The second half of the Vermont legislative biennium begins Wednesday with Democrats/Progressives holding a supermajority. Since the legislature adjourned in May, the state experienced two severe floods, and recovery is expected to temper actions in the Statehouse. In a conversation with WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley, Democratic House Speaker Jill Krowinski discusses her priorities for the session, including flood recovery.
First of all, I think it's really important to state that we want to ensure that we have a flood recovery plan that leaves no Vermonter or no Vermont town behind. Flood recovery and climate resiliency is going to be a top priority for us this legislative session. And there'll be multiple strategies that we'll be talking about, from how we can support impacted families and small businesses to how we can build back stronger and better so we can be more resilient to floods. And obviously this is not something that we can just accomplish in one year. I think we need short term and long-term strategies to get us there. And so we'll be diving into that work when we get back into the building starting this week.
How much of those strategies will be based on regulatory and things like, I know you're looking at Act 250 reform, things like that versus fiscal recovery efforts?
Well, it's going to be a combination of things. I think our land use policies and Act 250 will be part of that. We're expecting several reports with recommendations and we'll see that. We'll be looking at different ways that we can better manage our rivers and water corridors. We'll be looking at ways that we can better support programs to financially support impacted families and small businesses. And then I think there's just the larger conversation about how we tackle, we continue to tackle, climate change in our state and what strategies that we can do to ensure that we're growing more resilient. And, you know, with the renewable energy standard will be another bill that we take up this session, that is more about long term strategy around increasing our renewable energy goals. And I think those are all pieces like, you know, there's not unfortunately one bill or one policy that can just fix us and make us more resilient. It's going to have to be several different strategies to get us there.
Jill Krowinski, I heard you in a recent interview state that a bill to establish safe injection sites will be the first bill that you will bring forward in the House during this upcoming session. Why?
So, the Overdose Prevention Bill that we started last legislative session made it to one of the last steps but we ran out of time in the legislative process and we ran out of time. So it's queued up and ready to be one of the first bills that we take up when we return and gavel in this session. We've seen and we continue to see an uptick in overdose deaths in Vermont. This year, to date, from January actually to September what we have data for so far, we've lost 180 people. If you go and look back at the three-year average from January to September it's 148. The numbers keep on ticking up. So we need to double down on our strategies to ensure that we're doing everything we can to get people through recovery and back on track so they can contribute to their community to be with their families. That's been really important. And I hear about substance use disorder in all corners of the state and the need for us to really do more because you can't keep on seeing these numbers rise. It just doesn't reflect our values and we need to help support people through recovery.
Wouldn't safe injection sites run afoul of federal rules and regulations.
Well, we will be doing some pilots and we've been working with our attorneys to ensure that we're doing what we need to make it happen in a safe way in Vermont.
Jill, we've seen an increase of crime that's been mostly drug related across the state. It's led to some high-profile shootings and killings. What kind of measures might be brought forward to address crime and along those lines also jurisprudence to address it?
Sure, well, you know, before COVID struck, we had a backlog in our court system. And just like so many things that we've seen, you know, COVID only made these problems and challenges worse. And so coming out of COVID, the court backlog has just been a huge problem for us in Vermont. And so we have been working over the summer and fall to talk about what investments need to be made to strengthen our court system and to get through that backlog. It's going to take, you know, a financial investment. But I think it's really critical because of the challenges that we're seeing out there. In addition to investing in the judiciary, we are looking at a bill that would change the way that we appoint judges in our state to make it a more, to have a more expedited process. We had five judicial openings that were open for too long. I think it was over six months we were waiting. That contributed to the backlog and some of the problems. So we're going to be looking at a way to see if we can expedite that process to get more judges back to make sure we have enough judges on the bench to keep up with the workload. And so those are two strategies that we'll be taking up in the house when we return in January.
That's kind of interesting. I think most people think of the judge backlog as being at a federal level in the Senate, you know the U.S. Senate, not getting that done.
