 Hello and welcome to under the dome from town meeting TV. My name is Bobby Luciae. We're here at the state house today on May 12th It's allegedly the adjournment day for this year's session And we're here to talk with some legislators about what they've accomplished this year as well as get a feel for the crunch time at the end of the session and What folks are trying to get past here in the final hours of the legislative session this year So thanks for joining us on under the dome. Emma. Do you want to just talk a little bit? We'll start with what you've been working on this session and a couple of things that you've accomplished this session that you're excited about Great. Well, thanks for coming to the state house on these final days of the session It's been a long several weeks And so I'm excited to report that we've had a couple significant labor bills come forward I'm the leader of the progressive caucus and so we had a few big priority areas and labor issues and workers rights Where what was one of that piece of work? And so we just recently passed a provision on a workplace discrimination and harassment s103 and within that bill There's also an update finally after 20 years to the equal pay provisions of state law Equal pay right now until this bill gets signed by the governor only extends to people's biological sex It's an old and outdated terminology anyway Even when we talk about gender identity, but there's so many other categories of identities people hold that impact But based on implicit or explicit bias the impact how people are paid in the workplace So this is an incredibly important update and now we'll include race national origin gender identity sexual orientation and Disability so it it also adds a layer of privacy for employees so employers can't actively ask What's your identity in order to then you know make sure they're not paying a wages differently based on identity So it's a major move forward for just for economic justice in the workplace the other provisions in there Change the standard of harassment in the workplace from severe and pervasive Which is a very high standard to prove if you're being harassed in the workplace And it has dropped it to a reasonable level so people can actually be more protected in the workplace So those are that's a major move forward for just employment rights there We're talking to talk about another one. I think I'm going to jump into another so yep So the legislature is considering a few really big ticket items as we're approaching the end of this session here There's a child care bill. There's the budget What are you hoping to accomplish in the last couple of hours and how what do you kind of anticipate? Well, or what are you looking forward to as the as we approach the finish line here? Well, one of the biggest bills we have left is child care policy Unfortunately, we were not able to get paid family leave across the finish line this session We have next session. I see the two issues as really intertwined for working families So I am actually disappointed that we could not find between the Senate and the House working Collaboratively together a solution that put both pieces forward because that's the bold policy that working families need However, child care we have had a crisis for years and we are finally on the precipice of having a real Bold piece of policy go forward that will increase CC FAP Which is a subsidy program for Vermonters to a much higher love income level to allow people who are sort of that Upper lower income or even lower middle income range to get some economic support So people aren't going to be paying such an a huge amount of their income for child care It also puts meaningful resources towards child care workers So we can retain and retract and pay decently and fairly livable wages for first staff It also has provisions in there that start to just make the program we talked last time We had it did an interview around language access So some of the components of the CC FAP program are very opaque and very hard to navigate for paperwork Etc. So one of the provisions in this bill aligns the new state language access plan requiring all the forms and paperwork that AHS through the Department of Children and Families puts through these programs making those forms accessible for the average Vermonter for any Vermonter for that matter So it's plain language and easy to access and navigate so it's I'm actually quite excited about the policy in there now It will include a payroll tax which was a compromise with the Senate And so the funding mechanism is really important here as we think about everyone paying into this system to support the child care needs of our working Economy and so I think that's another really important piece there because everyone's in now on making sure that this is an important step forward a statement from Vermont that this impacts all employers impacts all workers and when you know when the workforce does not have affordable child care It has negative outcomes on all aspects of our economy A lot of moving pieces here at the end of the session as deals are being mentioned a compromise in the child care bill Can you characterize just a little bit of what it looks like for a dealer compromise to be made? How does that work? Does the leadership kind of conference and then come back to other folks in each chamber? Or do you have a you know a chance to weigh in on an email thread or something like how does it how does it work? That's a great question So like sort of make it a little more transparent of all the the very complicated moves that happen as we round up the session So I would say some of the pieces are more formal looking like sometimes when the Senate and House cannot compromise on a bill They'll call a committee a conference which then there's three members in the house and three members in the Senate It's usually people who are in leadership roles of committees come together This is what happens all the time with the budget for example and then work for either a day or several days to work Out of compromise and when that goes through that process the bill that comes back to both chambers is an up-down vote Meaning we don't get to further amend it and we get a yes. No, which is not my favorite part of this job the binary yes No, I think every vote is the asterisk. It's like a yes with a major asterisk or no with a major asterisk to explain Why this is not just a simple yes or a simple no, but that's like the most formal straightforward way Many other ways are behind the scenes and back and forth and a really good example is the child care bill For example So if viewers are looking for s-56 which for until about two days ago was the child care bill to be tracking You will