Senate appoints conference committees for S.123, S.127 after declining House amendments

The Vermont Senate voted to not concur in the House amendments to two bills — S.123 and S.127 — and appointed conference committees to negotiate differences.

Senators said the differences on S.123, a miscellaneous DMV bill, included questions about Real ID compliance with federal rules, tinted windows, fee reductions for SSI and SSDI populations, trails language, and reporting requirements tied to vehicle purchases and inspections. The Senate’s transportation committee requested a conference committee to reconcile multiple small but material differences.

On S.127, senators said the House amendments created more than 15 differences with the Senate’s CHIC (community housing in smaller communities) proposal; several of those differences were unrelated to the CHIC program itself. The Senate economic development, housing and general affairs committee recommended a conference committee because the issues were substantive and required more negotiation.

Both motions were approved by voice vote. The Senate named the following conferees for S.123: Senator Brennan, Senator White and Senator Harrison. For S.127, the listed conferees included Senator Clarkson, Senator Rahm Hinsdale and Senator Matos, with additional Senate membership noted during the floor action.

The Senate’s action places both bills into formal conference committees; each committee will meet with House conferees to produce compromise language for both chambers to consider.

The motions and appointments occurred during the morning floor session and were approved by the Senate without recorded roll-call tallies (voice votes were taken).