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Senate committee hears debate over executive order to elevate Department of Public Safety to agency
Summary
At a Jan. 29 Senate Committee on Government Operations hearing, state officials and union representatives discussed Executive Order 01-25, which would convert the Department of Public Safety into an Agency of Public Safety, focusing on timing, scope, fiscal impact and next steps; no formal committee vote was recorded.
The Senate Committee on Government Operations took testimony Jan. 29 on Executive Order 01-25, a proposal from Governor Scott's administration to convert the Department of Public Safety into an Agency of Public Safety and change the commissioner and deputy commissioner titles to secretary and deputy secretary.
Committee members heard administration officials, the Vermont State Employees Association and legislative counsel describe the order as a narrowly scoped, expedited restructuring intended to recognize the department's size and responsibilities. "This is really simple and long overdue," said Jennifer Morrison, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.
The proposal would not, according to administration witnesses, immediately reorganize divisions or fold outside law-enforcement units into the department. "The only thing it actually has in common with the last one is that it would become an agency and you would have a secretary and a deputy secretary," said Jay Pershing Johnson, legal counsel to Governor Scott, distinguishing the EO from an…
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