not find it anymore I mean you'll find it but it looks like we have done nothing with it because also what happens at this point is Must pass legislation gets things put into it in order to be a vehicle to get past the finish line especially if there's further amendments to happen to it and so the child care bill is in this other bill now H 217 which ironically enough was originally a workers compensation and unemployment bill which went through my committee So there's lots of ways to get things to the finish line It can get very hard to track and so one of the best things anybody viewing at home Who's really curious about it and passionate about a particular topic or bill It's a talk to their legislator because at this point probably a good half of the bills that you think we're moving may look like it Didn't move but it actually did move in another vehicle, which is just another bill It's it doesn't have to be that complicated But when we need when we have a deadline of getting out of the building after 18 weeks of work This is what happens But but that's I mean that's part of the process Do you think you'll be done by the end of the day? I am crossing all my fingers and toes However, I do want to say a big however we need to do some good work And so sometimes the thing I really hate about the end of the process here is we rush the work I've equated it to being like a lab partner and showing up and doing all the hard work And then someone shows up at the 11th hour who supposed to be 50% of the grade as well And they didn't do very good work quality work, and I think that reflects on our policy sometimes So Seth, can you just tell us a little bit about what you've worked on this session and what committee you're in? Sure, so I'm in government operations and military affairs the There's an awful lot of stuff that goes through our committee anything to do with any changes to any town or city charter Water districts, etc. So there's a lot of volume Some of the big things we've been working on this year are specifically sheriff's reforms And related to the Franklin County situation We've been doing a crash course and Impeachment and how that works for both the sheriff and Attorney LaVoy We've also been digging into Updates to liquor laws cannabis reform Election laws in general One of the ones that I've worked on Specifically is a cyber security council because a lot of the different industries and stuff in the state have Diverse cybersecurity And trying to find Especially our more vulnerable institutions like power of water, etc And getting them up to an equal level of standard and communicating across industries. So setting that up is It didn't cause an awful lot of discussion, but it's important work and getting The council stood up so that everybody can communicate and begin the work of standardizing So we're here in the last day of the session and it's a little bit chaotic And so you just tell us a little bit about what your roles are representative is now sort of as we come to the end And some of these big ticket bills are being considered by the House and Senate and what that might look like And what your role is today? sure for our committee the two that are still in play our elections reforms and Cannabis reforms Updating the rules and regulations with things that we've learned since it was first launched those are both Coming over from the Senate So we have yet to hear the full report of what those will look like. So our committee will be Reconvening to to discuss those shortly And once we figure out if if we approve or if there's additional changes then they go to the floor If it's something that is broadly supported by all members of the party and the caucus and the body as a whole Then the parties will cooperate to provide rules Suspensions to allow things to be taken up in a more timely manner if there's disagreement Then it goes through the traditional process of going on notice calendar, which means we wouldn't be able to take it up today There is kind of a chaotic air to the state house today as we're all finishing things up So anything that you wish were different about the legislative process that could allow this work to Take shape more sort of intentionally or you know, is there something that you wish were different about the process? Yeah We've heard from a lot of folks different Desires for what the session would look like I happen to be in the camp. I'm a technology guy So I'm a network engineer a lot of the the topics that I deal with are very Rapid evolving right so I would like to see Longer session or like year round or something like that so that we don't have this crunch at the end We would still have an end date of the year for timeline, but Having a longer duration session or maybe a more stretched out session so we can respond to things as they come up in the lives of Vermonters, I think would be helpful to the process You just share a couple of things you've worked on this session that you're excited about Yes in health and welfare. We did some great work this year. One of the things we got to do was we took a field trip to Jenna's Promise which is a Community organization in Johnson Vermont that is a design with wraparound services for folks who are struggling with addiction and it was probably the best day or one of the best days that I had in the Senate just Connecting with these folks who've really created a culture in a community that de-stigmatizes addiction that helps folks deal with this disease Helps them find work helps them learn a skill Provides medical care. It was just an incredible day for me and that was just a wonderful example of kind of like a hub and spoke System with wraparound services that protects and supports people so I just wanted to make that clear And H 222 which is a bill that is somewhat related to the work of Jenna's promise Which is really gonna save lives and going to help folks suffering from addiction disorder There are lots of parts to the bill and I won't go into all of them But that is work that I'm really proud of an s-89 the shield bill which will really protect Doctors who are supporting folks with Reproductive health care as well as gender-affirming care, so I'm really excited about that work Also in Senate education. We passed the universal meals bill school meals bill which I Was a little hesitant about it first because I was worried about the money coming out of the education fund Which is already very stressed and There's so much that we need in the way of education that I was concerned with that money coming out But after a lot of testimony and learning about The importance of of this particular system. I certainly came around I voted for it and I'm happy that it passed So yeah So it sounds like as of