Senate Judiciary committee refines changes to S.109 miscellaneous judiciary bill

Senator Hashim, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, convened the committee May 27 to consider a Senate amendment to S.109, the miscellaneous judiciary bill, and to decide which changes to the House amendment the committee would send back to the floor.

The amendment presented by Eric Fitzpatrick of the Office of Legislative Council would restore several provisions that the House had removed, strike others the committee judged to need more study, and add clarifications on how child support history may be considered in certain proceedings. “We are trying to breathe some life back into S.109, the miscellaneous judiciary bill,” Senator Hashim said as the meeting began.

The committee voted to move forward with the Senate changes and to report the amendment to the floor after staff prepares a clean amendment document. Eric Fitzpatrick summarized the principal committee decisions and the rationale for removing or retaining specific sections.

Among the items the amendment restores is the Senate’s original membership for the “surrender order compliance” working group, returning the Center for Crime Victim Services and the Vermont Council on Domestic Violence as full members rather than only consultation parties. As Fitzpatrick explained, “All this does is change it back to the Senate version.”

The amendment removes several provisions the committee judged either already enacted elsewhere or in need of…