[{"_1":2,"_98":-5,"_99":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,86],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6318597,"mediaKeyId","2364719-4e868b496e19e1291e07f3b8bf87e00b","parentId",2364719,"title","Senate panel reviews Department of Labor technical corrections, weighing modernization and federal alignment","audioSeconds",3544,"startMs",176000,"endMs",3720000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2364719-4e868b496e19e1291e07f3b8bf87e00b&start=176&end=3720","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2364719-4e868b496e19e1291e07f3b8bf87e00b/thumbnail_176000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6318597/Vermont/Senate-panel-reviews-Department-of-Labor-technical-corrections-weighing-modernization-and-federal-alignment","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6318597-318b2a9264f46f0263aef815cf33a9d0/orig.mp4?Expires=1770967370&Signature=k~B2WfYujwV9FTJP9uE9FvBJ-FqDHAhgs3vUWltHev4Cn9damasgljXpix1LKrH6oSOHIUovo2vkq8YJyvM0qE0MY~PVP4902Oa6afCarfR7RwfEgdzghBgAJzKkqPrZ77oTBZZjykocHiXNyKydoTDKfmEGzug1A6iLWQkXOQuoAHlgYHlDFTgxnCch4wIpWgIFa6OkcK25BbLHgcffZ1MjsWolw0p5zrjwQFa~gKx-jrljABamOewZOntmMNMbrOzpaNCPbatGpb1Tj-vX-tvc3s5SWsv7uuNo86wdOFVsVfx-KWMDZMQs~kbwMTYUWgokBUoC25pundlXOHtnbA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-02-21T01:02:11.593Z","article","Michael Harrington, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, presented a package of 10 technical corrections to the committee on Feb. 20, saying the changes range from clerical clarifications to provisions that would align state practice with federal guidance.

Harrington told the committee the corrections \"allow us to also communicate with folks through electronic means,\" explaining the proposal would let the department send statutorily required notices by email and other electronic channels once claimants or employers provide that contact information. He said the proposed language contemplates electronic notice broadly and that the new unemployment insurance (UI) system being implemented already includes text-message capability.

The committee heard detailed discussion of tax-schedule calculations used to set annual UI tax schedules. Harrington and staff told senators the department proposes replacing a reference to the \"highest dollar amount\" in current statute with an inflation-adjusted benefit-cost ratio that mirrors modeling from the U.S. Department of Labor. \"The benefit to cost ratio is a common term that is used, in the UI world,\" Harrington said, arguing the change would better reflect trust-fund health across time.

Committee members questioned several administrative clarifications. Staff said the proposal would standardize rounding practices in multiple places in statute: disregarded-earnings calculations would consistently round down so claimants are not reduced by a penny, and minimum-wage calculations would be rounded to two decimal places. Harrington said those fixes are intended to avoid inadvertent reductions to claimant benefits.

The department also explained a proposal to reinstate the federal short-time compensation (STC) program, which Vermont had earlier sunsetted. Harrington described STC as a federally funded tool to partially compensate workers working reduced hours during partial layoffs; he said the renewed interest at the federal level and automation in the new UI system make resurrection feasible. Committee members asked how many Vermonters would use STC; Harrington said the state's existing part-time UI program has been used more often but that STC would be an additional federal tool.

On wage-recovery rules, the department recommended changing the order of recouped funds so wages owed to workers come before penalties and interest remitted to the department. \"If we are able to recoup anything from some of these people who shortchange Vermonters, they should go to Vermonters and not to the department,\" Harrington said.

The committee discussed several workplace-safety and rulemaking changes tied to federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. Department staff described a possible legislative mechanism to avoid repeating full administrative rulemaking every time federal OSHA issues a minimum standard the state must adopt; staff said the current process is costly (they estimated about $2,500 per rulemaking) and can result in multiple rule updates per year. Senators asked whether similar delegations exist in other state agencies and cautioned that such authority could raise oversight concerns.

Harrington and staff proposed lowering the threshold for required employer layoff notices (similar to WARN notices) from 50 employees to 25 to improve the department's ability to provide re-employment services. They also asked to clarify whether the statutory employer-size test is facility-based (employees in Vermont) or enterprise-wide (all employees of a multi-state employer). The department said it wants an employer-size definition that captures national employers whose Vermont operations are affected but clarified that the count of \"affected employees\" for notification should be those located in Vermont.

On employer successorship and restructuring, staff described recurring cases where buyers split a purchased business into separate legal entities'for example separating administrative staff from professionals'to obtain a lower UI tax outcome. The department proposes tightening successorship language so a purchaser cannot simply split operations to avoid inheriting a predecessor's tax rate.

