By REP. BUTCH SHAW
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity on the House floor. In marathon sessions lasting well into the late evening hours, sometimes as late as 11pm, 38 House bills were approved and moved to the Senate for possible modification and approval. We should remember that there is no guarantee that a House bill sent to the Senate will be passed into law. Conversely when the Senate sends their bills to the House, the same applies. Let the games begin!
Some of the bills I have been tracking are:
H.492 “Setting the property tax yields and non-homestead property tax rates”. This is the bill that sets the state portion of your education-tax rates for your local school budgets. This bill shows a moderate increase of approximately 3% in your state education tax property tax rate. It should be noted that the bill includes the funding of $29 million to support universal school meals for all students and that it fully funds the statutory stabilization reserves. I did support this bill.
H.479 “Fiscal Year 24 Vermont Transportation Program”. I have previously reported on this bill in my March 22 column where I stated that the bill passed out of my committee, Transportation, on an 11-0-0 vote and I supported the bill as introduced. The bill was then sent to the Ways and Means Committee, where an amendment to the bill to increase fees charged by the Department of Motor Vehicles was added to H.479. An example of some of the fees that will be increased are Drivers Licenses, Vehicle Registrations, Vehicle Inspection Stickers, Vanity License Plate surcharges, ATV and Snowmobile Registrations, Municipal and Volunteer Registrations and other services provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles The average increase in the fees would be 20% to Vermonters, an unprecedented amount during my time in the Legislature. When H.479 was presented to the House floor for a full vote with the fee amendment attached, it was passed on a vote of 100 yes and 39 no. I could not support this bill with a very regressive tax attached and voted no on the T-Bill for the very first time in my Legislative career.
H.492 “The General Fund Budget.” Also known as the “Big Bill.” This must-pass bill supports all of state government and is likely to receive a gubernatorial veto. This year’s edition of the Big Bill represents a record spending amount of $8.5 billion and is an increase of 12% over the Fiscal Year 23 base budget. Just for context a normal budget increase has been around 3.5% for the past several years. The Appropriations Committee worked long and hard on this bill but spent an additional $150 million in reserve funds which Governor Scott had requested to be used in the out years as match money for the millions of dollars in Federal Infrastructure Grants Vermont is scheduled to receive in the very near future. The Speaker is so sure of the Governor’s veto that she has set June 20-22 for a veto-override session. The bill passed out of Appropriations with a vote of 8 yes and 4 no, which is highly unusual as the Appropriations Committee normally works very hard to get an 11-0 committee vote. The bill passed on the floor of the House with a vote of 111 yes and 38 no. I could not support this bill due to the high increase in spending of 12% and the spending of Vermont’s reserve funds.
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 legislative district and your Vermont state government.
Representative Butch Shaw
Pittsford-Proctor
Vice-Chair House Committee on Transportation
