I’ve heard the last two weeks of the legislative session
described as a log-jam of bills just waiting for the dam to burst. While House committees continue to work on bills
already passed by the Senate, one significant bill came a step closer to final
approval. After years of attempts to raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco
and related products to 21, the House passed the Senate’s “Tobacco 21” bill (S.86)
on a vote of 124 to 14. The only change the House made to the Senate version
was to move the effective date from July 1, 2019, to September 1, 2019. The
Senate should quickly approve this minor change and send the bill to the
Governor. (On April 30th the Senate approved the House amendment and passed S.86.)
While it is unusual for proposals to amend Vermont’s
Constitution to be considered, several have been proposed since 2010. Five were introduced in the 2011-2012 biennium
and six in the 2015-2016 biennium, none of which actually made it to a vote.
This year six proposals of amendment have been introduced, and two were passed
by the Senate. Proposal 2 would amend the Constitution to prohibit slavery and
indentured servitude, and Proposal 5 would guarantee personal reproductive
liberty. Without going into detail on these proposals which have surmounted the
first hurdle in the Senate, here is an explanation of what is required to amend
our Vermont Constitution.
All amendments must originate in the Senate and can be
proposed only in every other biennium, which explains the lack of proposals in
2013 and 2017. A proposal must be adopted by both chambers during the biennium
in which it is proposed, and then again in the next biennium. The chamber vote
requirements are higher in the proposing biennium than in the subsequent one. In
the first biennium the Senate must approve the proposal by a 2/3 vote of all
the members, i.e. 20 Senators. If approved, the proposal is sent to the House,
where it is referred to the appropriate committee of jurisdiction. If the
committee decides to consider the proposal, it must hold a public hearing prior
to voting on it. No amendments are allowed. If it is voted out of committee,
the proposal must pass in the House by a majority of all the members of the House,
i.e. 76 Representatives. Then within 90 days of approval by the House, the
Secretary of State must publish the proposal in at least two newspapers having
general circulation in the state.
In the following biennium (2021-2022 for these proposals),
the Senate must again approve the proposal, but only by a majority of the
members this time, i.e. 16 Senators. If the Senate approves the proposal for a
second time, the House committee of jurisdiction is once again required to hold
a public hearing before it can vote the proposal out of committee for
consideration by the whole House. Then, at least 76 members of the House must
be present to vote on the proposal. Of those present, a simple majority is
required to pass it.
If the proposal passes both chambers in both biennia, the
Governor provides public notice by proclamation and the Secretary of State must
publish the proposal in two major newspapers once a week for three weeks. The
proposal is then submitted to the voters of the state in the general election
for ratification. If a majority of the voters approve, the Constitution is
amended.
Readers can view Proposals 2 and 5 and track their status by
going to https://legislature.vermont.gov/
and entering “PR2” or “PR5” in the Search for Bills and Resolutions.
