Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Have. After that, morning, scheduled for 01:15. The Housing and Conservation Board is coming in. That's an annual visit that they have here just to update us on the work that they're doing, an opportunity to see whether there's more that we want to know about their work. We can have them back in to go into detail on anything that seems like That's not, so it's open this morning. Yeah, that's this morning. And then after lunch, we've got the agency coming in. So let's make a preview of our trip down to Randolph next week. And then if we need to go back to this, depending on how far we get on this this morning, we need to wrap this up today. Also wanted to see whether anybody wanted to chat about anything else. So we've got sort of open committee discussion time. We have a couple more bills that have come in. I heard that there's a new version of the rodenticide bill with a lot more details to it that Larry just sent in. Yeah, that's up. That's on the wall now.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: Richard

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Sackowitz. Is short form bills still eligible? Short form bills are still fair game. Patricia, would you mind getting the door?

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: A union job. He's used

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: to stand up walk around.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yeah. All right. So everyone has a copy, and it's just on our also on our webpage today, Patricia. I should probably post that. Yeah, thank you. The topic is reports repeal bill, and you'll see that by statute, we, the general assembly, recently, I'm sure what year it was, established an intent to repeal certain requirements after five years, reporting requirements. And the law requires legislative counsel to prepare a list of the reports that are subject to repeal each biennium. And you can read that section of statute if you want to. We then received a list on this stat, second page credit, reports that are under our jurisdiction that are subject to that repeal. If the report requirement, and this is important, think, if the report requirement is repealed, the information contained in the report will remain available to committees pursuant to committee requests. There should be no reduction in accountability from any state agency. So in other words, repealing the report requirement isn't intended to mean that we're asking for any less accountability, just wouldn't be in a report form necessarily. So the question is whether the required ongoing report is necessary for the legislative work. Eliminating unnecessary ongoing reports will allow agency staff to redirect their efforts to more substantive work.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: So for example, yesterday, if we said to farm to plate, since they're obligated to report every year right

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: to us, if we

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: said, or repeal now, but then in any session, we're likely wanting to let us know what you've been doing last year. Yeah,

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: I don't know if that one's on your list here. No, but just as an example, We would get the same information if we requested it essentially, but they're not obligated to proactively Put into a report, yeah. I think that their report is unusual in its depth and how much effort they put into it. I suspect that they want to continue to do that work, that they're not probably upset about having to do it at all.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: I think any group that's asking this body for money should report back to us when they're you know, the next year to let us know what they did with the money.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Let me just finish reading through the memo, and then we can look at the reports. So we suggest the question for each committee is have you used and will you need to use these reports in legislative decisions? Please review the spreadsheet, identify the reports that you still need. And then basically, there's three different, it's like green, yellow, red options for them to say, we don't need it anymore. We definitely need it. It might be useful, so hang on to it for now. And we have to respond by the end of the day today. And to be fair, you'll see that this is dated November 24. I think that was maybe not necessarily Thanksgiving Day, but I wasn't quite clued into the kind of email at the time. And then it got buried, then somebody reminded all of us recently that we need to do this. So we're clear on what we're being asked to do anyway. And I will say that we haven't had a chance to look at most of these reports this year. We did have Ledge Council come in and go through a list of the reports that are due. Some of them are on here, some of them aren't. These are the ones that they've asked us to focus on.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: All reports do in statute, right? I mean, they're statutorily required.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yes. These would all be ones that are statutorily required, and they're asking, yes, do we want that to continue? So I mean, I think without even having gone over the list, I would say I would tend to on the side of let's not stop getting the reports. But also, appreciate the sentiment here. The legislative intent was let's not be asking for busy work or work that isn't going to be helpful to us. That's the context. You

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: in the reverse, too, that during our year here, if we had an organization we don't get a report from or want to hear from, would

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: we have to statutorily say we'd like a report, or could we just request one? If it's not already required, we, I think, could in most cases ask. And I imagine in most cases, the agency would be willing to do its best to get what we asked for. Often the statute is pretty detailed on what's supposed to be in the report. So that might just be helpful to have it detailed that way. Okay. Would say that, well, let's go through the list. Let's go through the list here. This is the one.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: Yeah, the last one and the third to last one are curious that they seem almost identical.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: There's one on the other page. Yep. Patricia,

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: do we have this posted? Okay, thank you. So, The format here is on the left hand column, that's where the citation, so that's where in statute the report is called for, if it was amended, who's supposed to be repairing it from, who it's supposed to be going to. And there you can see that in most cases, these reports aren't just going to us, they're going to other people. So unless we all, I guess, agree that we don't need it anymore, it will keep happening. So report of the Dairy Promotion Council.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: They hate that information. Is Vermont Dairy Farmers own money. I'm just telling you what I what I know. And they say, why are they concerned what we're doing with our It just that's the sentiment from them. I don't think you heard a report from them last year.

