[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-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",[32,75,87],{"_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",6077329,"mediaKeyId","2964821-46f44755427401b84b9d22ac22f41f71","parentId",2964821,"title","Municipal leaders press for finance tools, caution on detailed planning language in H.397 flood bill","audioSeconds",4682,"startMs",1884635,"endMs",6566750,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2964821-46f44755427401b84b9d22ac22f41f71&start=1884&end=6566","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2964821-46f44755427401b84b9d22ac22f41f71/thumbnail_1884635.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6077329/Vermont/Municipal-leaders-press-for-finance-tools-caution-on-detailed-planning-language-in-H397-flood-bill","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6077329-8a9b00f47f258602bb0184bdd85848d2/orig.mp4?Expires=1771151821&Signature=RbVnzd-q3mmQu2bnJ~dBMz-5qc-mCka~UHsKMagNXci-cTAdzKYx4KXCxF2IML5oN9zR~TyLUVdNhxOSQ3-3FFsknI8SCuCoKPHh6p7M2pykbeLMKdb9DTeJoFDXsViFSJc1dqm0aDUxEMECFbwea9np17QXAGerQqWJTnpkEFrTy21rQQTsIuWbPtS9KB-go2lxGepEWcICRlQY~3pEoO~1USJxV-pIhZ-Vf~vpmRAk7ZYUYRmMKnz2cYzSBLHnvztxYnwmbhR3w7zhJTJzWqPAeSOdiqz77Octd8dp45HQtvVF6jw90q-4IinSL3gGec76a~guhrvw0b7bKOfXgw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-04-11T20:41:58.367Z","article","Representatives of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and the Vermont Bond Bank told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Friday that H.397, a miscellaneous package tied to emergency and flood response, should include expanded municipal finance authorities and technical assistance to help towns recover from recent floods.

Josh Henford, director of intergovernmental affairs for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT), and a co‑presenter described three principal municipal finance proposals in the bill: (1) allow municipal legislative bodies greater authority to retain and reassign unassigned fund balances (commonly called rainy‑day or reserve funds) without returning to a town vote when funds are already reserved or obligated; (2) lengthen the term for emergency borrowing from the current one‑year maximum to either five years or to match the useful life of the asset being financed in declared all‑hazard emergencies; and (3) add a level‑debt‑service option (a flat annual payment over the life of a bond) in addition to the current amortization method.

Henford said these tools would make municipal budgets more resilient in the face of delayed FEMA reimbursements and expensive short‑term borrowing, and that the Vermont Bond Bank sees level debt service as a common national practice that helps voters understand long‑term costs. “These provisions will improve emergency response for municipalities, create stabilizing factors for local property taxes, and improve grant readiness for towns and cities,” he said.

VLCT and the bond bank noted that many communities remain owed FEMA reimbursements from the recent floods, that a small share of impacted municipalities account for the majority of damage and that most flood‑affected towns have populations under 2,000. VLCT reported its municipal technical assistance program has reached more than 200 attendees in workshops and one‑on‑one help to towns on borrowing, grant readiness and reimbursement processes.

The bill also intersects with a debate over a growing surplus in the state’s local‑option‑tax (LOT) pilot reserve. VLCT briefed the committee that 34 municipalities that have adopted the LOT have created a state‑held pilot reserve that is projected to reach about $14.3 million (VLCT presented a conservative estimate using Joint Fiscal Office figures and recent town votes). That same briefing said the governor’s budget would use $1 million of that surplus for a pilot buyout program; VLCT members argued the surplus largely represents local revenue and should be returned to the contributing towns or be deployed to a municipal resilience fund rather than be reallocated without local input.

Committee members and witnesses discussed options: return the current accumulated surplus to the towns under the existing formula, hold a defined reserve for pilot payments, or repurpose some funds into a state municipal recovery/resiliency pool. Senators repeatedly noted federal funding uncertainty — including the recent end to BRIC competitive funds for resiliency projects — and the lengthy timeline for FEMA project closeouts, which in past disasters has extended a decade.

