February Legislative Update

The weather seems to be warming up, maybe, and work is definitely heating up in the State House. We’ve voted on Supreme Court nominees, passed resolutions and started to pass bills on the Senate floor. Read on for information about my votes on the Supreme Court nominees; work on housing & land use, including a new Addison County regional plan proposal; legislation to protect Vermonters from federal actions & resolutions expressing solidarity with Minnesota; plug-in solar power, and more.

Vermont Supreme Court Nominees
Over the past few weeks, I heard from many people expressing concerns about the candidates nominated by the Governor to fill two vacant seats on the Vermont Supreme Court (VSC), Christina Nolan and Michael Drescher, both former United States Attorneys for Vermont under the Trump Administration. The Senate must confirm VSC nominees before they can be sworn in to serve. Initially I had significant reservations about both candidates and spent a great deal of time reviewing their files and interviewing them and their references. In the end, I voted to confirm Christina Nolan, but voted against the nomination of Michael Drescher, who served as the federal government’s attorney in the cases related to the detainment of Mohsen Mahdawi and Rümeysa Öztürk. Nolan’s nomination was approved on a strong bi-partisan vote, but Drescher’s nomination was a tie vote that required the Lieutenant Governor to cast the deciding vote to approve his nomination. You can read more about the votes in the Senate Journal. Please also read the remarks I made on the Senate floor about the candidates to get a fuller picture of the reasoning for my votes. It’s disappointing that during this time when so many Vermonters are concerned about the safety and rights of immigrants and all members of our communities, that the Governor and Lieutenant Governor would advance this nominee.

Supporting Minnesota and Protections from ICE
While ICE and other federal law enforcement is apparently (somewhat) withdrawing from Minneapolis now, it’s been heartbreaking and scary to watch the events in Minnesota over the past couple months. The federal government has been terrorizing residents, sending families into hiding, and even killing people on the streets for exercising their constitutional rights. After the killing of Alex Pretti, I made a statement on the floor of the Senate expressing my solidarity with Minnesota, which you can read here. Last week, the Senate passed a resolution, S.R. 21, which calls for the immediate suspension of the federal government actions in Minnesota, affirms our support of individual constitutional rights, and opposes funding for ICE until there have been comprehensive reforms. You can read the full resolution here, and see the results of the roll call vote here. If you’re looking for ways to support the people of Minnesota, check out this website Stand with Minnesota.

This week, in an effort to protect Vermonters from similar actions here, the Senate passed two important bills to protect residents from federal actions in Vermont. Bill S.208 requires all law enforcement officers to identify themselves and prohibits them from wearing face coverings except in certain specific safety circumstances, and S.209 prohibits civil arrests in sensitive locations, including health care facilities, educational institutions, social service establishments, childcare centers, and polling places. The “supremacy clause” in the U.S. Constitution requires that federal law supersedes state law and states cannot legislate federal actions, so these bills have been carefully crafted to ensure they apply evenly to state and federal law enforcement. They also have strong bipartisan support. Two other bills, providing additional protections for schools and legal support for those detained by ICE, are still in the works. Thank you to the many people who have reached out to me expressing their support for these bills!

Land Use & Housing
Over the past six years, the Legislature has made large investments in housing and passed major land use reforms to make housing easier to develop in Vermont. While there is still a huge need, there has been good progress. After the passage of 2024 Act 181, Vermont communities began a major remapping of land use areas, led by regional planning commissions who were tasked with creating land use maps that would essentially divide the state into three tiers of land types – Tier 1 for development (downtowns & dense areas), Tier 3 for wildlife protection (high elevation & fragile ecosystems), and Tier 2 for everything else (farm land, rural areas). Maps for these areas were required to be updated and presented for approval to the new Land Use Review Board (LURB). Read more about this process in recent articles in VTDigger & Vermont Public.

Check out the Addison County Regional Planning Commission updated regional plan and review their proposed land use map. Next Tuesday, February 17, there will be a public hearing and LURB site visit to discuss the map & plan. The public hearing begins at 1:30 at the Addison County Regional Planning Commission offices in Middlebury.

In large part, this land use planning is designed to better plan and develop much-needed housing. The Community Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP) that the Legislature passed last year to support the infrastructure development necessary for housing launched in late January; I know several local towns are planning to take advantage of this program. In addition, the Homes for All Initiative is holding workshops for small-scale developers, including one in Middlebury on April 22. If you’re a potential housing developer, be sure to register now for this opportunity to learn how to develop much-needed housing in our communities. Homes for All is also working on creating a catalog of standard home designs to save cost and time on housing projects. The Senate Natural Resources Committee, where I serve, is also making updates to Act 181 to make sure it’s all still working as intended, so more to come as our work continues.

Portable Solar
Early this session, the Senate unanimously passed a bill, S.202, that would allow small plug-in, portable solar panels to be used in Vermont without going through a lengthy permitting process. These small solar panels, less than 1.2 KW, are already popular in Europe, but are not easy to find in the United States (yet). If (when!) S.202 becomes law, Vermont could become the second state, behind Utah, to permit these handy devices. Because of their size and relatively low cost, allowing portable solar devices would open up solar energy for renters, folks with modest incomes, and people whose housing situation does not allow for full solar panels, making renewable energy accessible to more people. If you want to learn more about portable solar, also known as balcony solar, listen to this episode of the podcast Volts called “What’s the Deal with Balcony Solar.”  It provides a great overview of what we hope will be available in Vermont very soon!

In the News
We cover a lot of issues in the State House and I can’t write about all of them in my newsletters. Check out a few news stories from the past month that have covered my work in the State House: 
– Another Sheriff Scandal Renews Calls for Accountability (Seven Days)
– Vermont Food Advocates, Local Lawmakers Celebrate 5 Years of Universal School Meals (NBC5)
– Vermonters with Developmental Disabilities Can Fish for Free (Seven Days)
– County Meeting Day? Rethinking Regional Government in Vermont (Brave Little State)
– Vermont is Getting Millions Each Year from Opioid Settlements. Where’s the Money Going? (Vermont Public)
– Drought Cost Farmers $15.9M (VTDigger)
– Teen Driver Deaths Lead Experts to Suggest Nighttime Restrictions in Vermont (Vermont Public)

Finally, congratulations to Starksboro native Ryan Cochran-Siegle on his Olympic success and I’m excited for Leicester’s Hannah Sessions’ announcement that she’s running for Senate (more to come on that soon)! That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and take care.

Photo Note: Meeting with constituents in the State House cafeteria to discuss agriculture issues, including my Farm Security Fund bill, S.60.