Senate advances and passes multiple bills on health care access, solar net metering and online safety; immigration measure moves to third reading

The Vermont Senate on Thursday passed several bills on third reading and advanced others for further consideration.

On third reading the Senate passed S.28, an act relating to access to certain legally protected health care services. Senators voted to pass the bill without recorded amendments on the floor.

The chamber also passed S.50, which raises the size threshold for solar net-metering projects that qualify for expedited registration. The bill was amended on the floor to clarify wording around the 25-kilowatt threshold (changed from "up to 25 kilowatts" to "25 kilowatts and less" in multiple instances), require registration systems to meet municipal setback requirements where applicable, and allow a one-time change to a small system—s renewable-energy credit (REC) election for projects 25 kilowatts and under. The amendment sponsor described prior cases where state registration preempted local setback requirements and a separate issue in which the Public Utility Commission treated owner decisions on REC retention as irrevocable; the amendment aims to address those concerns.

The Senate passed S.69, an act relating to an age-appropriate design code, on third reading with no floor amendments noted in the transcript.

Separately, the Senate took up S.44, an act relating to requiring legislative approval prior to entering into certain immigration agreements. The Judiciary Committee reported an amended version that removes language allowing certain local law-enforcement agencies to enter agreements with federal immigration authorities during declared emergencies and replaces it with a provision requiring the governor to authorize any such agreement. The committee reported a 4–1–0 vote and the chamber approved the committee amendment on second reading; a roll call later ordered third reading (the roll-call vote on ordering third reading recorded 29–1 in favor).

The floor record shows multiple other bills were introduced and given first readings, including measures on public records fees (S.114), municipal approval for overdose prevention centers (S.115), crimes against an unborn child (S.116), safety and health rulemaking (S.117), agricultural economic development (S.118), early childhood educator licensure (S.119), and changes to laws regarding possession of personal-use drugs and funding support services (S.120). Those bills were referred to the committees named during the first-reading announcements.

No reported amendments or roll-call tallies were included in the transcript for S.28 and S.69 beyond the chamber—s voice votes declaring passage; S.50 was amended by the senator from Washington and passed by voice vote after the amendment was adopted. The transcript records committee reports, sponsor names at first reading and, in the case of S.44, committee witnesses and a detailed committee report on committee-proposed revisions.

The Senate concluded the day's orders after the votes and announced committee meeting schedules and other floor business.