this week There's a deal between the House and the Senate to move forward some pretty historic investment in child care in Vermont Can you talk a little bit about that compromise that took place this week and what that means for child care in Vermont? And also whether it looks like that might be able to survive a governor's veto as it looks like Governor Scott is probably not Going to support the bill. Yeah, so I mean I think everyone knows that the house was more focused on paid family leave Which was a which was a large bill also with a lot of pieces to it the Senate was more focused on child care I think it's great that the two bodies got together and worked out a compromise And the child care has survived. I do believe that we will be able to You know, I think we do have a veto-proof majority on this bill. That's my sense Who knows but I think it just has a lot of support and there's a lot of Outreach from the public just asking us to get this done. So I think there's a lot of motivation What does deal making and compromise look like sort of as we approach this hard and fast deadline It's the end of the session adjournments probably going to be later today You know, how do you how does how do legislators navigate making those deals on that deadline? What does it look like is it our deals kind of happening in back rooms? How do you know how do senators and legislators and representatives actually be? You know, how are they able to weigh in on these kinds of compromises as they take place really quickly? That's a really great question and as someone who is brand-new at this My answer is just from the perspective of someone who is new and I can say that there are times when I wish There were a little bit more. There was a little more transparency in these final weeks because there was a lot of work That's going on that You know, I didn't necessarily understand or wasn't necessarily a part of I understand You know, it takes years to really understand all of the parliamentary rules and all of the inner working inner workings of the system but That said it does seem as though both bodies and basically everyone who's here is Determined to come to a resolution to find a solution listen to constituents listen to the big issues out in the public and get to an end point and that is It gives me hope for democracy So it looks like the budget that's going to pass today does not extend the Emergency housing program that is supported almost three thousand folks through the pandemic being housed in motels around the state How do you expect or hope that the state government will support those people as they potentially lose their housing in July? Yeah, that was a very sad and disturbing Piece of news as we as we went through these final weeks Housing if nothing else is an upstream investment if you can get folks housed it saves you a lot of Time energy resources Pain downstream So I'm saddened that we weren't able to find or haven't found the money to house these folks until we have a solution that said I also have to listen to my colleagues who have said that a Lot of the money that was going into this temporary program will be placed into Wrap around services long-term housing solutions But I wish instead of an and or it was an and and you know, we're doing this and we're doing this other thing because I am very concerned and we received very Compelling emails from a lot of folks who are in that program and I worry for their safety and their well-being So Paul can you just tell us a little bit about the rank choice voting bill that's moving through the legislature this year and where it's at Right now in the last day of the session Sure. Well, the Senate has now twice passed legislation that includes rank choice voting and that would put rank choice voting in place for the 2028 presidential primary in Vermont The reason why they passed it twice is because the first bill that they passed hasn't yet gotten out of committee in the house The house in the meantime sent another bill to the Senate about that has broader election reforms in it So the Senate today debated that legislation and attached to that the ranked choice voting provisions that they had passed earlier So that broader package of election reforms just passed the Senate on a 16 to 14 vote and Does that will that make it back to the house before the end of the session today, you think that's an excellent question It may depend on how long they're here if they leave today The answer is no that was just second reading in the Senate today So it needs to be passed for a third and final time And then because of the changes that the Senate made it would need to go back to the house for their consideration and and probable concurrence if they had the opportunity, but but they From what I'm hearing they won't have the opportunity before they break Today or even tomorrow wouldn't be enough time for that to happen Do you think that it's good for Vermont's democracy that these Have been kind of bundled together or would you have liked to see rank choice voting move forward separately? I Tend to think it's good for these measures to be considered on their own merits And certainly we would we would love to see rank choice voting considered on its merits the bill that is currently in the House of Representatives What we saw on the floor today in the Senate was Concerned over Several other provisions in the bill. I don't think any any senators raised any objections to the rank choice voting provisions today It doesn't mean that it the whole thing cannot happen It did pass 16 14 and and it has some good things in it And it has some things that a number of senators who I think raised legitimate concerns about elements of it We felt that on balance as an overall package We did support it and our primary interest was the rank choice voting piece But we urged senators to vote in favor and and a bare majority did Majority do you think that the governor has is going to support this bill as well? It's unclear for sure He has expressed some concerns about rank choice in the past though the again that bill had a 23-7 vote earlier in the session and I expect it would receive Well over a hundred votes in the House if that were to go as a as a separate bill on its own merits I don't know that I've heard the governor speak to the other elements of this bill though Clearly there were again these other concerns raised so we just don't know where the governor is going to come down on it that You know any observer would say that raises questions about whether this has a chance of moving because 16 is not 20 And that's what you need for an override so so we don't know but You know as an organization that's concerned about getting more people involved in elections giving