The House General and Housing Committee took testimony throughout the week on the bill that would remove the standard of severe or pervasive for unlawful harassment or discrimination. The only member of the committee with human resources experience raised concerns about how challenging implementation would be. Rep. Ashley Bartley (R-Franklin-1) asked the committee to consider codifying the standards of severe or pervasive with guidance around those standards like California’s law but ultimately the suggestion was not met with interest from other legislators. S.103 was voted out of committee and is now poised for passage in the House. If the bill becomes law, this will likely incur litigation to determine the guidelines for unlawful harassment and discrimination.  

The Vermont Chamber previously testified in the Senate Economic Development that the legislation would bypass the opportunity for restorative change and instead be lost to litigation.

Following an outpouring of support from businesses, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed H.288, the liquor liability legislation, out of committee. While the committee did not address all concerns, including the need for removing all strict liability provisions, there is optimism that this is a step in the right direction to ensure licensees will have the ability to purchase liquor liability insurance. 

The Vermont Chamber has been advocating throughout this session in support of amending the statute to update Vermont’s dram shop laws. Specifically, to bring it in line with neighboring control states such as Maine and New Hampshire.   

The Senate has passed its version of the $8.5 billion state budget. A conference committee of House and Senate appropriation members will now be appointed to hash out an agreement on major spending proposals in H.494, including childcare and paid family and medical leave. The Senate’s budget does not include the money required to cover the paid family and medical leave plan passed by the House. Instead, the Senate earmarked enough funding for a parental leave benefit that they folded into their childcare bill to the tune of $7.6 million the first year and $15.7 million the next. In contrast, the House proposal for a comprehensive paid leave program would cost $37 million to start and $100 million annually.  

The conference committee will ultimately have to come to an agreement before passing the bill on to the Governor, who has repeatedly expressed concern that the budget does not reflect the needs of Vermont. A statement released by the Governor shortly after the Senate vote read, “Growing the base General Fund budget by over 13 percent could set us up for severe fiscal challenges in future years. The Legislature’s own economist predicts a possible decline in revenue for next year (FY24), which could lead to severe future cuts to the very programs this budget supports.” Notably, the Governor’s administration already has the launch of a voluntary paid leave program underway.