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: That all clicked it. That was from the agency. Yeah. The So the

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: money goes is withdrawn from the milk checks. 10¢ gets teleported into a fund. And then the Vermont Dairy Promotion Council made up of farmers from the different coops and independents get together and decide where the money goes.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: And No jurisdiction over that.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: We don't have any jurisdiction over that. But then they're supposed to report. The agency is supposed to come report to us where the money moved. I find it interesting. I I don't know if the rest of you.

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: Well, they report to us, the senate added in the cuff.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: And Patricia, could could you see if Bradley sorry to interrupt, but you're trying to do that. Could you see if Bradley's available to come in either maybe at this point, I would say this afternoon, just to help us with some of this. This one, I remember you flagged it, I think, when he came in and we were walking through the list that maybe we hadn't gotten it in a while. I guess I'd like to know when it was last submitted, and it's not clear from this. No. Was never submitted, but I I guess I'd be a little hesitant in any instance to say, yeah, we don't need that anymore when it hasn't been done.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: I'm just yeah. I'm just telling you where where they where they're coming from. I I would and, of course, when I learned about it last year, that's when I started that. We need to capture some of that money here in state to tell our own story, which led to the Monument Farms and the Vermont Dairy Promotion Council and the Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance all coming together to tell the Vermont

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: agriculture story. Yeah,

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: yeah, well unknowingly in the beginning, and then because I didn't even know Jake was doing that at the time, and then it all came together. And in this case, it's more just dairy, it's food. Episode two is a lot of different types of food, mac and more, with his potatoes, and farmers markets, and everything else, it's really, you know, and talks about local. And there's still, you know, good chunk of dairy in that as well. But we're supposed to promote dairy, but in this instance, we're telling the Vermont farmer story, so we're not forgotten.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: So does the Dairy Promotion Council essentially report to the agency and then it flows through them? Yeah.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: The the agency facilitates their meeting, and then the agency retains percentage of this money to because, you know, they get paid a stipend, their lunches, their, you know, the mileage. You know, that's all done by the cold of you can more of Pittsburgh over there and a couple of rock stars right there. And then they disperse the money for their VDPC. They send the money to New England dairy, the Vermont cheese council, VDPA, four h got $25,000, I think $15,000 this year. So they disperse the money to the various organizations and receive back from those organizations the reports on how they spent the money. And that to me is more important than where the money goes, but it's how it's spent when it goes out. So what's New England dairy doing with the money? My money. Yeah. And I've been told that not to worry about it. When my father served on the Dairy Promotion Council and was the rebel in the room, if you will.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Besides how much goes into it, how much that's taken off sub beer?

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: It's federally set. It's federally set. It's 15¢ per 100. 5¢ goes to federal promotion. 10¢ comes back to the state. And to the state. It comes back to each state. And then, you know, they have decided rightfully so, I guess, that, you know, the majority of our milk is used in Southern New England. So a lot of our advertising dollars are spent in Boston, Connecticut, you know.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: But Vermont dairy provides the majority of the funding

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: 57% of the money. Some comes the next biggest share comes from New York.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: Oh, are they part of the

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: They're they're part of some New York any milk that flows into New England. Okay. And so the New York Dairy Promotion Council sends money to its New England dairy.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Why don't we keep going here? Are we looking for a consensus? Well, No. I think, well, let's go through them all then we'll come back. But I mean, it sounds like this is something that we might wanna talk about more. So I would say, I wouldn't wanna get rid of it.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: Yeah. I I I wouldn't I wouldn't. Yeah. I think we need to hear a report from them.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yeah. Okay. The next one is state financial assistance awards for non point source pollution programs. I think we should probably hear that one. Absolutely.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: Anything we're doing for water quality.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: Yep. That's from the agency.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: What does the expireds call it? Mean yeah. So it

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: sounds it's there's a sunset?