Eric (last name not provided), director of Vermont Emergency Management (VEM), cautioned lawmakers about codifying overly specific municipal emergency‑planning requirements in H.397 (portions of the bill labeled section 2, 7 and 8 in committee handouts). He recommended first performing a needs assessment to identify gaps and resource needs before imposing statutory, detailed checklists on local emergency plans. “Then after we do the assessment, we can figure out what it is we want and then write the statute,” he said. VEM staff emphasized that many tools already exist — National Weather Service river‑gauge forecasts, statewide alert systems (BT Alert), regional coordinators — and that the key barrier in some towns is capacity and resources to use those systems, not absence of the systems themselves.

Legislative counsel Tucker Anderson told the committee that a buyout directive in the bill would stand up a statutorily mandated buyout program distinct from the Community Resilience and Disaster Mitigation (CRDM) fund and that the statute would mandate a buyout program even if no dedicated funding stream were appropriated. Counsel noted the CRDM received one‑time funds in prior years but currently lacks an ongoing funding source; committee members asked whether this new language duplicates existing authorities.

Committee members did not take votes on H.397 during the session. Lawmakers requested further cost and drafting details, asked VLCT and VEM to return with clarifications and said they would continue discussions about the LOT surplus, the scope of a buyout program and the best sequencing of assessments versus codifying operational requirements.

No formal actions or appropriations were adopted at the hearing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Government Operations - 2025-04-11 - 1PM","oneSentenceSummary","Municipal officials and emergency‑management staff told the Senate Government Operations Committee that H.397 should restore or add municipal finance authorities and technical assistance to support flood recovery, but cautioned against codifying detailed local planning requirements before a formal needs assessment.","taxTitle","Government Operations, SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",38232,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6077334,"Witnesses urge ballot‑access, primary and ranked‑choice fixes in testimony on H.474",1082,2401,1084505,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2964821-46f44755427401b84b9d22ac22f41f71&start=2&end=1084","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2964821-46f44755427401b84b9d22ac22f41f71/thumbnail_2401.jpg","/articles/6077334/Vermont/Witnesses-urge-ballotaccess-primary-and-rankedchoice-fixes-in-testimony-on-H474","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6077334-412a3ed7d156764853959cb28c08872a/orig.mp4?Expires=1771151821&Signature=WEl~AkOLgB13HmQf30~pZ00hl8AXwFCAnfj1nvogXo6g1S3GxR~dmxmgKWLO9zJSWep1XEVR6BXbkawfivmOqy4fk0iNMjJ80H8Xv9fClxIrD0I78MMyL0MTcsWZLrYX7QXXTGcjwpxmEDiwJQz1yuRhuuc0gpRO1sCk0JEf6tNA0SK4isUYiOmUY7kAoSTJKav9cDzIV3VcuhwTsoLAnP1qc0oXBtI0ZqzOppU~VX9QyD-ymzVRuoiapbeVGA3jSGw2IaVQ4RLdZ8Rev3ojR0y0crGOQEc0VL4srSciHArKs4WjrHSV2hj1kV~HYzdS6LHxeIPedeKl3utgKFHbaQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Witnesses told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Friday that House Bill 474, a package of changes labeled an election‑law bill, raises multiple questions about party primaries, ballot labels and the definition of political committees.

Robert Brister Johnson of Burlington, who described himself as a published author on ranked‑choice voting, urged the committee to treat three different election types distinctly — single‑winner races, multi‑winner contests and presidential primaries — and to change statutory rules so party labels on a general‑election ballot follow the party’s primary result. Johnson described problems he associates with instant‑runoff/ ranked‑choice tallies in single‑winner contests and proposed a set of changes he said would clarify the role of parties in ballots and primaries. “If you put Republican by your name on the general election ballot, you should run in and win the Republican primary,” Johnson said.

Johnson also urged allowing “fusion” candidates (those seeking multiple party endorsements) to run simultaneously in multiple party primaries so they may credibly carry several party labels to the general election, and said party committees should be permitted to name replacements only when a nominee dies or is medically incapacitated, not after a voluntary withdrawal. He discussed the 2009 Burlington instant‑runoff experience and cited the Alaska example in 2022 as cases where ranked‑choice tallies did not match a plurality of voters’ head‑to‑head preferences.

Sharon Till Morgue, who identified herself as treasurer of Vermont Right to Life and as an experienced PAC treasurer, testified on the bill’s campaign‑finance and committee‑definition changes. She warned that the bill combines the definition of an “independent‑expenditure‑only political committee” with a definition for committees engaging on public questions, which she said mixes legally distinct concepts. “I would urge this committee to keep a stand‑alone definition of an independent expenditure only political committee because that is sort of the—the salient point,” she said. Till Morgue also raised concern that changing the political‑committee test from requiring both raising and spending $1,000 to requiring either raising or spending $1,000 would bring many more entities and individual donors under the committee reporting rules.

