Journal of the House
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005
At one o'clock and fifteen minutes in the afternoon the Speaker called the
House to order.
Devotional Exercises
Devotional exercises were conducted by Writer, Archer Mayor of Newfane.
Senate Bills Referred
Senate bills of the following titles were severally taken up, read the first
time and referred as follows:
S. 16
Senate bill, entitled
An act relating to campaign finance;
To the committee on Government Operations.
S. 168
Senate bill, entitled
An act relating to fireworks incident report deadline;
To the committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs.
House Resolution Adopted
H.R. 9
The committee on Ways and Means offered a House resolution, entitled
House resolution designating Representative Carolyn Branagan of Georgia
as the Maple Queen of the House of Representatives;
Whereas, maple-derived products are one of Vermont’s premier agricultural
products and most delicious culinary contributions to our state’s and nation’s
palates, and
Whereas, Vermont’s sugarmakers, in their tree groves and sugarhouses,
labor with great diligence to produce our state’s maple cornucopia, and
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Whereas, one of Vermont’s most dedicated and ingenious sugarmakers is
the member from Georgia, Representative Carolyn Branagan, and
Whereas, those persons who are acquainted with the maple products that
Carolyn Branagan and her husband produce know they are irresistibly
delicious, and
Whereas, the members of the House Ways and Means Committee are the
special beneficiaries of her maple wizardry as, on a regular basis, she supplies
them and visitors to the committee with maple fudge and other delicacies, and
Whereas, Carolyn Branagan had intended to enter a maple products
competition but has decided not to proceed due to the press of legislative
business, and
Whereas, in the opinion of her colleagues on the Committee on Ways and
Means, no competition is required to present her with this chamber’s maple
award, now therefore be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives:
That this legislative body is proud to designate Representative Carolyn
Branagan of Georgia as Maple Queen of the House of Representatives, and be
it further
Resolved: That this legislative body, having bestowed this designation,
expects the member from Georgia to continue her efforts and would be
devastated if the flow of goodies were to end, and be it further
Resolved: That the clerk of the house be directed to send a copy of this
resolution to Representative Carolyn Branagan.
Which was read and adopted.
House Resolution Placed on Calendar
The Speaker placed before the House the following resolution which was
read and in the Speaker’s discretion, placed on the Calendar for action
tomorrow under Rule 52.
H.R. 10
House Resolution to amend the Rules of the House to provide for
recognition of third parties
Offered by: Committee on Rules
Be it resolved that Rule 24 of the Rules of the House of Representatives is
amended to read:
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005
Rule 24. A member elected by a caucus of the majority party shall be
majority leader and a member elected by a caucus of the minority party shall
be minority leader. For purposes of this rule and of Rule 25, the majority party
shall be the party having the greatest number of members in the House, and the
minority party shall be the party having the next highest number. Members
elected to the House who are members of a third party may form a caucus as a
party and elect a member of that caucus as caucus leader. The caucuses may
elect such assistant leaders as they deem necessary.
Committee Relieved of Consideration
and Bill Committed to Other Committee
S. 156
Rep. Heath of Westford moved that the committee on Appropriations be
relieved of Senate bill, entitled
An act relating to corrections;
And that the bill be committed to the committee on Judiciary, which was
agreed to.
Action on Bill Postponed
H. 528
House bill, entitled
An act relating to adjustments to the municipal employees’ retirement
system of Vermont;
Was taken up and pending second reading of the bill, on motion of Rep.
Evans of Essex, action on the bill was postponed two legislative days.
Bill Amended; Third Reading Ordered
H. 134
Rep. Atkins of Winooski, for the committee on Government Operations, to
which had been referred House bill, entitled
An act relating to a legislative information technology oversight committee;
Reported in favor of its passage when amended by striking all after the
enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
Sec. 1. 2 V.S.A. chapter 23 is added to read:
CHAPTER 23. LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
COMMITTEE
§ 751. LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
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(a) There is created the legislative information technology committee
composed of eight members, four from the house of representatives appointed
by the speaker, not more than three from the same political party; and four
members from the senate, appointed by the senate committee on committees,
not more than three from the same political party. Members shall be appointed
each biennial session of the general assembly, and vacancies shall be filled in
the manner of the original appointment for the remainder of the biennium.
(b) The committee shall elect a chair and vice chair and shall adopt rules of
procedure. The office of chair shall rotate biennially between the house and
senate members.
(c) The committee may meet during a session of the general assembly at
the call of the chair or a majority of the members of the committee. The
committee may meet no more than six times during adjournment, subject to the
approval of the speaker of the house and the president pro tempore of the
senate. A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum. For
attendance at a meeting of the committee when the general assembly is not in
session, members of the committee are entitled to compensation for services
and reimbursement of expenses as provided under section 406 of this title.
§ 752. FUNCTIONS
(a) The legislative information technology committee shall be responsible
for the coordination and integration of information technology in the
legislative branch in order to ensure that legislative records that are created,
received, stored or transmitted by that technology enhance legislative goals and
priorities and conform to Vermont’s recordkeeping requirements.
