Judiciary committee reviews H.44 changes on CDL rules, blood-warrant language and court reporting to DMV

The Judiciary Committee heard testimony May 14 on H.44 that would change how Vermont statutes reference federal rules for commercial driver's licenses, revise language requiring collection of evidentiary blood when a warrant is issued, create a task force to study DUI processing delays, and add reporting requirements from courts to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Marshall (testifier) said the bill replaces a prior cross-reference to federal regulation with the regulation's text in state statute to make the law easier to read. “When the federal regulation changes and we've incorporated that into a statute, it's essentially changing the substance of our statute without us knowing it,” Marshall said, noting that carrying regulatory text into statute means the state will have to track any federal changes and update state law as needed.

Marshall described the change as a deliberate trade-off: importing the language…