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: I don't know, but I will that's something we're badly we if we could pull up an example, but see if it says so in the statute that that data is there. Execution of the implementation plan for Lake Champlain TMDL. So that's due January 15 and then every four years thereafter. So that's not coming in every year. That's once every four years, for what it's worth. Housing and conservation board, the board of activities and financing for the So is that today, essentially, what's happening? I think that they're that they have submitted something else in writing, and they may be referring to that report today, let's ask them when they commit. Yeah. Good opportunity. Clean Water Board recommendations, allocation of funds in the Clean Water Fund, that seems pretty critical. Billions and millions of dollars there. The Rural Economic Development Initiative, somebody this is Ready, r e v I, and I remember somebody just mentioned recently. Yeah. Somebody asked what that was. I can't remember the context of the grants. People, the sustainable jobs fund people were here, but I don't remember what they were talking about. Okay. Was that yesterday you mean? Like Dang. Couple it it came up a couple weeks ago too. Before that. Yeah. I think did you ask, John? Well,

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: I remember emailing our grants manager and saying, have we applied in coverage for these Ready grants?

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yeah, okay. That was last year, I think. And then the Farm Viability Enhancement Program, I'd like to look at that report. Activities progress of the Rural Economic Development Initiative. So why is that different, Dave, than the one two above it? I don't know, but it's a different Report. But they

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: were two weeks apart, same year, 2021, he said, need a lot

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: of support. Maybe they are the same, and they're just a reference to Act 77 in the first line, and then there's a statutory reference down below. So maybe that's a mistake, and they I don't know. Yeah. And then the MOU, this one maybe could be repealed. Because of the new That's what you're working on.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: Exactly. That's what we're working on now.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yeah.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: I I

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: do we repeal it now, or do we wait till we get all that work done? Well, I'm kinda surprised that it's still here because I thought that maybe what we passed last year struck that language anyway.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: There's no MOU anymore. Right?

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yeah. And you're creating something new.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: We're creating something now. So right now, theoretically, there is an MOU as of right now still. There is still. Yeah. Oh, well, maybe But until we finish.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: Because there's this transition period between the MOU years and the Yay.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: It hasn't the fish fights

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: are all about. If anybody has a device right now and wants to look at one of these, maybe we can sort of divide and conquer. There's a on the left hand column there, can should everybody know how to look at the laws on our legislative website. So if you open up, you know, the general assembly's web page, at the top, there's a section One of the options is Vermont laws. You can Google things too, you can probably do it that way just as easily. But this has all the laws, all the statutes arranged by title. Kind of interesting to breath through. Question? Yeah.

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: House Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife. That's one of our committees?

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: It used to be.

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: Yeah, well it's, I've seen

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: it a few times here

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: and I'm not familiar with that committee.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: It's no longer called the House Environment, it's the Environment Committee, yeah.

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: It is. Yeah,

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: so They ought

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: to at least change the name. Yeah.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Whenever we change committee names, there's lots of references in statute to bills that are studies that have to go to the Agriculture Committee, because it wasn't always called the Agriculture. It's been a agriculture committee in fifteen years. Yeah. Yep. And the the environment committee was energy and environment for a little while. It's part

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: of the environment.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: It was natural resources, I think, for that. And what is it called here? Fish, wildlife, and water resources. So that's Natural resources, comma, fish and wildlife.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: Natural resources and energy.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yeah. Features fish and wildlife. Fish and wildlife. And there was an energy committee, separate energy committee. Yeah. Okay, so we'll see if anybody have any thoughts on these individually? Like, any that you're looking at saying, let's let's have let's look at that report?

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: I checked them all down and see them again. And then after we see them this year or next year, we can decide whether we we don't need to see that one again. Yeah.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: The extent part. Right? That's what

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: he Yeah.

[Rep. Heather Surprenant (Vice Chair)]: About some. Yeah. I agree.

[Rep. John O'Brien (Member)]: Yeah. Well, yeah. Got him down to extent. They're it could be retained and then decide later.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: So if you go also on our page, you can go to the reports and research tab, and then you can search through the reports. I'm doing that right now. I'm gonna look to carry promotion. Nothing. No results. No. So, Jerry, you said go go to the general summit.

[Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt (Member)]: Yeah, sure.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: All right. Well, I think what maybe I'm gonna suggest we do is take a break. We've got the Housing Conservation Board due at 11:15, so if anybody wants to go stretch, let's get right back because they usually have a lot of context.