[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-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],{"_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",6272607,"mediaKeyId","3027410-74cfdf16b3e0b694442f4210b68e9ab5","parentId",3027410,"title","Cannabis board and industry outline rulemaking, temporary permits and background‑check hurdles in H.321 walk‑through","audioSeconds",3200,"startMs",1798014,"endMs",4998935,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3027410-74cfdf16b3e0b694442f4210b68e9ab5&start=1798&end=4998","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3027410-74cfdf16b3e0b694442f4210b68e9ab5/thumbnail_1798014.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6272607/Vermont/Cannabis-board-and-industry-outline-rulemaking-temporary-permits-and-backgroundcheck-hurdles-in-H321-walkthrough","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6272607-0df887754048360c43ed999731256240/orig.mp4?Expires=1770956679&Signature=BA10-p0PhfwINoJ4bXLp7aVoRNUMajKwKaUEK8FvX0dJPCNrUasrwHQ4ogU95nAPhMxhZdjuN2SeHmxvZ257qWOJ9uGwPWB5rcXDBpqnDL2GL3gF9dUc4u5KsNuQZzSIbAcei2scRSmasgp9JTypI~08MgC2F6WfphzvU0MaUGgn-hEYRm-J0kIjXcotj-oeAsE65HxHlRC0T367Ifsfb8mel9qWmYyiuhWj1kq63iUjKGyVZ4Za4g0GXC1VdscD~bbnOHJFBf2TBc66I7aAyQzLNsmDNx-FuBOQivGZ7cCpv3w4IxuGnd6s1iyZSobBreEDuGgCdUX5QjQZWoeZSA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-04-17T00:06:58.637Z","article","James Pepper, chair of the Cannabis Control Board (CCB), and Gabe Yilman, the board’s general counsel, briefed the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs on House Bill H.321 and outlined several technical changes the board requested and supports.

Pepper said the bill mostly contains “fine‑tuning” to address problems the board has seen in the market and described an amendment in Section 4 that directs the board to consider regional population and community input when writing location rules for cannabis retail outlets. That rulemaking, Pepper and Yilman told the committee, will take time: “My expectation is...18 months from the effective date of the bill,” Yilman said, and the timeline would effectively produce a multi‑month pause in new retail licensing while the board develops rules.

Board priorities and regulatory fixes: the CCB described several changes in the draft bill the board requested or supports, including:

• Retail concentration and rulemaking (Section 4): the amendment would require the board to look at geographic distribution of all retail establishments and regional population measures and to incorporate community input. The board said that approach is intended to reduce overconcentration in municipalities that opt in and to give localities meaningful input.

• Temporary authorizations (Section 7): the bill would allow the board to issue limited, special‑purpose permits or authorizations when a retail or licensee faces abrupt closure, owner illness, partnership breakups, bankruptcy or a court‑appointed receiver. Yilman described practical situations (partner disputes, inventory access) where such a narrowly tailored authorization would permit a receiver or other designee to preserve assets and comply with law.

• Background checks and criminal records: Yilman explained the board’s difficulty obtaining FBI national criminal‑history records through the state dissemination channel. He said federal authorities denied prior state applications and many legal cannabis regulators have pivoted to paid, private 50‑state background‑check vendors; that approach increases costs for licensees (Yilman cited vendor fees in the hundreds of dollars per subject) and the board seeks statutory authority and legislative support to continue pursuing FBI access.

• Two‑year ID cards and product registration: the bill would allow the CCB to offer two‑year employee ID cards and product registrations (default two years, with shorter periods for products that are not shelf‑stable), reducing administrative burden on businesses.

• Compliance attorney position: the board asked for a dedicated attorney to manage compliance investigations and administrative enforcement to separate prosecutorial and advisory functions inside the agency. Pepper said the board currently relies on limited in‑house counsel for prosecution and advice, creating appearance‑of‑conflict concerns.

Industry input and requested additions: Sam Bellavance (farmer, South Hero; Cannabis Retailers Association of Vermont) told the committee he supports the board’s product‑registration change and urged the legislature to authorize limited event permits for private events (weddings, festivals, catered functions) similar to alcohol special‑event permitting used in other states. Bellavance argued such permits would create additional sales channels and alignment with neighboring states.

Jeffrey Costello (executive director, Vermont Growers Association) told the committee growers are concerned that the market structure and opt‑in municipal system have combined with a lack of direct‑sales authority for cultivators to produce an effective bottleneck that harms producers and small agricultural businesses. He urged consideration of producer sales channels and other market adjustments.

Committee response and next steps: committee members asked clarifying questions about the anticipated 18‑month rulemaking timeframe, how temporary authorizations would interact with court receiverships, and whether other state agencies’ approaches could inform the board’s work. The board said it had consulted with the Department of Financial Regulation and court clerk offices when designing the temporary‑authorization approach. No committee vote was taken; the committee and board agreed to continue discussion and schedule additional testimony and drafting work.

