I sit on the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs. There are over 80 bills currently on our wall for consideration. I want to share some of the myriad issues currently under discussion to give readers a scope of the portfolio. Not included are National Guard and housing bills, among many other concerns for upcoming agendas.
Most proposed bills stay on the wall in each of the 11 House committees. Legislating is an iterative process, and bills change dramatically while in committee. What I am sharing are the initial proposals prior to vetting and amending. If taken up in the full House and passed, bills are then sent to the Senate for consideration. Bills originating in the Senate follow a similar process.
The crossover deadline is March 11 to allow adequate time for each chamber’s deliberations. Finally, when both House and Senate agree, final bills are sent to the governor to sign or veto. Only a fraction of bills introduced each session become law. Here’s just a sampling of some of my committee considerations:
Human composting
H.244 allows for the natural organic reduction of human remains, a method in which an un-embalmed body is broken down with organic materials like wood chips and straw for several weeks inside of an enclosure until it becomes soil. Washington, Oregon and Colorado permit these kinds of processing facilities. This would provide Vermonters another option to burial and cremation for their permanent disposition choices.
Liquor licensing
The committee looked at several bills that recommend changes in liquor licensing, reflecting the ever-evolving business environment:
• H.591 and H.638 allow in-state manufacturers to mail products directly to consumers.
• H.613 legally defines “on farm” malt or vinous beverages as products in which 51 percent of ingredients (other than water) are grown on the farm that sells them.
• H.684 allows food trucks to hold first- and third-class alcoholic beverage licenses.
Worker protections
H.329 amends current laws prohibiting discrimination by establishing a uniform six-year statute of limitations to file claims; reiterates that a claim is viable regardless of whether an employee filed a complaint through the employer’s internal grievance process; adds harassment as an unlawful employment practice; and lowers the severe and pervasive burden for establishing a claim of harassment or discrimination.
H.477 clarifies a statute enacted in 2018 that enables employees eligible to take crime victim leave and expands family members who also qualify for leave from work.
Truth, reconciliation, reparations
Over the past several weeks, the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs has taken extensive testimony from advocates, scholars and community members on several bills related to racial and social justice: H.96 establishes a truth and reconciliation process; H.387 establishes a task force to study and develop reparation proposals for the institution of chattel slavery; and H.273 promotes racial and social equity in land and home ownership.
We also reviewed several bills related to Indigenous land rights: affirming access to state lands for hunting, trapping, farming and sacred rituals (H.618); identifying, protecting access to and exempting historic and sacred Indigenous sites from taxation (H.668); and creating a study committee to examine possible mechanisms for the repatriation of traditional Abenaki lands to the tribes.
To follow issues being discussed, visit the Vermont General Assembly website and search both House and Senate committees to see agendas and pertinent documents for each day’s discussions. Links are provided to livestream every committee meeting.
To learn more about any bill, merely type in the number in the search function. Contact me at jkillacky@leg.state.vt.us if you have trouble accessing links or if you want to share your thoughts.