The largest policy debate centered on an existing temporary enhancement that added a $60 weekly bump to the maximum weekly UI benefit after the pandemic. That bump was meant as a stopgap until the state modernized its system and could implement a different $25-per-claimant approach; staff said the statutory language limited a decrease in the maximum benefit and the bump was tied to modernization milestones. Harrington said the department's preference is to repeal the artificial bump and rely on the statute's normal calculation but acknowledged the change is substantive and not merely technical. Committee members signaled that extending the existing date to the modernization completion could be a narrower technical fix, while outright repeal would be a larger policy decision requiring fuller debate.

Members pressed the department for more data on improper payments and fraud during the pandemic. Harrington said the new system will improve fraud detection and reporting; he noted improper-payment rates have declined from pandemic peaks and that the most common ongoing fraud is identity-theft claims coming from overseas. He added the state often lacks a criminal-enforcement partner willing to pursue smaller-dollar frauds.

Committee members requested follow-up materials and witnesses. Senators asked the department to provide: written drafts of the proposed statutory language, a clearer fiscal and operational estimate of any rulemaking delegation, specific data on fraud and improper payments, examples and witnesses for successorship cases (the department said the tactic is rare but recurring), and a clearer timeline for the UI-system modernization that underlies several provisions.

Ending: The committee did not take a vote on the corrections package during the hearing. Members directed staff to circulate bill language and follow up with witnesses; senators indicated they would hold broader debate, especially about the $60 bump and any delegation of rulemaking authority to the department, once those materials and additional witnesses were available.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Economic Development - 2025-02-20-9:00 AM","oneSentenceSummary","Michael Harrington, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, told a Senate committee that a 10-item technical corrections package would let the department modernize routine communications and align several calculations with federal models.","taxTitle","Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs, SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",37662,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":79,"_47":80,"_49":81,"_51":82,"_53":83,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":84,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":85,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6318587,"Senate hears employee-rights, noncompete and unionization proposals; assistant attorneys general press for bargaining rights",0,3822000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2364719-4e868b496e19e1291e07f3b8bf87e00b&start=3822&end=3822","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2364719-4e868b496e19e1291e07f3b8bf87e00b/thumbnail_3822000.jpg","/articles/6318587/Vermont/Senate-hears-employee-rights-noncompete-and-unionization-proposals-assistant-attorneys-general-press-for-bargaining-rights","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6318587-bfc9026bd67c327447d637a7fbe2131e/orig.mp4?Expires=1770967370&Signature=luMjifMKmLqFmkA~MT8TlquJq4lrKfG~VRH2~oq~fSUTgcXl0GejSlnZWxmhUU9ZPpUNE60L9jC5WdnKIS8qp9goDrz4lErzQCsY9-TM1imQRzd8VkJ9B-LnE0vNGhaUXt6kL31BkcadhyTG3qHW3U9gtUJUEd3IdVYxuWNloy8L7oJUsAPgbn3fEBckbLXEMwhotIjcY4VUIEcxgPgCh2bJntC56GXHnM1rfM9bZZ-LL81nyIQptnnWSfyeYe74VKGz2Bd4dGRtobKAMrBKrumg3c6chheYPXLncIaUA0M3Xi8CyfoIZOUWmNuegqCf6L6Fs1O-81z~Tx7K2wvacw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee heard testimony Feb. 20 on a package of employee-rights measures and on a request from assistant attorneys general to be allowed to form a collective bargaining unit.

David Bickenbergen, representing Working Vermont, described a multi-part bill (draft 2025-0653) that would establish a good-cause termination standard, ban most noncompete agreements, and create a workplace \"right to sit\" in jobs that do not require continuous standing. \"This bill is really in line with, I see this as a beacon to the rest of the country to come work in Vermont,\" Bickenbergen said, framing the changes as recruitment and workforce-development tools.

On noncompetes, the committee heard proponents cite a recent Federal Trade Commission rule (now subject to federal action) and academic estimates that banning noncompetes could increase business formation and worker earnings. The draft bill includes exemptions for trade secrets and certain narrowly tailored protections but would generally prohibit post-employment contractual restraints that prevent workers from taking other jobs.

David McClain (assistant attorney general) testified that assistant attorneys general face recruitment and retention problems and that compensation structures in the AG's office do not reliably match published pay scales. McClain described his experience during a heavy litigation period when the civil division was understaffed and said the only reliable remedy for structural pay and bargaining-power issues is collective bargaining. \"I've come to the conclusion that the only solution is through a union or the right to unionize,\" he said. He said about 90 assistant attorneys general work in the office and that a likely bargaining unit would include roughly 75 AAGs.

Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA), told senators the VSEA supports permitting assistant attorneys general to hold a representation vote and urged parity for supervisory/judiciary staff who currently lack a similar option in the judicial branch. He also asked the committee to equalize the rules for decertifying a union under the card-check procedure: currently a lower threshold governs decertification petitions and VSEA seeks 50%+1 parity with the certification threshold so decertification requires the same level of employee support.

