With two or three weeks left in the legislative session, things are heating up on the ‘big bills’ (appropriations, transportation funding, and capital construction) that must pass. Issues that are not in their final stages this year will carry over to 2024.
Workforce Development
Still in play this year, is the potential to make 9th and 10th-grade students eligible to attend the tech centers. The ‘vehicle’ for the addition is the miscellaneous education bill—H.461, which passed out of the House without this issue included. A big concern remains making the money follow the student, and how to do that. The Senate Education Committee is taking up this issue next week, and we will be in the room to take part in the discussion.
Small Claims Jurisidctional Increase
S.33 is also up for hearing the first week of May, and I will be there to present the issue for the association. There may be opposition to increasing the jurisdictional limit in small claims from $5,000 to $10,000—but there is also support from groups like the VT Bar Association and the VT Bankers Association. A potential roadblock is credit card debt claims. This is why the bankers are in support of the increase. All will likely be resolved next week.
Dept of Motor Vehicle fee increases still likely
The 19.8% across the board DMV fee increases in H.479 (the Transportation Bill) was stripped out of the bill and put on the Budget instead. What will they do with the roughly $30 million a year that this will raise? Right now the plan is to pay for state matching funds for transportation improvements, which sounds good, but the reason for that is because the Legislature wants to use the reserves that Governor Scott had earmarked for matching funds for other programs. This may lead to a veto of the budget, which will make for an exciting end of session.
DMV computer improvements back in play—will municipal permits be accessible online?
The good news is that the computer upgrades for the Department of Motor Vehicles are finally moving forward, and the municipal permit issues are still part of the discussion. This is even now supported by the VT League of Cities & Towns, which means it might actually happen. We will stay on top of this in the summer and fall.