(b) The committee shall prepare, adopt, and maintain a long-range plan of
at least five years for information technology operations and services in the
legislative branch. The plan shall analyze the costs and benefits and risk
management aspects of maintaining authentic and accessible legislative
records as required by Vermont law. In the preparation of the plan, the
committee shall consult with members of the general assembly, the legislative
staff information systems team established by section 753 of this title, and
other legislative staff, the state archivist, the commissioner of buildings and
general services, other representatives of the executive and judicial branches of
state government, and members of the public. The committee shall provide the
house and senate committees on government operations with copies of the plan
and any amendment to the plan.
(d) The committee shall also adopt an annual budget for expenditures for
legislative information technology and services and present the same to the
committees on appropriations of the general assembly in each annual budget
process.
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005
§ 753. LEGISLATIVE STAFF INFORMATION SYSTEMS TEAM
(a) There is created the legislative staff information systems team to be
composed of the following legislative staff officers or their designees:
(1) The secretary of the senate;
(2) The clerk of the house;
(3) The chief counsel of the legislative council;
(4) The joint fiscal officer of the joint fiscal committee; and
(5) The sergeant at arms.
(b) The legislative staff information systems team shall provide assistance
to the legislative information technology committee as requested by the
committee. It shall plan and coordinate information systems and resources for
legislative staff and make recommendations to the legislative information
technology committee with respect to information technology resources and
services for all legislative staff for inclusion in the legislative information
technology long-range plan and annual budget.
And that the bill be further amended by amending the title to read as follows:
“AN ACT RELATING TO THE
TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE”
LEGISLATIVE
INFORMATION
Rep. Bostic of St. Johnsbury, for the committee on Appropriations,
recommends the bill ought to pass when amended as recommended by the
committee on Government Operations.
The bill, having appeared on the Calendar one day for notice, was taken up,
read the second time, report of the committees on Government Operations and
Appropriations agreed to and third reading ordered.
Favorable Report; Third Reading Ordered
J.R.H. 4
Rep. Minter of Waterbury, for the committee on Transportation, to which
had been referred joint resolution, entitled
Joint resolution in support of the designation of the Connecticut River
Byway as a National Scenic Byway;
Reported in favor of its passage. The resolution, having appeared on the
Calendar one day for notice, was taken up, read the second time and third
reading ordered.
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858
Senate Proposal of Amendment Not Concurred in;
Committee of Conference Requested and Appointed
H. 198
The Senate proposes to the House to amend House bill, entitled
An act relating to gift certificates;
The Senate proposes to the House to amend the bill in Sec. 1, 8 V.S.A. §
2703(b)(2), by striking out "$10.00" and inserting in lieu thereof $5.00
Pending the question, Will the House concur in the Senate proposal of
amendment? Rep. Keenan of St. Albans City moved that the House refuse to
concur and ask for a Committee of Conference, which was agreed to, and the
Speaker appointed as members of the Committee of Conference on the part of
the House:
Rep. Shand of Weathersfield
Rep. Keenan of St. Albans City
Rep. Young of Orwell
Senate Proposal of Amendment Concurred in
H. 479
The Senate proposes to the House to amend House bill, entitled
An act relating to Vermont entities’ compliance with federal law;
The Senate proposes to the House to amend the bill in Sec. 1, 8 V.S.A. §
10601, after "Parts 2" by striking out "and 5" and inserting in lieu thereof , 5,
and 6
Which proposal of amendment was considered and concurred in.
Joint Resolution Adopted
J.R.H. 36
Joint resolution, entitled
Joint resolution Joint resolution recognizing the outstanding work of the
Logger Education to Advance Professionalism training program.
Was taken up and adopted on the part of the House.
Message from the Senate No. 54
A message was received from the Senate by Mr. Marshall, its Assistant
Secretary, as follows:
Madam Speaker:
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005
I am directed to inform the House that the Senate has considered bills
originating in the House of the following titles:
H. 515. An act relating to judicial determinations in juvenile proceedings.
H. 526. An act relating to regulating animals in the deer family for
purposes of disease control.
And has passed the same in concurrence with proposals of amendment in
the adoption of which the concurrence of the House is requested.
The Senate has considered House proposal of amendment to Senate bill
entitled:
S. 81. An act relating to school buses.
And has refused to concur therein and asks for a Committee of Conference
upon the disagreeing votes of the two Houses;
The President pro tempore announced the appointment as members of such
Committee on the part of the Senate:
Senator Collins
Senator Maynard
Senator Starr
The Governor has informed the Senate that on the twenty-fifth day of April,
2004, he approved and signed a bill originating in the Senate of the following
title:
S. 63. An act relating to the transfer of certain functions from the
department of labor and industry to the department of public safety.
Adjournment
At two o’clock and fifteen minutes in the forenoon, on motion of Rep.
Sunderland of Rutland Town, the House adjourned until tomorrow at one
o’clock and fifteen minutes in the afternoon.