Good evening,

Thank you to those who joined me for virtual office hours from the Wardsboro Library and in person at the Dover Free Library. The next district office hours are in Dover at the Dover Free Library on the first Saturday July 1st from 11-noon and virtually and in person at the Wardsboro Library on the third Thursday June 15th from 6-7 pm.

The legislature adjourned on Friday May 12th at around 11 p. After cleaning out my shared housing in Montpelier and packing and unpacking back in Goose City, I was fortunate enough to travel to Colorado with our oldest daughter to welcome our youngest daughter back home from a 9 month deployment. My son is home from college for the summer and I have now returned to my year-round job with my inspirational year-round colleagues.

Headlines for this session include the legislature passing Universal School Meals, a major childcare bill, a modest housing bill, suicide prevention gun bill, and the Affordable Heat Act. Some of these bills have been or will be vetoed. The latest attempt to pass a Paid Family Leave bill has stalled. The legislature will be going back into session to attempt an override of the governor’s budget on the veto and possibly other bills. In this update I will focus on bills that have passed with the governor’s support and my work in the committee I serve on, House Environment and Energy. Look for a detailed update on the budget and other results from the Veto Session later this month.

Highs and Lows

My top priorities this year included securing help for smaller municipalities so that they had the best chance possible to utilize the once in a lifetime federal funds that are available, to pass the Clean Heat Standard legislation, and to prevent obstacles from interfering with the buildout of fiber by Vermont’s Communications Union Districts. Thanks to outreach and testimony from our district and around the state, these priorities were all realized.

I also became involved in the House’s efforts to include some modest Act 250 exemptions in the housing bill, and, working with our Windham County Delegation, successfully led efforts to secure a three year exemption from Act 250 for the rebuilding and burying of power lines in the housing bill. The exemption to rebuild the power lines was surprisingly difficult to secure with a key legislator, ANR staff and state employee actively in opposition.

The biggest disappointment for me this year has been the misleading – bordering on untruthful – information that was aggressively pushed at Vermonters about the Clean Heat Standard. The legislature will have to vote to enact the standard in 2025 if we approve of the analysis and structure the Public Utility Commission brings forward. The bill passed this year most definitely is NOT costing Vermonters $180 million dollars this year as a recent statement from the administration has indicated.

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Vermont Public: What good is a web post in a power outage? Vermont asks utilities to improve communication

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Bills that have been signed into law or allowed to become law by the governor

Phil Scott signs landmark reproductive ‘shield’ bills into laws S.37 and H.89 The bills would protect local health care providers from out-of-state subpoenas and summons, so long as the case involves health care activities that are legally protected in Vermont. It would also prevent the extradition of abortion providers to states where the practice is outlawed. The bill includes “reproductive health care services” includes “medication that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for termination of a pregnancy as of January 1, 2023, regardless of the medication’s current FDA approval status.”

S.138 School Safety This act adds several requirements to 16 V.S.A. chapter 33 (Fire and Emergency Preparedness Drills and Safety Patrols) regarding emergency preparedness and operations plans and drills, visitor policies, and behavioral threat assessment teams. Working Group on Student Protections from Harassment and Discrimination in Schools to study and give recommendations for how to address harassment and discrimination experienced by students in schools. The Working Group is required to issue a report with its findings and recommendations on or before December 1, 2023.

S.89	5/9/2023	An act relating to establishing a forensic facility	27
S.4	5/9/2023	An act relating to reducing crimes of violence associated with juveniles and dangerous weapons	23
S.47	5/8/2023	An act relating to the transport of individuals requiring psychiatric care	25
S.91	4/28/2023	An act relating to competency to stand trial and insanity as a defense	28
S.73	4/26/2023	An act relating to workers’ compensation coverage for firefighters with cancer	26
S.36	4/25/2023	An act relating to crimes against health care workers at hospitals and against emergency medical treatment providers	24
H.161	5/5/2023	An act relating to issuance of burning permits	21
H.222	5/5/2023	An act relating to reducing overdoses	22
H.288	5/3/2023	An act relating to liability for the sale of alcoholic beverages	17

Bills allowed to become law without the governors signature

H.230

An act relating to implementing mechanisms to reduce suicide and community violence

5/12/2023

Today I’m allowing H.230, An act relating to implementing mechanisms to reduce suicide and community violence,to become law without my signature.

This bill has come a long way. It started as something I could not support, but after a lot of time and effort from various parties, it ended in a better place, where I support two out of the three major provisions.

First, I believe the expansion of who can petition the court for an extreme risk protection order will prove to be helpful in keeping guns out of the hands of those who are at risk of doing harm to themselves or others.

Second, the provision relating to ‘safe storage’ creates a more palatable and effective approach to ensure guns are not readily accessible to those who shouldn’t have them.

Unfortunately, the third component, including the 72-hour waiting period is, in my opinion, problematic.