Ending: The hearing concluded with the committee inviting additional stakeholders to return for a longer, follow‑up session. The board emphasized that many of the changes are technical fixes but that the proposed rulemaking on retail siting, if adopted in the bill, will meaningfully change licensing timing while rules are developed.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Economic Development - 2025-04-16-9:00 AM","oneSentenceSummary","The Cannabis Control Board, industry representatives and growers told the Senate committee that H.321 contains technical fixes and that rulemaking on retail siting will likely pause new retail licensing for about 18 months; the board warned of FBI limits on interstate criminal‑history access that raise compliance costs.","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":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},6272610,"Senate committee hears fixes to unpaid-leave bill after pilots, advocates raise coverage gaps",1779,18215,1797475,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3027410-74cfdf16b3e0b694442f4210b68e9ab5&start=18&end=1797","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3027410-74cfdf16b3e0b694442f4210b68e9ab5/thumbnail_18215.jpg","/articles/6272610/Vermont/Senate-committee-hears-fixes-to-unpaid-leave-bill-after-pilots-advocates-raise-coverage-gaps","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6272610-0e1476949b8f0940caf450fcdc99a829/orig.mp4?Expires=1770956679&Signature=dBmVCaW3V~ORMMyxDrBbGkMfpkeudBH9UCDhMCv-ESeWIszfS3z9mYHXus8XlObnggi7PukhMKh5TudNidZ7Q0BmjAGWqFApgNlHntWG-n0hG2OHt5mgkz3vVzBp~s2wumDxyiOhCu6xXpHObakihY5B0KZZIdjs9kjMuVFHIckI2CPtk7Xt-H9ZGPAw8UG2HzPx83-jyH5pWw0n6HlNrZEztGv~7kbgDIp~OCUoMr-i7VWz~V3Leo9H6rfajoTZfbHa2lehBKcqnL57H0lTRQMeLuc9MkAFDx9VoiH0O-OInGAwdWXIsCsahAoqVKgsbTYcHjzGMMhp0yKWhj3PJg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Senator Allison Clarkson, chairing the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs, heard Tuesday from airline and advocacy witnesses who urged changes to House Bill 4 61 (H.461) to make unpaid leave usable for pilots, flight attendants and survivors of domestic violence.

The Airline Pilots Association’s senior legislative representative, David Martin, told the committee that under the bill’s current hours-accrual formula a pilot or flight attendant “is extremely unlikely” to qualify because “pilots’ hours are calculated only for the hours we are in flight.” He said: “So when people see that a flight attendant or pilot works 70 hours to a hundred hours maybe a month, you know, that's...that's the way our hours are calculated contractually.”

The issue matters because federal rules and industry pay structures mean many flight hours (pre‑flight, layovers and standby) are not counted toward accrual formulas used in some leave laws. Martin said the Association seeks language modeled on federal guidance (29 CFR 825.801) that other states have adopted so that aviation workers can “avail ourselves to the benefits of the unpaid leave program.” He added the association represents about “a little bit north of a hundred” pilots based in Vermont and that similar fixes have passed recently in Minnesota and Michigan.

Why it matters: committee members heard that, without a technical change to how hours are defined, Vermont‑based pilots and cabin crew who meet federal safety cap rules (Martin noted FAA limits such as approximate caps on flight hours) could be excluded in practice from H.461’s leave protections even when they face the same family or medical events as other workers.

Advocates: Johanna Gradner, public policy manager for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, said VBSR supports H.461’s expansion of unpaid family and medical leave and highlighted three additions she urged the committee to keep or strengthen: explicit coverage for LGBTQIA employees and families, naming miscarriage as a covered medical event, and adding unpaid “safe leave” for survivors of domestic violence, assault and stalking. “The proposed coverage expansion in H.461 is a crucial step toward addressing paid family medical needs of working LGBTQIA Vermonters,” she said, citing a Williams Institute estimate that about 19,000 Vermonters identified as LGBTQIA in 2020.

Charley Glasser (policy director, Vermont Network) summarized recommended drafting changes to the safe-leave language: she suggested the bill rely on the civil definitions used for relief-from-abuse or protective-order statutes rather than the criminal definitions currently referenced, and recommended removing court‑hearing leave language that duplicates an existing court‑leave statute. “Survivors deserve time to heal and access support and safety…without fear of losing their jobs,” Glasser said, noting a local service provider’s example of a caregiver who needed repeated time off to support a child through forensic exams, hearings and therapy.

Committee response and next steps: legislative counsel and staff confirmed they had the witnesses’ suggested language under review. Sophie Zadatnay, legislative counsel, and Heidi Parker (committee staff) both indicated they were newly reviewing submitted edits during the hearing. Chair Clarkson said the committee will schedule the bill for additional testimony and redrafting and indicated the unpaid-leave hearing will be resumed next Wednesday to allow further technical work and additional witnesses (including representatives of cabin crews).

What the committee did not do: there was no formal vote on H.461 at this meeting. Members instead requested targeted draft language and asked staff to return with revisions that would clarify definitions and inclusion criteria, particularly the hours accrual language for aviation employees.

Ending: Committee members thanked witnesses for specific drafting suggestions and promised follow‑up; the hearing was continued so the committee can consider revised language and additional testimony on H.461 at a future session.","Advocates and industry representatives told the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs that House Bill H.461 would leave many aviation workers and survivors of domestic violence without usable unpaid leave unless definitions and accrual formulas are revised. Committee members asked staff to return with draft language.","actionData","errors"]

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Cannabis board and industry outline rulemaking, temporary permits and background‑check hurdles in H.321 walk‑through

Senate committee hears fixes to unpaid-leave bill after pilots, advocates raise coverage gaps