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Senate Judiciary sends S.7 to the floor after brief testimony, unanimous committee vote
Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to report S.7 favorably after receiving testimony and clarifying that its implementation date was delayed one year; committee members said the bill largely mirrors last year’s measure and welcomed further drafting if needed.
Senate Judiciary on Monday voted to report S.7 out of committee favorably after brief testimony and discussion about implementation timing and coverage details.
The committee’s action advances legislation the chair said is largely unchanged from last year’s bill; members agreed to send invitations to outside witnesses who had expressed interest in testifying. Adam McCrassen, of the McCrassen Group and the Vermont Association for Justice, told the committee the bill’s implementation date had been pushed back one year to avoid disrupting existing insurance policies and to give insurers time to update policy language.
Committee members said the bill is similar to the measure that passed the Senate last year on a unanimous voice vote and that they were comfortable moving it forward now. One senator raised concern that the bill does not change mandatory coverage minimums and noted that those requirements have not been updated in many years; that senator said they would nevertheless support sending the bill on and revisiting specific language later.
After discussion, a senator moved to report S.7 favorably. The committee recorded affirmative votes from Senator Norris, Senator Beejovsky, Senator Brew, Senator Meadows and Senator Machine; the motion passed and the committee agreed arrangements would be made to report the bill as early as Friday if the committee took it up that day.
The committee also agreed that if an amendment is filed by a stakeholder identified as Jamie and the body decides it is appropriate, that amendment could be offered on the floor. The bill will proceed to whatever next step the Senate rules prescribe once the official report is filed.
No changes to the bill text were recorded in the committee on the floor today; committee members asked staff to flag any drafting clarifications from last year’s version before the bill reaches the chamber.