Given the relatively new legal landscape we find ourselves in following recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, I have significant concerns about the provision’s constitutionality. My struggle with the overall bill lies in the fact that I, and all legislators, took an oath to “not do any act or thing injurious to the Constitution.”

However, this matter is currently being taken up through constitutional legal tests across the country and will be decided in Federal Court.  I would also not be surprised to see a Vermont entity challenge the constitutionality of this provision of the bill, as well.

With this in mind, knowing that my constitutional concerns will be addressed through the legal process, I will allow H.230 to become law without my signature, and await the judicial branch to decide the fate of waiting periods.

Letter from Governor Scott to legislators on June 1 allowing H.230, An act relating to implementing mechanisms to reduce suicide and community violence, to become law without his signature.

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House Environment & Energy

This year I served on a newly created committee, the House Environment and Energy Committee. This committees policy jurisdiction includes conservation and development, climate change mitigation, land resources, air, water, and wildlife, and solid waste management; energy utilities, telecommunications, and broadband. This committee also has jurisdiction over Act 250. All told 10 bills were voted out of this committee. Thus far, my bill, H.110, S.112 and S.137 have been signed by the governor. S.5 will go into law after an override vote.

H.110 An act relating to extending the sunset under 30 V.S.A. § 248a extends the sunset of Section 248a for three years. 248a addresses the process of siting telecommunications facilities under 30 V.S.A. A report will address how the process can be improved to make it easier municipal and individual participation.

S.112 An act relating to miscellaneous subjects related to the Public Utility Commission creates a legislatively led task force to Renewable Energy Standard to draft legislation to be considered by the General Assembly during the 2024 Legislative session that updates the Renewable Energy Standard.

S.137 An act relating to energy efficiency modernization extends a pilot program with Efficiency Vermont and Burlington Electric Department

S.5 An act relating to affordably meeting the mandated greenhouse gas reductions for the thermal sector through efficiency, weatherization measures, electrification, and decarbonization. This bill creates the Clean Heat Standard in statute, has the PUC develop the marketplace and the rules for implementing a Clean Heat Standard through a public process utilizing technical and equity experts and provides the 2025 legislature and governor with rules to implement the Clean Heat Standard which they may change, pass, or subsequently repeal the statutory provisions of S.5. (see below for discussion of override vote)

These bills passed by my committee have yet to be acted on by the governor:

H.31 An act relating to aquatic nuisance control puts in place an Aquatic Nuisance Control Study Committee and tasks them with returning a report to the legislature on

1. a summary of the use of pesticides, chemicals other than pesticides, and biological controls in the lakes and ponds of Vermont since January 1, 2000, including the types of pesticides, chemicals other than pesticides, and biological controls approved for use and why they were approved instead of nonchemical controls;
2. an assessment of the use of pesticides, chemicals other than pesticides, or biological controls on the nontarget environment or nontarget species; and
3. recommended legislative changes to the aquatic nuisance control requirements under 10 V.S.A. chapter 50

H.67 An act relating to household products containing hazardous substances covers the sale and disposal of products that contain hazardous household waste in Vermont. If signed by the governor, the legislation requires manufacturers of such products to participate in a stewardship organization that will implement an approved collection plan. Currently, products sold in the state that contain hazardous substances require special treatment in solid waste management facilities which hold special events for the collection of this waste.

H.126 An act relating to community resilience and biodiversity protection This bill establishes goals of conserving 30 percent of the land of the Vermont by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050 and the creation of a statewide conservation plan that would include an inventory of conserved land, and the necessary conservation approaches to maintain a resilient Vermont, including natural and working lands. 

H.158 An act relating to the beverage container redemption system would restructure the redemption system by requiring beverage container manufacturers and distributors to participate in a newly formed producer responsibility organization. If signed by the governor, the organization would create and implement a stewardship plan (like in H.67) to manage the beverage container redemption system going forward. The bill also expands the types of beverage containers subject to deposit to include bottled water, hard cider, and wine, with wine bottles subjected to a 15 cents deposit.

S.80 An act relating to miscellaneous environmental conservation subjects asks for a report summarizing the status of the Vermont Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Pollution Control Revolving Fund and the Vermont Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and a stakeholder process to develop recommendations on the implementation of a riparian protection program in the State with a report due by December 15, 2023,

S.100 An act relating to housing opportunities made for everyone this bill makes changes to land use regulations, municipal zoning law, Act 250, and other laws pertaining to the construction and maintenance of housing supply in Vermont. The bill also appropriates funds to housing development and retention programs. Fiscal note is here

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Bills that have been vetoed:

H.305	An act relating to professions and occupations regulated by the Office of Professional Regulation	6/1/2023
S.6	An act relating to law enforcement interrogation policies	6/1/2023
S.39	An act relating to compensation and benefits for members of the Vermont General Assembly	5/31/2023
H.386	An act relating to approval of amendments to the charter of the Town of Brattleboro	5/27/2023
H.494	An act relating to making appropriations for the support of government	5/27/2023
H.509	An act relating to approval of amendments to the voter qualification provisions of the charter of the City of Burlington	5/27/2023

The governor has vetoed the budget (see my thoughts below on the budget veto), legislative pay increases and several other bills. The legislature will go back into session June 20, 21 and 22 to attempt veto overrides.

