House concurs in Senate changes to economic and workforce development bill; baby-bonds sections deferred

The Vermont House of Representatives on the floor concurred in a Senate proposal of amendment to Senate Bill 122, an act relating to economic and workforce development, agreeing to remove sections 8, 9 and 10, which the House was told concern a baby-bonds pilot program.

The move followed a motion to suspend the rules and take up Senate Bill 122 for immediate consideration. Members approved the motions by voice votes and then voted to message the House's action to the Senate and to deliver the bill to the governor forthwith.

The member from Burlington told the chamber, "The senate proposal of amendment to our proposal of amendment is to remove sections 8, 9, and 10. Those are the sections related to the baby bonds pilot program. The senators felt that these sections needed more consideration and more work and recommended that we take that up next year." The member said the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee met and in a straw poll voted 9-0-2 in favor of accepting the Senate amendment.

Madam Speaker noted that the first assistant clerk had emailed the Senate proposal of amendment to members at 12:19 and that the proposal was posted on the House overview web page with paper copies available on the main table.

There was no recorded roll-call vote in the transcript; the chamber used voice votes for the motions. After concurrence, members approved a motion to message the House's action to the Senate and to deliver the bill to the governor.

The action clears Senate Bill 122 to be sent to the governor with the Senate's changes, excluding the deferred baby-bonds sections, which the Senate recommended be considered next year.