Legislative Report 3/25/2021 - Crossing Over

 Over the weekend, I was able to watch a Zoom broadcast of a “Bridging” ceremony for my grandson Guthrie and his Cub Scout den. The ceremony marks the passage of a Webelos Cub Scout to a Boy Scout troop (Scouts BSA).  The scout salutes their den leader, removes their Cub Scout neckerchief, walks across a small bridge to where the troop leaders are standing, salutes them and receives their new Boy Scout neckerchief. It is a rite of passage marking a transition.

Bills in the legislature can be said to follow a similar path, though not exactly. A bill originates in either the House or the Senate.  To become law, it must pass in the other chamber as well with the exact same language.  The other chamber will often propose amendments which creates a back-and-forth journey for the bill. This requires time for each chamber to study and discuss the bills they receive, which means that waiting too long to send a bill over means the bill will not get passed.  Therefore, the legislature sets a deadline called “crossover” when bills must be voted out of committee to have any chance of passing during the current session. This crossover deadline occurred last Friday.

During the two weeks following the Town Meeting break, the House passed several bills touching on agriculture, health care, the justice system, and education. Raw milk producers are currently prohibited from selling their product away from their farm. H.218 will allow them to sell their product at farm stands and through CSAs other than their own.  Services for mental health patients will be expanded by H.104, which allows certain licensed out-of-state mental health professionals to treat Vermont patients using telemedicine.

The House passed a trio of bills from the Judiciary Committee. H.128 prohibits a person from justifying an act of violence by claiming that they felt threatened by the crime victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. H.195 allows the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement in cases related to sexual exploitation of children. Finally, while judges already have an inherent authority to order firearm relinquishment as part of an emergency relief from abuse order, H.133 creates a statutory basis to clarify this authority so that victims will have a clearer understanding that an order removing firearms is available to improve their safety.

The Education Committee brought three bills to the floor successfully. According to a 2019 national assessment, only 37 percent of Vermont’s fourth-graders were proficient in reading, a percentage that declined from 2017.  H.101 will strengthen early literacy instruction for Vermont students in grades pre-K to 3. The bill taps into $3 million in federal stimulus funds to provide grants to supervisory unions to improve literacy teaching and outcomes and ensure that students who struggle receive instruction from highly skilled teachers. 

Since the state suspended aid for school construction in 2007, H.426 addresses the needs and conditions of public school facilities throughout the state. This bill, funded by $2.5 million in federal stimulus money, takes a step forward by updating school facilities construction standards, conducting a statewide assessment of our school buildings, and commissioning a report on state funding options. The long-term goal is to make sure that our school buildings are well-maintained, energy-efficient, safe, and healthy places that meet the needs of 21st century education and technology.

The third bill, H.106, invests $3.34 million in federal funds in a “community schools” pilot program. The bill targets public schools with a high percentage of low-income students and provides three years of funding to hire or designate a community schools coordinator who will work with students, families, teachers and staff, and community partners to transform schools into resource hubs that help both students and families overcome out-of-school barriers to learning like poverty, food and housing insecurity, substance misuse, or lack of access to physical and mental healthcare. Research shows these schools improve attendance, academic achievement, high-school graduation rates and more. As we emerge from the pandemic, H.106 uses federal money to see how Vermont can not only recover but reinvent our schools, while helping our neediest students and families to thrive.

I welcome your emails (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com) or phone calls (802-233-5238).  

The Word in the House 4/26/2017 - Help for First Responders

Vermont has seen its share of tragic automobile accidents and fatal fires over the years. Accidents like the one on I-89 in Williston caused by a wrong-way driver that killed 5 teens on their way home from a concert or the recent accident on Route 7 in Charlotte that killed a young man require first responders to confront pretty gruesome scenes that can leave a lasting traumatic impression on them, which can cause nightmares, depression and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While PTSD is recognized as a serious mental health condition, counseling and treatment is often not covered by private health insurance or workers compensation. Under current law, if a first responder breaks an ankle while responding to a vehicle collision they would have health care and wage replacement while they are unable to work through their workers compensation coverage. However, if they respond to a particularly horrific scene and suffer a PTSD injury, they would not be covered for mental health treatment or replacement wages while they recover. The current criterion for work-related PTSD requires a worker to show that the event or stress was extraordinary and unusual in comparison to the pressures and tensions experienced by the average worker in his or her occupation. Insurers often use this standard to argue that first responders commonly encounter such stressful situations, and it is therefore a normal hazard of the occupation and not covered. The House Health Care Committee recognized that this fundamental unfairness flies in the face of Vermont's mental health parity law and created legislation that corrects it.

