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Senate declines to suspend rules for immediate revote on harm-reduction bill; revote set for 10 a.m. tomorrow
Summary
The Vermont Senate rejected a motion to suspend rules that would have allowed an immediate reconsideration of House Bill 72, a harm-reduction bill concerning overdose prevention centers; senators will reconvene at 10 a.m. tomorrow to take the up the reconsideration.
A motion to suspend Senate Rule 73 and immediately reconsider the previous vote on House Bill 72 — an act relating to harm reduction and the criminal-justice response to drug use — failed after a roll call, and senators agreed to return at 10 a.m. tomorrow to take up the matter.
Senator from Lamoille moved to suspend the rules to permit an immediate reconsideration of the prior vote on H.72, and Senator from Chittenden Central urged colleagues to allow the revote that day, calling the bill “a life-or-death” issue and saying the Senate should “finish our work today.” Senator from Chittenden Central also stressed that the revote would occur one way or another and framed the motion as scheduling the vote earlier rather than deciding the bill’s merits.
Several senators spoke against suspending the rules. Senator Franklin said the rules exist to give members time to consider implications and cautioned against rushing a life-or-death decision; Senator from Southeast said they oppose H.72 and cited rural-service and age-limit concerns, saying the bill as written was “just not done in rural environments.” Senator from Essex described ongoing work to create recovery services in the Northeast Kingdom, citing local partners and fundraising efforts and saying she is seeking up to $500,000 in seed money to open an initial 10-bed facility and expand to 28 beds in a few months, and she said she would vote not to suspend the rules despite supporting recovery efforts.
After debate the secretary called the roll on the suspension motion. The presiding officer announced the motion failed and the Senate did not take up H.72 during the session; senators were told they will meet tomorrow at 10 a.m. to vote on the bill.
The question before the Senate was procedural — whether to allow immediate reconsideration under Rule 73 — and failed by roll call. The body scheduled the substantive reconsideration of H.72 for the following morning.