The committee’s legislative counsel and members asked for clarifications about how the proposed wording would affect disclosure obligations, mass‑media reporting thresholds and the difference between public‑question committees and independent‑expenditure committees. Counsel explained the bill’s language but witnesses and members said additional drafting clarity and explicit statements about which committees remain subject to contribution limits would reduce confusion.

The committee took testimony and did not take any formal votes on H.474 during the session.

Going forward, witnesses asked the committee to: (a) preserve a clear, stand‑alone statutory definition for independent‑expenditure‑only political committees; (b) retain parity in ballot access rules for party‑affiliated and independent candidates; (c) require a candidate to win a party primary before listing that party by name on the general‑election ballot; (d) limit party executive‑committee replacement power to cases of death or incapacity; and (e) allow fusion candidates the statutory ability to enter multiple party primaries simultaneously if the legislature intends to permit multiparty ballot labels.

The committee kept the record open for additional materials and indicated it would return to the bill at a later date.","Witnesses told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Friday that House Bill 474, a package of election‑law changes, raises multiple questions about party primaries, ballot labels and the definition of political committees.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6077326,"Committee reviews proposed Morristown charter that grants town manager expanded appointment authority",558,6585695,7144110,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2964821-46f44755427401b84b9d22ac22f41f71&start=6585&end=7144","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2964821-46f44755427401b84b9d22ac22f41f71/thumbnail_6585695.jpg","/articles/6077326/Vermont/Committee-reviews-proposed-Morristown-charter-that-grants-town-manager-expanded-appointment-authority","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6077326-98e8fafee650ceaaee2b25002dbd62fd/orig.mp4?Expires=1771151821&Signature=P6rIDlMCHVPgUb26WLcJl1~RsP4AQzzJYnAs7ypJ90sAT4rv46YkkJKigP2WvTzk8CXsmNEtRZEY3qm6DrOtOqE8uydJIzGANXxhXUkoO6ULj1bjxZpvYlouXHIr9z4YOyYj7xfErO10V7e1bsjNN-CqGKOSfplxRbbgIgB2IrwcyNAyodEjKqjRl8jjua3Enu0fBsYWhjKbCIsGTv7jdsXg6264W6hNKmgCoDgTPvVcCohZ2AmPQSDbj0f8mdOLa-2DCjGfr7UZX~CjQm-GHkcpIfH-Iway1~a1GcxrwYI4QDF42dvn-irIAxcr7w1miJLLUEs7DYW7o1wLI8xz1A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Legislative counsel reviewed H.17, the bill that would adopt a charter for the town of Morristown, and the Senate Government Operations Committee discussed several technical and substantive items in the draft charter.

Tucker Anderson of the Legislative Counsel’s Office told the committee the charter designates the town manager as chief executive officer and head of the administrative branch, responsible to the select board for administration of municipal affairs. Section 3 states the manager “shall have the authority to hire, appoint, discipline, and remove all town employees subject to the provisions of personnel rules approved by a select board.” Anderson said that this appointment authority is not common in Vermont charters and noted Waterbury as the only other municipality that has adopted similar language recently.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about how the charter would interact with existing village or municipal structures (the village of Morrisville is part of the town of Morristown) and requested that town officials or the charter sponsors attend a future meeting to explain the local process and any votes the town held on the charter. Sponsors of the measure were identified in committee comments as Representative David Yacobone and Representative Sadia Lamont; members said they would invite a municipal representative and the bill sponsors back to a future hearing for more detail.

No committee action was taken on H.17; counsel said the committee could amend the draft and asked members to identify any technical corrections needed before final consideration.","The Senate Government Operations Committee reviewed H.17, which would adopt a Morristown town charter naming a town manager as the chief executive and granting that manager broad appointment and personnel authority.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Municipal leaders press for finance tools, caution on detailed planning language in H.397 flood bill

Witnesses urge ballot‑access, primary and ranked‑choice fixes in testimony on H.474

Committee reviews proposed Morristown charter that grants town manager expanded appointment authority