Right. It's a problem I know across the country but we're seeing it here in Vermont, too. And, you know, it's a problem that is not talked about that much. And I think it's really important for us to raise the issue and to look at different ways that we can make that process, you know, thorough, but more, but more quick, because we just, again, this backlog needs to be addressed and we know that this is one of the things that would help address this.
Jill Krowinski, you mentioned earlier Act 250 and that there are some reports with some recommendations pending to be issued during the session. Act 250 appears to be a priority for the Senate Pro-Tem. Where is it among your priorities for the upcoming session?
Well, this is a continued priority for us. This isn't something new for us to be tackling. We actually made some modification in our land use and Act 250 policies last legislative session in our affordable housing bill. And these reports coming back will continue the conversation and what we can do to better modernize our land use policy. And so I think it's a priority across both chambers.
What kind of revisions do you think will actually pass this session?
Well, I'm not going to speculate about what will pass and what won't pass. What I, we have a thorough vetting process where we need to bring in and hear background information about the report, how they came to those recommendations, make sure that we're getting feedback from cities and towns across the state and other stakeholders, from the environmental advocates and community. We need to make sure that what we're doing is thoroughly vetted and thoughtful and we're not just rushing through to change something that might have a negative impact. So I would say stay tuned and follow the work of our legislative committees as they dive into this work in January.
Speaker Krowinski, another issue that has been carried over from the past session: paid family leave. It seems to have been a huge issue, but now it seems to have waned a little bit. I'm curious what's happening there? If it's money that's keeping it from advancing, or if there's other issues that have come up to overshadow paid family leave?
Well, paid family leave is really an incredibly, really important policy for Vermonters and which is why it's been a priority that we've been working on to find a solution to make it happen. You know, the United States is the only country, modernized country, not to have a paid family leave policy in place. People shouldn't have to choose between their job and taking care of a sick one. And so we know that this has support across the state and we've been looking at ways to implement it and to pay for it. And those are conversations that have been ongoing. So I think this is going to be another issue that we're going to continue to work on. It's in the Senate so I can't tell you exactly what will happen on the Senate side. That's not for me to comment on. I do think that there's support for that policy to say can we continue to work together to find a path forward for it?
Jill, obviously, the budget is going to be a huge priority. But you've got all of these challenges, because obviously we talked about the flooding. There's no more federal funds coming in after the pandemic and such. What are some of the challenges you foresee as the legislature crafts the budget this year?
Right. Well, I think every year when we're developing and working on our budget we have always a different set of challenges that we need to work with. And we made it through a very difficult time with during COVID. We did get really great support from our federal delegation with ARPA funds and then subsequent bills to follow that we're still getting federal dollars in to help us with various efforts. I think for us, what I feel positive about is that there's some clarity around what our priorities are. Access to affordable housing comes up in every conversation that I have. And I know that is a policy that people support across party lines. You know, when we talk about flood recovery and climate resiliency, that is another one that we hear support for. And then there's other policies that are rising to the top in terms of priorities that people care about: workforce development and health and public safety work. So I think, you know, we'll do what we always do. We'll come together. We'll make sure that we're bringing everyone around the table to give us input and look at the data and work together. We can do hard things. We always have the best balanced budget and this year will be no different.
Governor Scott throughout his tenure has called for fiscal restraint to the point where he's actually vetoed some budgets. Do you think that this session might result in any new taxes or fees and therefore create conflict with the Republican governor at all?
Well, I really feel strongly about the Governor and I working together and talking through what our shared priorities are and how we fund them. I think it's premature to talk about what will or will not be happening because we haven't gambled in yet. But I think, again, I'm just going to go back and say that we do share some of the same priorities. And I hope that everyone's just showing up saying, this was a tough, this was a tough summer with the horrible flooding that occurred. You know, again, we are seeing this uptick in overdose deaths which is very concerning. We want to make sure that we're doing everything to keep our community safe, which is why we're talking about investments in the judiciary. And I hope that we can work together. And, again, we've continued to pass balanced budgets and we always deliver to make sure that we don't have a government shutdown in Vermont and we'll stick to that.
Vermont Speaker Democrat Jill Krowinski will gavel in the House session Wednesday at 10 a.m.
