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Committee takes testimony on H.28 to add option to "affirm" throughout statutes
Summary
On Feb. 14 the committee heard testimony on H.28, a bill to add “affirmation” as an explicit alternative to swearing an oath across state statutes; supporters said it is largely a statutory cleanup but will require updates to many forms and IT systems.
On Feb. 14, a legislative committee took testimony on H.28, a bill that would insert an explicit option to "affirm" alongside swearing an oath in many state statutes. Representative Ella Chapin, a co-sponsor, and Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hibbert testified in support of the measure.
Representative Ella Chapin, who identified herself as representing East Montpelier and Middlesex, said the measure began after she found that some statutes did not include language allowing an affirmation and that the omission appeared inconsistent across the code. "I thought that was sort of strange given that I sort of understood it as anytime somebody needs to give an oath, there's also the option of affirmation," Chapin said, adding that the bill is intended to "fix this across our statutes to what I think our culture now expects to have both option to either swear…
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