Committee members asked factual questions about numbers and precedent. McClain said other states, including California, Washington and Oregon, have recognized bargaining rights for similar groups. He said starting pay for newly hired assistant attorneys general is low relative to private-sector comparators and that systemic rules for setting compensation have created recruiting pressures.

Senators agreed the proposals merit more study. The committee paused further action to allow the attorney general's office, VSEA and other stakeholders to supply written analyses, pay data, and precedent from other states. No committee vote was taken.

","Witnesses urged the committee to back bills that would create a good-cause discharge standard, ban most noncompetes, restore a workplace \"right to sit\" and allow assistant attorneys general to vote on union representation; labor groups and assistant AGs highlighted retention and recruitment concerns.",{"_33":87,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":88,"_41":89,"_43":90,"_45":91,"_47":92,"_49":93,"_51":94,"_53":95,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":96,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":97,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6318592,"Fiscal study: expanding unemployment insurance to school support staff could cost Vermont $5.5 million to $16 million annually",502,2958000,3460000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2364719-4e868b496e19e1291e07f3b8bf87e00b&start=2958&end=3460","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2364719-4e868b496e19e1291e07f3b8bf87e00b/thumbnail_2958000.jpg","/articles/6318592/Vermont/Fiscal-study-expanding-unemployment-insurance-to-school-support-staff-could-cost-Vermont-55-million-to-16-million-annually","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6318592-b447d7e8933dd184f5981966a534d594/orig.mp4?Expires=1770967370&Signature=St7WfXgHSwnp5GPtLgVnu6IwpF~mby0~YeiOX1D~XqBWdm2a3fXdanFx7Y8uf~NciAxLrKITDX46owzjsr38wL7v7HkfM7yi8~B3JPn6dk3kGNkpLo-3rOx7tmwgEbJMkkKBqFuQeJ7Dv~4Uc~L3DWSWO6Pze1wELpiEpely4mTy6ImzrJy-KT-IlmtSCSScje4TQ8~iVplKPY1-FFOFYSMFZll0cT3kxk9oTKHBvTuPwbWSAIAatoebU39OY8DvyzwmwccSDTyF23oI74yRsPOrcz9SW~eYp04zu4ycV72K2QF6rpBClNONFEA6rkti~9GHPPqROWnPYILr6M7bNA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee on Feb. 20 reviewed a fiscal estimate for a bill (S.37, section 2) that would expand unemployment insurance eligibility to certain school support staff.

Patrick, a fiscal analyst who presented the estimate, told the committee the perennial uncertainty in staffing and seasonality makes final costs variable but that his team's estimate \"looks like this could be, like, in the neighborhood of, like, 5 and a half to $16,000,000, annually.\" He emphasized the range depends on staffing levels, how many positions become eligible, and how uptake changes over time.

Patrick said the cost would not fall on the UI trust fund as a regular trust-fund draw but would largely be borne by school budgets because many school employers are reimbursable employers who reimburse the trust fund dollar-for-dollar for benefits paid. He noted a rule-of-thumb used by some legislative fiscal staff that $12 million to $15 million in new liabilities can move the statewide property-tax rate by roughly one penny, making the fiscal trade-offs relevant to local taxpayers.

Committee members asked for comparative data from other states. Patrick cited Minnesota's recent experience: an initial projection of roughly $38 million annually expanded to an actual FY24 experience of about $57 million, and Minnesota prefunded the expansion with roughly $135 million that now appears insufficient to cover the full multi-year cost.

Senators and department staff discussed definition issues that affect eligibility. Department of Labor staff said the estimate used occupational classification codes (SOC codes) for paraprofessionals and teaching assistants; the staff also recommended consulting the U.S. Department of Education and federal partners to ensure any Vermont definition conforms with federal UI rules for instructional employees.

DOL officials and fiscal staff suggested modeling scenarios tied to the governor's education-reform proposals, noting potential mass-layoff implications if schools reorganize. Senators asked for a follow-up model that includes staffing gaps and potential outcomes of governance changes in the education sector.

Ending: The committee requested written materials and a follow-up hearing with witnesses from Minnesota and with school-district staff and paraprofessionals for testimony. No vote was taken on S.37'section 2 during the Feb. 20 meeting.

","A legislative fiscal estimate presented to the Senate committee put the annual cost of expanding UI to school support staff between about $5.5 million and $16 million, with Minnesota's experience cited as a cautionary example of higher-than-expected uptake.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Senate panel reviews Department of Labor technical corrections, weighing modernization and federal alignment

Senate hears employee-rights, noncompete and unionization proposals; assistant attorneys general press for bargaining rights

Fiscal study: expanding unemployment insurance to school support staff could cost Vermont $5.5 million to $16 million annually