voters more choices A stronger voice in the process. We're going to keep moving forward every day We can we'll try to make this process better more inclusive for as many voters as possible I'm going to speak about briefly any of the other things that the perk has been working on this session that you're excited about Well, it's actually been a pretty good session in a number of ways A bill that just came out of the Senate yesterday was the bottle bill legislation to expand the scope of the 51-year-old Popular bottle bill program in the state So that's the program that you pay a five cent deposit on Beverage containers you get that deposit back when you bring them back for redemption and it has recycled over the 50 years of The program more than 10 billion cans and bottles in the state. It's good for recycling This legislation would also improve redemption opportunities for people adding more redemption centers around the state So it'd be good for consumers good for small businesses and good for the environment So we are certainly hopeful that that bill might make it all the way through It that too is in a situation right now where the two chambers are working out differences Could possibly happen if there is a veto override session at those differences could be worked out at that time And and we'd be hopeful that the governor might be willing to to let that one pass And I think that would be a huge environmental victory for folks Sort of crunch time here at the end of the session How does sort of the deal making the compromising work at this point? There's everything's moving so quickly and you know advocates like yourselves are Trying to move certain legislation for it. How does it work? Are there sort of email threads that you're chiming in on? Are there you know rooms that you're trying to? You know come into or is a lot of the work that you've done the session kind of already behind you Like what's your role today on the last day of the session and getting some of this stuff passed? Well, we're here in the building and that means sharing information The thoughts trying to answer questions that legislators may have on particular pieces of legislation We've worked on dozens of bills through the course of the session and invariably It is the final days where those bills are trying to get ultimately across the finish line And so there are a lot of conversations with a lot of legislators on many different issues a lot of good and valid questions being Raised because you have your time out legislators who spend most of their time in one or two committees They get very steeped in those issues that are before the committees But all the rest of these issues they're hearing about on the floor or trying to gather information from Lobbyists or other interested parties in the building by and large they have no staff of their own and so again There are a lot of questions that they reasonably have That we and others are trying to answer at this point in the session and then counting votes You know or do we have enough votes to pass this bill and And trying to again just help the process move forward as best we can That's a lot of what you're seeing in the building at this stage of the game for an organization like mine a nonprofit that has many Members from around the state. We're also keeping those members informed about where we are in the process on each of these Individual bills and trying to give them the opportunity to connect with their legislators at just the right time with just the right message Representative Stebbins. Thank you so much for joining us So can you talk just a little bit about what you've worked on what committee you're in the session and What legislation you've been working on? Sure and thanks for the opportunity. So I serve on the house Environment and energy committee I'm also one of the co-chairs of the climate solutions caucus and I'm also a co-chair of a statewide Climate workforce collaborative group So great to be in the committee that I'm in because it's so relevant to a lot of the additional work that I do To focus first in terms of what our committee worked on Hopefully, we're gonna vote out two bills on the floor in about ten minutes one on household hazardous waste and then one also on sort of pulling all the stakeholders together to develop a Thoughtful biodiversity plan to really look at how we protect Vermont moving into the future Keeping in mind that 70% or so of Vermont is privately owned. So this is a really Critical conversation that has to be done in a really thoughtful way Vermonters love living here because it's gorgeous and beautiful and because we care about our neighbors So how do we how do we work with our neighbors when they want to when they are willing to talk about? What do we want Vermont to look like in 2030 and 2050? We also just passed yesterday. We Managed to flip the governor's veto on s5 the Affordable Heat Act As someone who's worked in energy and environmental issues since 2000 You know the one of the top sectors besides transportation in Vermont for carbon emissions is how we heat our buildings So this has been a really challenging Challenging sector to get at We've been studying climate change and emissions in Vermont for about two decades and this concept is Drafted a fair amount On other performance standards. We have a performance standard in Vermont called a renewable performant performance standard And that is essentially what this is but it's for the fuels that we use to heat our homes It's very detailed and I'm happy to talk through any of it with anyone I will just say there's going to be a whole lot of public process about the bill for viewers in case they've heard anything Concerning and I also just want to make it very clear that the bill essentially what it does is tell all the Economists the energy experts the engineers Utility experts to develop a program over the next year and a half But then in January 2025 they bring that program design back to the legislature for four and a half months of discussion review testimony And if the legislature votes to approve it then that's when we would actually see this program go into effect So for Monter's probably aren't going to see much about this program over the next year and a half Except unless they want to get involved in the public engagement process We've also Hopefully we're not quite there yet. We'll be able to modernize our 50 year old bottle bill We've also worked on aquatic invasive species in our water bodies and a slew of other bills We have asked Experts and stakeholders to come together to figure out over the next three four five months What an update to our renewable portfolio standards should look like so that's just in my committee quite a bit of work