MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont lawmakers are racing to the finish line to pass critical legislation and adjourn Friday.
There are several major pieces of legislation still pending including the $8.5 billion state budget, the Yield Bill which sets statewide property taxes, and a sweeping land-use bill designed to address the state’s housing crisis.
The big question is how lawmakers will buy down the property tax crisis. The House’s proposal is at 14% while the Senate’s stands at about 12.5%. But both are too much for Governor Phil Scott, who has signaled he will veto the bills if they do not provide more relief and start education finance reform this year.
The Democratic supermajority is looking for a two-thirds veto-proof majority for both the Yield Bill or other legislation that might be opposed by the governor.
This legislative biennium has been punctuated by a new crop of lawmakers grappling with the property tax problem and leading to friction among the governor and both chambers on spending priorities now that pandemic cash has run out.
Since this is the second and final year of the biennium, what doesn’t make it across the finish line before adjournment will have to start from scratch next session and be reintroduced. That appears to include a bill that would have paused the state’s PCB testing program. Another high-profile bill that would have changed the makeup of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board — and banned hunting coyotes with dogs — also did not make it.