I voted for the legislative pay increase and explained why in my legislative update from Weeks 14 & 15.
S.39 – An act relating to compensation and benefits for members of the Vermont General Assembly FISCAL NOTE

I think it’s important to understand that the governor proposed a total budget that was close to a 10% increase over last year, the legislature 13%. These increases account for a large amount of one time federal funds and revenue that was higher than expected.

When the governor and the legislature bring forward their budgets, they have to bring forward financial documents and fiscal notes with the data and calculations that back their budgets up.

The Governor’s veto statement that the legislative proposals may cost $1200 per household? The press should ask to see the math on that. Roughly $700 of that $1200 per household is attributable to an unscientific guess about the effect of a proposal that may never go into effect.

When my family decides what to have for dinner, watch on tv or where go for a hike or if we are going on vacation, we have to prioritize and compromise. 

In government and in life we have to prioritize and compromise. 

The Governor’s budget is a proposal to run government for the coming year and to fund the governor’s priorities. A legislative budget is made up of a review of the governors budget and priorities plus the negotiated priorities of all of the people’s representatives working with the Governor’s administration and other representatives for municipalities, businesses and special interests.

The governor has stated he opposes the increase in DMV fees – I do not. When the fees do not keep pace with the cost of providing services, we see a decrease in service. The governor is opposed to the Clean Heat Standard, but has already had that veto overridden. The governor is opposed to the payroll tax to fund childcare, so am I. But there is overwhelming tri-partisan support for the childcare proposal.

The budget is the culmination of a lot of work by the governor, legislators and advocates. No one got everything they wanted and everyone got things they didn’t want.

I will support the budget and vote to override the veto.

Rep. Laura Sibilia statement on FY 2024 Budget Veto

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June: Pride, Dairy and Bear Conflicts

Tebbetts: Celebrate Dairy Month! | Vermont Business Magazine

Bear Conflict Month

Bear conflicts typically spike in June, and we need everyone to step up their bear awareness to turn the trend around this year and help keep our bears wild. 2020 was our highest bear incident year and 2022 was the highest number of bear attacks on people in one year and the second highest overall incident year. Overall, we have seen an increasing trend of bear incidents over the past decade even though the bear population is stable. This means the issue is people leaving food where bears can get it and bears learning a dangerous lesson. We want to stress how important it is to follow these living with black bear guidelines in order to keep bears, and yourself, safe.

A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear

People often encourage bears to come out of the forest by providing food without realizing it. When bears become used to these food sources and have frequent contact with humans, they become more dependent on human foods and less wary. When habituation happens and bears rely on humans for food, the only option left is to kill the problem bear. This habituation also puts bears at increased risk to vehicle collisions and of being killed in defense of property.

The most common sources of food that attract bears are: pet food, bird feeders, barbecue grills, garbage, household trash containers, open dumpsters, and campsites with accessible food and food wastes.

Purposely feeding a bear is not just bad for the bear, it’s also illegal.

If you see a bear in a residential area or you encounter an aggressive bear, please contact the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. Read more: http://vtfishandwildlife.com/learn-more/living-with-wildlife/living-with-black-bears

From Windham Regional Commission:

Thank you to everyone who attended the “NFIP Map Update Informational Session” with Ned Swanberg on the evening of May 8^th.  Ned Swanberg, Vermont Flood Hazard Mapping Coordinator with the VT DEC Rivers Program, presented detail about the coming FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) map update process.  This update process will be taking place for all Vermont counties and information is available here.  The Session was a great opportunity to learn more about: the map update process, the timing of the updates for each county in the region, basics of the data behind the map update and how the new maps will alter the Special Flood Hazard Area.  Many town flood hazard bylaws will need to be updated in conjunction with the new FEMA maps going effective.  Questions about the map update process can be directed to either Ned Swanberg via ned.swanberg@vermont.gov or John Broker-Campbell via John.Broker-Campbell@vermont.gov.  The link to the recording is here.  

Links shared by Ned in the session: bit.ly/fema-map-update, bit.ly/model-regulations, bit.ly/flood-manager, bit.ly/floodatlas, www.floodready.vt.gov, www.floodtraining.vt.gov

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Vermont House committee moving forward on rarely used impeachment process

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Monitor the bills I am sponsoring and recorded roll call votes.

As always, if you have suggestions, concerns or critiques please be in touch so we can schedule time to discuss. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need assistance navigating government services at (802) 384-0233 or lsibilia@leg.state.vt.us. Follow my regular posts online at http://www.laurasibiliavt.com

It is an honor to represent our district in the legislature. Thank you!

Rep. Laura Sibilia – Dover, Jamaica, Somerset, Stratton, Wardsboro

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