in terms of writ large you know We we passed Suicide prevention bill gun safety bill that was that was really quite a large lift We also are Hopefully about to pass through child care And making sure that we are actually building a robust system so families can afford to work here and and raise kids here and obviously We're in the last hopefully last day and one of the things that we're really Digging through is how do we make sure that we are planning and preparing as much as possible for July 1 Which is when the general assistance the motel housing program ends after three years from COVID and predominantly federal dollars We've been spending You know the administration has approved it's almost like eight thousand dollars a month per room So it's it's a program that we can't keep going like that a motel is not a home We do need to shift out of that Approach on the other hand Simply saying you're out does not work either So that's what's going on today in terms of talking through the budget. How do we make sure that we have an? You know a ramp that shifts from motel Here we are May 12th to where we're gonna be on July 1st, and you know as so many people know Homelessness is not just not having a house a lot of times it relates to You know having medical issues having You know substance use disorders, so it's not just do we have enough housing It's do we have the housing and the services so a lot of different committees have worked on different parts of that from health care To human services even in my committee. We worked on s100, which is really geared to make it less Make there be fewer regulatory barriers to building In locations in Vermont that have water and sewer lines Because they're you know for any developer they will tell you that there are a lot of steps a lot of regulations We need those because that's how we make sure buildings are built safely And we're not doing it in a wetland that ends up getting flooded on the other hand Are there opportunities that we can really prioritize in town villages in you know city centers that we can make it a little bit easier? Or or more efficient to go through that regulatory process so Last day here. It feels like there's sort of a Chaotic push to get across some of the largest investments of this session here in the final hours Is there anything that you wish was different about the legislative process? Is there anything that needs to change so that we can give some of these big issues the time that they need to? to be addressed Definitely This could only start in the Senate the way our Constitution is written But I would propose we really look seriously at a Unicameral system, so there are other states that only have one body So that we have one body and we don't have 180 legislators and instead of meeting for four and a half months And then kicking a whole bunch of work to the off session July through December that we actually meet for the amount of time that is needed and We actually have people who are able to Give these topics give these policy questions and challenges the time that they need rather than saying, okay We ran out of time. Let's have You know this working group this committee this blue ribbon council dig into it. There are times where that makes a lot of sense I think for the renewable portfolio standard that I just mentioned makes a lot of sense Because citizen legislators do not necessarily have the expertise when it comes to like how much solar how much out of state You know other renewables and how much efficiency like we're not necessarily experts in all those areas But our challenges are becoming more More interconnected as I mentioned housing homelessness Drug issues mental health concerns Physical disabilities we're having more and more challenges that are interwoven and when they're interwoven You can't just silo them up and sort of deal with them in a really neat way You actually have to really dig into the details and that takes time. So yes, I would do that I actually I I also think it would address some of the concerns that we heard about Increasing legislators pay If we you know if we cut the legislator and legislature in half or to like 70 or 80 people We would be able to recruit a much more diverse Set of representatives then we currently can a lot of people can only serve here if for me I have a husband who works full-time And I have a flexible employer But it's it's a it's a big a Big ask I have a five and a 13 year old, you know, they're they're always like when you come at home So if we want a more diverse legislature that really reflects Vermont Then we need to actually really think about what we think our legislature Should how it should be structured. So the houses or the legislature is considering a budget bill Which does not include funding to continue the emergency housing program that was starting during COVID You know just tell us a little bit about what you hope that the legislature would do or will do to support those family yeah, so when when The state shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic we Offered housing in hotels and motels for those who were unhoused in an effort to protect public health in order to quarantine people so people could be quarantined and be safe and We essentially ended homelessness as we knew it at the time and we have had an opportunity to invest a Massive amount of money an unprecedented amount of federal funds into housing, but we have not moved fast enough and unfortunately we've spent over a hundred and fifty million dollars on these hotels for the last two years without building enough housing for people in the hotels to move into on a permanent basis and People are concerned about that ongoing expense. And so The general assistance program is being gutted in the current state budget without a plan in place to house people and so as we One public health emergency we're about to create another one because the mass eviction of 2,800 people to the streets is going to be a humanitarian crisis and When the city of Burlington evicted the Sears Lane encampment there were 30 to 40 people living there But they had a safety net the state offered them hotels in this case We have enough people to fill 70 Sears lanes with no plan in place to keep people safe and People are concerned about the cost of continuing the program But they're not looking at the cost of the eviction that hospital room visits or over a thousand dollars a night hospital stays incarceration all of these Expenses will go up when we evict people from hotels because housing is a social determinant of health and it's a social determinant of crime So we will see a wave of crime and illness spread through the community because of this mass eviction Not only impacting the individuals