House bill H.197 creates a presumption that PTSD suffered by a police officer, rescue or ambulance worker, or firefighter that was incurred during service in the line of duty will be covered by workers compensation. The presumption would apply to PTSD that is diagnosed by a mental health professional up to three years after the last date of employment as a police officer, rescue or ambulance worker, or firefighter. However, that presumption could be overcome by evidence showing that the injury was more likely caused by a risk factor or exposure outside of the line of duty.

H.197 provides that a mental condition resulting from a work-related event or work-related stress is compensable if the worker can show that the event or stress was extraordinary and unusual in comparison to the pressures and tensions experienced by the average employee across all occupations. In other words, first responders are human and subject to the same emotional stresses as the rest of us. This provision still requires that an injured worker be able to demonstrate the injury came from work and not some other occurrence. In particular it would not permit a worker to receive compensation for a mental condition resulting from a disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, termination, or similar action taken in good faith by his or her employer.

This bill has been sent to the Senate Rules Committee which will decide whether to act on it in the remaining weeks of this session or to leave it rest until next January. First responders perform an invaluable service for our communities. They are there when we need them, and they are willing to put their own lives on the line when called to duty. The least we can do is make sure that they get help when they need it.

I encourage you to let me know your concerns and opinions. I can be reached by phone (802-233-5238) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).

Legislative Report 1/3/2014 - A Legislative Session Preview

While the legislature is out of session from June through December, some members still have work to do as members of oversight committees or of special study committees.  These committees review the work of various departments or agencies of the state or research via hearings certain issues that the legislature will have to deal with in the second half of the legislative term.  Here’s a brief account of some of that work.

Energy Generation Siting Policy Committee

Act 38 of 2013 required the House and Senate Committees on Natural Resources and Energy to meet jointly during adjournment to review the report submitted in April 2013 by the Governor’s Energy Generation Siting Policy Commission.    In two joint hearings held in the fall, the Committees heard from the director of the siting commission, the secretary of the agency of natural resources, the commissioner of the public service department, and over 20 members of the public.  The siting commission’s twenty-eight recommendations fell in three broad categories: (1) planning, (2) improved public process, and (3) greater protections for the environment, agriculture and health in the energy siting process.  Many of the commission’s recommendations sought to improve transparency and efficiency of the Public Service Board, including an improved PSB website, a new case manager position to provide a point of contact with the general public, and a tiered permitting process which would set requirements based on the complexity of a project.  The commission’s planning suggestions focused on the role of regional and municipal planning commissions in energy siting.  And finally, the commission sought greater weight for environmental, agricultural and health considerations in the PSB permitting process.  By unanimous consent, the committees deferred action on the reports to the legislative session.

Lake Shoreland Protection Commission

The Lake Shoreland Protection Commission was created by the 2013 Appropriations Bill (Act 50). The Commission was comprised of the Senate Natural Resources Committee and 5 Representatives from the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources committee. Six public meetings were held in Newport, Fairlee, Bomoseen, Middlebury, North Hero and Burlington, and included collaboration with regional and municipal planning commissions and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.  The creation of the commission was in part due to the passage of H.526 in the House, a bill crafted to establish shoreland protection standards for Vermont lakes and ponds in excess of 10 acres. The Senate needed additional time to collect more input from the public, including lakeshore owners and businesses, and to provide more outreach and education regarding the current health and vitality of Vermont’s lakes. There was also a demonstrated need to summarize current regulations, to investigate the need for additional regulation, and to revisit anti-degradation policies with regard to Lake Champlain.  More than 300 public comments from more than 700 attendees were received, logged and categorized. The final commission report is due to the legislature on January 15th. The draft report and public comments can be found here: https://leg2.vermont.gov/sites/legislature/LSP/default.aspx. Work will continue on this subject in the Senate in this session.

