 Good morning. It is Monday, June 28th, and this is the Vermont Legislature's Joint Rules Meeting. This morning, we are meeting to talk about two agenda items. The first is to get an update on the reopening of the Vermont State House. And then we will move on to our second agenda item, which is to get an update on the process for joint committees being able to meet given the timing of the governor's end of the emergency order, and just what that means for our process moving forward, meeting together back in person. So with that, let's start on an update on reopening the State House. I see our Sergeant at Arms is here. Janet, take it away. Hey, good morning, everybody. Janet Miller, Sergeant at Arms. So I just wanted to let you know what the plans that we've been working on, let you know what that is. So the plan is that we're going to open Tuesday, July 6th, and that's the State House opening day. Yay. So we will be open from 7.45 to 4.15. And then we are opening on our Saturdays starting on July 17th. And that's from 11 to 3. That's usually a kind of around the timeframe that we always open for more tourists visiting our state. And now for now, we are going to use the ASHRAE air quality standards that buildings and general services conducted for us. And as a lot of you are aware, I'm sure that the State House Advisory Committee is working on recommendations for coming back to the State House in regards to space and ASHRAE standards. That's the air quality standards and their report is due back to the legislature August 15th. And at this time, we can make any adjustments to the procedures that will be following at that time. So just to give you a little heads up what we're doing, there will be a sign in front of the State House that will have direction to enter through the loading door. We will be having a large construction project on the pavilion side of the State House. And so that side will be completely closed. We will have a sign posted that says, please wear a mask if you aren't vaccinated. Our curator and tour person that always helps us, David Sheets, of course, is working on signs and pamphlets for tourists, routing them for self-guided tours. We'll be closing off the 30s and 40s for the public, but we will have capacity numbers up on the spaces throughout the State House. And so we will now have four large committee rooms available for all of your interim meetings. And that, as Madam Speaker spoke, would be on July 15th. And these are rooms 10 and 11, which you're familiar with. But across from room 11 is the coat room. That's room nine that's now been turned into a committee room. And the legislative lounge is also now a committee room. And Kevin Moore from IT and his crew have been working on setting up these rooms to accommodate the committees for what needs they may have. We are still working with our cafeteria vendor as to when we can open. When they do open, it will either be August 1st or September 1st. And they will provide us with a limited menu until session starts. And that would be like coffee drinks, premade sandwiches, and soups, but they won't be using opening up the grill. That adds another layer of people. And they're kind of looking for staff and working out the particulars for that. The cafeteria seating area can be used. We will have the glass doors closed because, believe it or not, that allows us more people to be up in the cafeteria if those doors are closed. And after opening, we may see some things that we need to tweak or modify anything to accommodate situations that are coming up. This is a trial run. And we're going to do the best we can. And if there's any questions, let me know. Does anyone have any questions for Janet? Janet, I assume that the website will start to reflect just the updated schedule and hours and access for the statehouse. Yes. Great. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Any other questions on the statehouse reopening? Hi. Patty? Representative McCracken. Yes. Janet, I know in the past that the statehouse has been open pretty much 24-7 for legislators' use. I've never availed myself of that, but I know some people do. Is that in the works and planning for those individuals who may want to come in prior to the posted dates you just gave us, the dates and times? Yes. That's possible. Yes. We're going back to normal with our legislative members. Okay. Thank you. Senator Brock? This question regarding YouTube, will joint meetings be YouTube covered during this summer session? Madam Speaker, do you want to answer how you're part and then maybe Senator Ballant? Yes. So talking about what's wait one second, are there any other questions about the statehouse before we pivot and start talking more about joint committee meetings? Representative? I just have one other question. Sorry, Joe. Speaker, Madam Speaker. As far as the, since the legislative lounge is no longer available, computer uses available to legislators, or do they need to bring in their little iPad in order to access, you know, capabilities? That's a good question. And I will talk to Kevin more about it, but I think it would be good if you could bring your own device, especially if you're going to be zooming in somewhere else, even if you're in the statehouse. If you do need access to another larger computer in a committee room, we, if you could give me a heads up about it, then we could maybe give you access to another room, committee room. Okay. Great. Thank you. Great. Any other questions about the statehouse before we pivot over to joint committees? Nope. Okay. Great. So, like I said at the top of the meeting, given the governor, emergency, governor's emergency order not being renewed, that happened on June 14th, which means given our adjournment resolution and our rules that committees, joint committees would be coming back in person starting July 15th. It is our intent, Senator Brock, that those meetings are on YouTube and available for people to watch in real time or go back to watch after the meeting is completed. It will be cataloged and lived the same way that all of our meetings were during the session that would not be done any different. I know IT has been working and piloting to make sure that the technology is working and available for July 15th. Kevin Moore indicated that he's feeling optimistic about that, and that would be for joint committee meetings in those four rooms that the Sergeant at Arms mentioned. So, we are moving forward on that timeline. And one reason why I thought it was important to bring people together sooner rather than later is just because we were looking at a possible reopening date on early August, but because we were able to achieve that 80% immunity rate, the governor did not renew that order in June. So, that has moved up our timeline a couple weeks, but staff is working hard to ensure that July 15th will be ready to have in-person joint meetings at the State House. And just a reminder, the intent of that is that we will be not doing a sort of hybrid model that members will be expected to be there in person, just like we were in the before times, and recognizing that if you do have a family emergency, if you're not feeling well, if you need to stay home because of childcare, that of course we will make sure that you are able to zoom into the meeting to be present, and the rule is that you would just not be able to vote. So, that is the expectation in the rules and guidelines that we will be using when we meet, when we start meeting back in person in July, which is so exciting. Are there questions or concerns or anything that you would want us to be paying attention to as we work towards that July 15th date? Okay, great. So, again, this was just really important that we came together to recognize that the July 15th date is the new date and it's not August 2nd. I'll send an email out, and I'll work with the pro tem to make sure that all members are aware that July 15th is the date for joint committees to come back, and that the State House will be reopening, and our committee will continue to meet. It's going to be really critical to get the update from the State House Advisory Committee on how we set up the building for a safe return in January. So, that will be the next meet in bulk of our work moving forward. And that is it. That is the agenda. Are there any other questions and flags before we break, or Betsy Ann, is there anything else that we should touch base on before we wrap? Thanks, Madam Speaker. It was just that July 15th date to confirm that for this committee, so covered for my end. Thanks. Great. Okay. Well, this was very productive. Thank you. In the meantime, please be in touch if you have any questions or concerns about the reopening, and like I said, we'll make sure that the public is aware of the schedule and the timeline, and that members are as well for July 15th. So, with that, this meeting is over, and we will be in touch about scheduling another meeting in the near future. Thank you, everyone.