in the hotels and the families in the hotels but the neighborhoods and the community surrounding the hotels across the state and What I would like to see us do is guarantee housing for the next year for the people in the hotels With an with a path forward to housing for all So we buy as many of these motels as we can up front for example One of the motels is for sale for 2.1 million with 77 rooms that would that's going to cost us 4.1 million to rent we save half the money just by buying that hotel and we have that moving forward as an emergency shelter We can place people in mobile homes and mobile home parks where there's vacant lots with some of the money and what we really need to do is identify public land near the hotels and Rapidly develop it and build housing for three times as many people that are in the hotel So we're not just rehousing people in the hotels But we're building housing for people who want to move around Vermont or move to Vermont because employers can't even find Workers because there's no housing for people who want to move to Vermont. So I see What we can do is take the same amount of money. We would have spent on hotels for a year and we can guarantee housing and Rapidly rapidly reinvest that money into permanent and temporary housing that includes supportive housing transitional options If way, there's a will there's a way and we can do this instead of turning our backs on people and casting them into shadows And throwing away the all the money we've spent so far guaranteeing housing Also, what people fail to see is that it's not only housing but other social determinants of health like structural conflict the stress that people Experience when the systems geared against them inclusion and belonging and discrimination and violence of the state and Because this is an act of state violence. We can't get around that But also the increased violence people will experience from being unhoused and the increased violence in the community we'll see from the tension this creates that By investing in housing for all now Using this as a moment to turn the page in history We can address multiple social determinants of health with the same cost So I there's a bill that I've been working on for many years That is a towing bill of rights and it deals with the fact that Vermont has unregulated towing regulations and so many people in My district, but it affects people all over the state have been Affected by the fact that we have unregulated towing regulations So I just got a letter from someone in Worcester who was in a car accident and his car had to be towed And he didn't have insurance that covered towing and The towing place was closed on the weekend So he picked his car up three days later and was a thousand dollars for a tow And it was like two and a half miles. I think so So Vermont Right now allows private Toes that aren't municipally driven to be at any rate for towing and for storage And we allow towers to go out and look for cars to tow So what I'm really excited about is the transportation committee passed in one of their bills S99 a Study that the Attorney General's office will be doing and bringing the results back to the Commerce Committee and the Transportation Committee in December So that hopefully we can pass Some protections for consumers related to rates damage and the Really unusual part about Vermont's laws is that the toer can through a legal process Get the title of the car Within 28 days from the Department of Motor Vehicles if somebody had a non-consensual tow and didn't So if they didn't pay up or The other issue is that it goes to the last Registered address of the car so people that move a lot students people who were precariously housed Don't always remember to send their registration in and so if they don't get that registration They don't even get the notice that the car is being Transferred the ownership and the toer can sell the car in the contents and keep a hundred percent of it And so that's something that many other states have changed I've been working on this forever, and I'm just so grateful that it has finally Getting some traction no no pun intended and It's a pretty robust committee and a list of questions, and I'm just so thrilled to see that move a Bill in the house judiciary that I introduced and it has passed the house It is in the Senate judiciary is a bill that would make it possible For somebody who's been a victim of the non-concentral removal of a condom to take civil action so basically Stealthing or the non-concentral removal of a condom is something that has become a thing over the past Decade although it's existed longer. It's happening a lot. I've heard from a lot of constituents It's very popular in on-college campuses And actually my daughter had heard that California passed a law and had said to me you should think about putting this in so The bill went in it passed the house We had one of my colleagues Very bravely talked about being a victim of stealthing and in addition to obviously being at risk of a Pregnancy it's like a violation, you know like you agree to have sex with somebody who's agreeing to wear a condom and they Sneakily take it off. There were websites devoted to Those practices like how to get away with it people can get horrible sexually transmitted diseases that can like really Be serious and so this bill wouldn't make it a crime it would make it a civil action so somebody could go and sue for damages and including Emotional damage as well as real damage. So I was thrilled to pass the house I'm I have heard from a lot of people who are so grateful and I sure I'm hoping we can get it through the Senate next year So there are a lot of big bills that are kind of coming up against the deadline here on adjournment day There are you know some of our largest investments in the session the budget child care bill are up against the deadline here How do you anticipate? What do you anticipate? Well, it will be you know the fate of those bills. How do you participate and other representatives participate in the negotiations? You know when we're down to the wire like this in such a time crunch And do you think that the process should look a little bit different? You know are we? You know putting our biggest investments through a process that needs a little bit more breathing room so It's interesting because I think a lot about how things unfold at the end of session and one of the things that's so hard is And I don't have a solution of how to do it differently, but when things go to conference committee frequently Decisions are made quickly. I mean they are made quickly and I'm not sure we're fully thinking about the ramifications of them and While conference committees are open to the public only the