Mental Health Oversight Committee

The Mental Health Oversight Committee’s principal focus was in monitoring the on-going creation of the mental health system of care, which continues to be in crisis.  This system relies on three facilities, Green Mountain Psychiatric Care in Morrisville, Rutland Regional Hospital and the Brattleboro Retreat, to provide “level one care” with other hospitals, Fletcher Allen in particular, providing back up.  Level one care is acute or emergency/crisis care.  The result is occasional long waits for some patients in hospital emergency rooms with a negative cascading effect on the delivery of care throughout the system.

While the Oversight Committee and the Joint Health Care Committee strongly recommend that the State Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin opens all 25 beds as soon as possible and no later than July 1, the Administration currently plans to open only 16 beds in the facility when it moves patients currently in the temporary facility in Morrisville at the end of June, resulting in a net gain of one bed.  Until all 25 beds are opened, currently planned for mid-August, the burden on patients and the hospitals will persist.  Ongoing issues within the system include: management of a decentralized system to ensure that seclusion and restraint policies meet state standards; maintaining sufficient facilities and well trained staff and sufficient funding of designated agencies; and returning focus to the needs of children within the mental health system of care. The Committee's report will be released in January.

The Word in the House - 2/11/2012 - Irene's Influence on State Mental Health System

A lot of the work that is being done at the Statehouse this year has been focused on addressing problems created by tropical storm Irene.  At the end of January, a few weeks into this session, a 10 year old problem was finally tackled as a direct result of Irene.  Irene did suddenly what the legislature has wanted to do for many years: it closed the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury. This caused severe disruption to the State’s ability to provide services to Vermonters who need acute inpatient care for mental illness. The silver lining: it forced the legislature to act and provided a capital funding opportunity that was not available before.

Since the flood, the reorganization of the mental health system has been under discussion by several committees in the House with hearings being held throughout the state.  Caregivers, hospitals, patients and their families gave testimony.  The House finally passed H.630, entitled Reforming Vermont’s Mental Health System.

The bill strengthens Vermont’s existing mental health care system by offering a continuum of community and peer services, as well as a range of acute inpatient beds throughout the state based on the principles developed by the Mental Health Oversight Committee.  These principles include:

• meeting the needs of individuals with mental health conditions, including such individuals in the Corrections system, while reflecting excellence, best practices, and the highest standards of care;
• providing a coordinated continuum of care to ensure that individuals with mental health conditions receive care in the most integrated and least restrictive settings available, honoring individuals’ treatment choices to the extent possible;
• performing long-term planning to design programs that are responsive to changes over time in levels and types of needs, service delivery practices, and sources of funding;
• ensuring that the  mental health system will be integrated into the overall health care system, including the location of any new inpatient psychiatric facilities adjacent to, or incorporated with a medical hospital;
• distributing facilities based on demographics and geography to increase the likelihood of treatment as close to home as possible;
• ensuring that the legal rights of individuals with mental health conditions are protected; and
• ensuring that Vermont’s mental health system will be adequately funded and financially sustainable to the same degree as other health services with oversight and accountability built into all aspects of the system.

A key strategy of the bill is the development of a distributed system of care in order to provide services closer to where patients live while at the same time providing facilities that offer safe and secure environments for patients that require them.  The services that were provided at the Vermont State Hospital will be provided at acute inpatient hospitals throughout the state including a 14-bed unit within the Brattleboro Retreat and a 6-bed unit within Rutland Regional Medical Center, and also by temporarily contracting for 7 to 12 inpatient beds at Fletcher Allen Health Care, by providing acute inpatient services at another temporary location, and by building a 25-bed hospital in central Vermont.  Funding for these facilities will come mostly from insurance payments for the Waterbury Complex and from FEMA Relocation and Replacement assistance.  In addition, since the State Hospital, which had been decertified by the federal government due to repeated problems, no longer exists, $10M per year in federal funding is again available for operations.  This will help the state absorb the additional expenses of the temporary arrangements.  The bill is now in the Senate.