Witnesses urge caution on H.1 change to ethics-consultation requirement

A Statehouse committee heard more than two hours of testimony Friday on H.1, a bill that would exempt the House and Senate ethics panels from a statutory requirement to consult the Vermont State Ethics Commission on complaints the commission refers to those panels.

Will Stevens, an appointee to the Vermont State Ethics Commission and a former legislator, told the Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee that the commission had asked the legislature to delay immediate action on H.1. "I hope you've all received the Ethics Commission letter that we sent earlier this week in which we asked you to delay immediate action on h 1," Stevens said, and urged the committee to allow more time for deliberation so a range of perspectives can be heard.

The commission's executive director framed the consultation requirement as a narrow, procedural step intended to promote consistent interpretation of the state code of ethics across branches. "The purpose of this requirement is just to make sure that state code of ethics is being applied equally across government and interpreted…