few people on each side really have the say and When those conference committee reports hit the floor We can't amend them. It's up or down and so that's really painful and at times. It's concerning that a lot of work that went into Something can be changed so quickly in a negotiation and one vivid example that I will give you is the The suicide prevention bill that had a safe storage component. So one thing That's really well documented and the evidence is that when you lock up guns Unloaded and the ammunition separately That's like one of the Gun the sensible gun measures that has been shown to make a really big difference related to Children getting hold of guns and using them. So I was so excited that we were doing that piece of legislation The bill came back from the Senate having us The safe storage meant locking up a gun That was loaded or it could be loaded and and it's like So I started quickly looking up Okay, like who does that? Even the NRA website page talks about it's safest to Remove the ammunition from the gun before you lock it up. So things like that. It's like there's no it was either This is better than current law because right now we have no safe storage. So I will be supporting it versus Why are we? Going with something that does not make any sense like nobody it's New Hampshire passed that law So that's why the Senate or whoever was representing The conference committee did that so I would love to see us change rules so that there could be more because it does feel like One thing that's always important to me is looking at the evidence when I'm trying to decide how to vote on something in committee and on the floor and and Trying to decide really quickly if if I'm going to support is it better than what currently exists? It doesn't make sense is so so that's hard It's unfortunate the budget is the last thing that we do I Don't know if that has to be that way And I'm trying to learn I've been trying to learn today because there's some things in the budget that I'm having a Very difficult time with what I can be doing at the last minute right now, right? And one of those things you mentioned in the budget bill The budget does not include funding to continue the emergency housing program that is supporting Almost 3,000 Vermonters that are at risk of losing their home in July So can you talk about how the state government might support those folks or how? You know the process could have unfolded differently to support those people those people so again I know The house had a very different sort of Belief than the Senate did and I did not sit in on those meetings. I am a social worker by training I have spent my entire career working in the nonprofit sector Including working at programs that did transitional housing and a homeless shelter So I know when people go into transitional housing at the very day one you're talking about This is temporary housing. Where are you going? I realized the motel program Didn't get set up because we as a society care about the homeless because this was federal money It was about keeping people from spreading COVID really and We know that some people who are homeless don't necessarily want to be housed But that is not the case of the people who are living in the motel So I have been on the phone today talking to the director of Cots Talking to some of the cap stone agencies and looking at could we Mean having that many people hit the streets in a two-month period is going to be extremely taxing on Vermont And I'm worried about that The chair of appropriations made a wonderful analogy today about how Vermont can come together We did it with Irene and so one of the questions I asked was can we have a czar of smooth transition? I'm not saying we should keep people in motels permanently But let's fan it out over four to six months so that we're not trying to find a Good landing place for that many people a Lot of the people who are motels are in recovery or struggling with recovery or struggling with other issues And it doesn't have it doesn't have to be a crisis And so one of the things I'm trying to figure out again is how can we make things as smooth as possible? Can we designate someone in state government who's going to help pull things together? I was asking does Cots need more money to keep the they Daystation open longer hours. Do they can they be at full capacity? Do they have enough staff like what what other things can we be doing and I think all of us in the State House need to be Advocating for people because I Think a lot of my colleagues have not gotten to know anyone who is homeless and There are so many reasons why people are homeless and it's not about People trying to live off, you know the government or you know I used to work with people who are on The welfare-to-work program and it's like they're on a gravy train. There's no gravy. It's not this people We can't legislate to the lowest common denominator. These are our neighbors our community members and We any of us could end up in that situation and we need to have show compassion and Help people to land in a good spot and not just assume that They'll find a place. Maybe they were sleeping on their cousin's couch But like that's not no one's gonna that's not a long-term solution. There were 700 kids that we're talking about and we're I Moved here from big states a long time ago We can like it's not that many people we can figure out a way to help, you know, everybody Land somewhere. I'm glad we're looking at permanent housing. I wish that The governor's office or the administration had negotiated a sensible rate with motels because having worked in the non-profit sector I know that like Cots, I don't know if what the this is a couple of years old now But they hadn't gotten an increase in how much they were getting reimbursed in like 10 years to How somebody overnight and we're turning to the motels and saying name your price and we're gonna pay it while The non-profit sector is struggling to you know Pay the bills and give their staff increased wages and pay increased health care costs so so we I Think getting rid of the stigma that comes with being homeless Which again also goes back to people who struggle with addiction or any kind of mental health struggle are so important And sort of at the crux It's easy for people to judge, but like we need to all show compassion and like walk Let's you know think about what it's like for the people that are Living in a motel room and now know they're you know, where are they gonna go? Where's their stuff going? What's you know, what's how are they gonna? Take their medication or try to get a job if they don't have Electricity or you know a place to land So what have you been working on this session Marcy? I have been working