invited to give brief introductions of these as time has permitted but deeper consideration has not been given them yet. A few may be added as sections of the T-Bill when it enters the final committee review. The working draft is well marked up, but several sections still require the committee to take more testimony and debate. The topic of Electric Vehicle incentive and infrastructure needs is one area that is still open. The committee is also desirous of reallocating some of the funds in the Agency’s recommended budget. There is a desire to increase the Town Highway Aid amount, this line item has been held at a constant level since at least FY18.
S. 84, an act relating to emissions inspections was passed by the Senate and is now in House Transportation. The intent of this bill is to remove the obligation for a vehicle older than 10 years to undergo an emissions or on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems inspection once each year. The committee has not taken any testimony on this. Senate Transportation has been working on the DMV bill while House has given attention to the T-Bill. When the bills are passed from one Chamber to the other the focus of the committee will as well. Crossover dates will loom large when the General Assembly returns from Town Meeting break. Most Senate/House bills must be reported out of committee no later than March 15.