Lawmakers Hear Health, Housing, Budget and Transportation Measures in March 27 Committee Meetings
Lawmakers in several standing committees on March 27 received testimony and reviewed amendments on health care cost and patient protections, housing and eviction procedures, capital spending allocations, early childhood education funding studies, and a proposed mileage-based user fee. Major topics included testimony about long COVID and consideration of S.10 in the Senate Health & Welfare Committee; fee and penalty changes, cannabis licensing and housing eviction provisions in Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs; capital cash-fund allocations in the House Appropriations Committee; an education funding study and amendments to S.210 in House Human Services; and provisions for assessment, interest and waiver processes tied to a mileage user fee in the Senate Transportation Committee.
Senate Health & Welfare
At the 9:00 a.m. Senate Health & Welfare hearing, witnesses described ongoing health impacts of long COVID and urged lawmakers to consider patient needs. Multiple segments included in-person testimony from individuals identifying as parents, educators and patients describing chronic symptoms and disability. The committee’s docket also referenced S.10; committee segments tied that bill to mandates and spending considerations.
Later at 10:20 a.m., the committee reviewed an amendment to S.20 concerning hospital pricing and Medicare-based reimbursement caps. The amendment would direct the Green Mountain Care Board to convene a working group including board representatives, state agencies, hospitals, insurers and the Office of the Health Care Advocate to develop recommendations to mitigate effects of federal Medicare cost-sharing for outpatient services. Discussion referenced alternative cap levels previously considered (including 250% and 225% of Medicare indices) and noted the federal requirement that Medicare beneficiaries pay 20 percent cost sharing for certain outpatient services.
Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs
The committee met at 8:30 a.m. and again at 9:45 a.m. and considered a range of measures affecting housing, licensing fees, penalties and cannabis regulation.
Members discussed amendments that would change penalties tied to sales and possession offenses, including proposed increases in penalties and licensing fee adjustments. Committee discussion covered reinstating or modifying fines for first and subsequent violations, with one amendment moving a proposed $1,000 fine to lower figures such as $150 as an inflation adjustment. The committee also examined proposals to increase licensing fees, add a wholesale licensure fee modeled on liquor wholesale fees, and to alter where licensing and settlement monies would be directed.
The committee considered financing requests tied to a Cannabis Business Development Fund, including testimony that described a budgetary request of $1,000,000 to the fund and questioned how appropriations above a baseline amount would be applied in the FY27 budget.
On housing policy, committee members reviewed substantial changes to rental and eviction statutes. Amendments addressed notice requirements and timelines for termination of tenancy, clarified procedures for ejectment and writs of possession, and consolidated no-cause termination notice periods to 90 days. The amendments addressed landlord obligations on notice delivery, affidavit requirements to support terminations, limits on rent increases within a 12‑month period in certain circumstances, tenants’ rights to first refusal after renovations, and thresholds and exemptions for municipal action. The committee also discussed whether landlords accepting rent after termination would be barred from continuing an ejectment action and provisions requiring landlords to commence ejectment actions within specified time frames.
Committee members also discussed enforcement provisions embedded in bills, including investigator positions and the mechanism for enforcement when prior administration had declined to enforce earlier language.
House Appropriations
The House Appropriations Committee discussed the capital bill’s cash fund allocations and related amendments at its 9:05 a.m. session. Committee members outlined the committee’s role in identifying how cash fund dollars are targeted within the capital bill, noting the capital budget includes both bonded dollars and cash from a cash fund. Discussion described roughly $23,000,000 in cash fund dollars including existing funds, interest and reallocations, and detailed line items for capital projects and agency needs.
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Committee discussion listed cash allocations for public safety, facility projects including a replacement women’s facility with $14,000,000 already set aside, federal matching for the state revolving drinking-water loan fund, Army Corps-related work on the Waterbury Dam due to cost overruns, forest and parks infrastructure rehabilitation, and dam maintenance and safety planning for Fish and Wildlife. The committee also described planned expenditures for Department of Corrections facilities and facility maintenance, and noted provisions for administration of cash fund reallocation if funds remain unencumbered after three years.
House Human Services
The House Human Services Committee at 9:00 a.m. reviewed an amendment and an appropriation tied to S.210 and discussed an associated JFO contractor report. Committee materials directed JFO to contract with an entity experienced in Vermont’s education funding system to make recommendations on accounting for publicly funded prekindergarten within the education finance system. The contractor’s recommendations were to be designed to provide funding approaches that support access for three- and four-year-olds, include prekindergarten costs in the full cost of education, consider categorical aid or a prekindergarten weight in any foundation formula, and preserve a mixed delivery system. Committee discussion noted the contractor report and appropriation language and that the amendment and bill would return to the committee for further review.
Members also reviewed effective dates and contingent provisions in the broader education amendments, including sections taking effect on July 1, 2026, and a teacher-licensure provision tied to an effective date in 2033 contingent on a specified contingency.
Senate Transportation
The Senate Transportation Committee discussed provisions related to a mileage‑based user fee at its 9:05 a.m. meeting. Committee discussion outlined an assessment process that would involve reporting periods for mileage, mailing of assessments after the reporting period, and a 14‑day payment window following assessment. The committee reviewed interest and overdue fee language: interest on unpaid fees would accrue at 1.5 percent per month up to a maximum of 18 percent (one year’s interest). An amendment from Ways and Means would permit individuals to request waiver of interest and overdue fees and would allow the commissioner to waive some or all of interest or fees either upon request or on the commissioner’s own motion. The amendment also clarified standards for waiver from “excusable neglect” to “good cause” or economic hardship.
Agency testimony noted options to offer payment flexibility, including paying after miles are calculated or providing estimates for those who prefer to pay upfront or on periodic schedules.
Other committees and topics
Additional committee meetings on March 27 addressed right-to-repair proposals for medical devices, a rounding cash-transaction proposal that would round cash transactions to the nearest 5 cents and require tax calculation on pre-rounded amounts, municipal regulation of farming and related zoning limitations, and security deposit and charter-change amendments tied to just-cause eviction authority. Those sessions included discussions of mandates on municipal zoning, stakeholder studies on agriculture conflicts in populated areas, and proposed limits or authorizations for municipal ordinances.
Conclusion
This report covers March 27 committee meetings across the Senate and House, including Senate Health & Welfare; Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs; House Appropriations; House Human Services; and Senate Transportation. Committees considered witness testimony and amendments on long COVID and hospital pricing, penalties and licensing fees, housing and eviction statute revisions, capital cash-fund appropriations, a JFO contractor study on prekindergarten finance in S.210, and assessment, interest and waiver provisions tied to a proposed mileage-based user fee.
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