on modernizing Vermont's bottle bill h158 It would expand the scope of the universe of containers that are covered by that five cent deposit in Vermont, which currently includes carbonated beverages like soda and beer as well as liquor at a 15 cent deposit this bill proposes to expand it to cover beverages like bottled water wine sports drinks iced coffee and tea and basically everything else So where does that money go the five cents? Does it yeah, how does that work? How does that funny mechanism work? It's a great question. I think a lot of folks get confused about it So the five cents is actually kind of past circularly. It's a deposit It's a refundable deposit and no one actually ever pays it and kind of just gets passed from person to person as an incentive to recycle what the cost of recycling is within the bottle bill is a fee called the handling fee which is paid by beverage manufacturers like Coca-Cola two redemption centers or others that redeem to cover the cost of recycling so When someone pays five cents for the deposit and then doesn't return their five cents and get that deposit back That's where those funds go. Yeah, what happens when someone doesn't return their bottle? Yeah, so as of 2018 when folks don't return their bottle to get that five cent deposit back It actually gets a sheeted to the state and it goes to clean water funding. Yeah Anything else you've been working on this year that you've been excited to yeah to work on this session Yeah, I worked on a bill in the Senate S25 which would have banned a laundry list of toxic chemicals from personal care products and period products It also would have banned the class of PFAS which are kind of a well-known Toxic chemical linked to exposure down in Bennington County a few years ago Would have banned PFAS from artificial turf as well as Thank you artificial turf and all tech styles which is a bill that passed in California earlier this year So you're an advocate here. What's your role today? Are you like in the ear of legislators? Are you trying to push the the bills that you're working on when we are another on the last day here? What are you up to? Yeah, so H-158 the modernization of the bottle bill passed third reading of the Senate yesterday It had passed the house earlier the session really exciting win for the environment and for consumers Now I'm here working on figuring out when it's going to go back to the house for a concurrence vote It passed the house on a 115 vote earlier in the session So we're really confident that it'll move smoothly smooth through the house. It's just kind of a question of one Brenda can you just tell us why you're here at the state house today? Sure, I'm here today because they are going to be voting on the budget The legislators can be voting in the budget both the house and the Senate actually they're going to be voting on the conference report Which is the compromise between the Senate and the house on the budget And right now that conference report does not put the funding needed into emergency housing There are 1,800 households and 2,800 individuals across the state Who will be unsheltered on June 1st and July 1st and there is nowhere for them to go Shelters are full all of the other options are full and this is going to be placed in our communities Which is not good for communities or in individuals This really is an abject failure of our legislature to make sure that we protect the absolute most vulnerable people in our state over the last few weeks I have gone to 16 hotels And visited with about a thousand of the people in the hotels and motels the people exited will include 500 to 600 children It'll include people on oxygen tanks. It'll include people with who are wearing defibrillators. I need to be near a Outlet it'll be people include people who use just had brain surgery. It'll include Many single moms people who have DCF involvement and a termination of parental rights will occur as a result of this it will include many people in recovery and People with mental illness that are finally stabilized and those things are not Possible to keep stable while on the street. So we are really putting a lot of people's lives at risk Mentioned that it's a humanitarian crisis that we're dealing with. Why do you think that the legislature and the governor? Have not come around to funding the program, you know, I Don't understand it. I'm gonna be really honest and say When we're looking at 2,800 individuals 500 to 600 children being put on the street I do not understand how you come to the conclusion that it's okay to unshelter people to the street It is an in My understanding of how we should operate as human beings from a moral perspective and also from an economic perspective This is going to have an incredible impact on our businesses an incredible impact on our downtowns and our communities on our health care Providers on our public safety. So even from an economic perspective, I don't really understand it I think one thing that does happen is that people in poverty are very easily swept under the rug And so these are really the most vulnerable people among us And so we're looking at a situation where It's easy to say to dismiss The humanity of the people who we are causing suffering. So this this is a humanitarian crisis And it is being caused by our legislature and the governor So what are the options on the table for the legislature today to address the crisis that you're talking about? So there will be legislators that will vote no on the conference report Which is a really hard thing to do and I want to really name that this is a really brave action This is work that a lot of them have done all of them have done throughout the legislative session That is important to them on a lot of other issues But by voting no on the conference report if it were to fail then they'd have to go back and renegotiate that conference Report and therefore we'd have another opportunity to actually keep people inside There's also a possibility for the two sides the senate and the house to actually come together and say this is not going to work It's not tenable. It's not politically tenable. It's not morally tenable. And so we have to fix it before we get there I've seen that happen as well I don't expect it to today I expect us to walk out of here having made the decision To create a state sponsored unsheltering of nearly 3000 people and I think another point I really want to add is that Vermont has a second highest rate of homelessness in the country right now behind only california And 80 percent of the people experiencing homelessness are utilizing the ga motel program So this state sponsored unsheltering is um unsheltering 80 percent of the people in our state experiencing homelessness