The legislative session of 2023 is winding down with members looking forward to a targeted adjournment date of May 12. The leisurely pace of the past several weeks has been replaced with an all-out sprint to the finish. The House is now meeting twice a day, once at 10:00 AM and again at 3:00 PM to accommodate the flow of bills moving back and forth between the Senate and the House. With this type of sched- ule, it is exceedingly difficult to conduct committee hearings and act on meaningful legislation, so many House committees have effectively “shut down” for the session. Money Committees, the Commerce Committee, and the Judiciary Committee are notable exceptions, as many of the bills in their jurisdiction are flowing back and forth between the bodies while the House amends Senate bills and the Senate does likewise. If the difference between the two Chambers is worked out in this manner, the legislation will be passed and sent to the Governor for his signature.
There are several notable excep- tions to this process and when an agreement cannot be worked out, the bill is assigned to a Committee of Conference. The conferees will work out the differences and, if an agreement can be made, the re- spective bodies will vote either up or down on the revised language in the bill. During this process, the bill will be presented, and a vote will be taken without debate. Must-have bills for adjournment that are currently in conference are The Big Bill (General Fund Budget), The Transportation Bill, and The Capital Construction Bill. This is the process The Vermont General Assembly has been using for decades and it seems to work.
However, I have always felt this process is slightly flawed because the three Senators and three House members on the Conference Com- mittee will make decisions for their colleagues with extraordi- narily little input from the remain-
ing 174 members of the Assembly. It is the system we have, and it seems to work, but at times it is very frustrating for members that are not involved in the process.
One bill I have been following is H.494 – “The Big Bill.” This bill was passed by both The House and Senate with wildly different spending priorities and funding methods for their favorite initia- tives. The spending patterns are also quite different from the 8% spending increase in the Gover- nor’s recommended budget. The House version of the bill includes a 12% spending increase while the Senate proposal is an increase of 13%. The bill is now in the Com- mittee of Conference and the dif- ferences must be resolved and sent back to the Assembly for approval before adjournment. The question now for lawmakers is “Can they get agreement for a May 12 ad- journment?” Adding to the drama is that if the General Assembly does not fund or underfunds some of the Governor’s priorities, he is guaranteeing a veto of H.494. The leadership of both the House and Senate are so sure of a veto that they will call the Legislature back into session on June 20 for a veto- override session. More to come as the weeks ahead progress.
Finally, a sure “sign” of ad- journment is the blooming of the tulips in the State House flower gardens. This “sign” has proven true in most all the 14 years I have served in The Legislature, and this year will prove no different and they will surely be in full bloom by Friday, May 12.
I can be reached by email at bshaw@leg.state.vt.us, by phone 802-483-2398 or by mail at PO Box 197, Pittsford, VT 05763. I am always available to have a conversation concerning our leg- islative district and your Vermont state government.
Representative Butch Shaw
Pittsford-Proctor
Vice Chair-House Committee on Transportation
