Vermont AG agrees to take baby-food complaints; lawmakers debate $185,000 fiscal note and health department capacity

The Vermont Attorney General's office told a legislative committee on Tuesday that it is prepared to receive consumer complaints under a draft bill regulating heavy metals in baby food and said it supports including infant formula in the statute's enforcement provisions.

Todd Dos, assistant attorney general at the Vermont Attorney General's Office, told committee members he and the AG's office "are comfortable taking consumer complaints" under the bill as drafted and that the office could use the Consumer Protection Act to pursue alleged violations. "The attorney general absolutely supports the inclusion of infant formula in the bill," he said, recommending that infant formula be added to the enforcement subsection now so enforcement tools are in place if a prohibition later "springs" into effect.

The recommendation responds to questions from committee members about where a consumer should report potential violations. The chair and Mr. Dos discussed a drafting option that would make enforcement provisions apply to infant formula even if a prohibition on sale were triggered later by other states' actions.

The panel also heard from the Joint Fiscal Office. Nolan Langwell said the fiscal note prepared with input from the Department of Health flagged a possible cost if the health department were required to carry out enforcement work: "the fiscal note ... says it could be as much as $185,000," reflecting the cost of hiring an investigator or inspector (wages, benefits and workspace), he said.

Department of Health adviser Shayla Livingston told lawmakers the health department supports the goal of protecting infants from heavy metals but does not typically perform consumer-protection enforcement. "This is again consumer protection based," Livingston said, adding that the department often works collaboratively with the AG's office on chemicals in consumer products and would consult with the AG on technical or scientific questions. If the department were asked to take on enforcement, she said, it would likely need funding because the work differs from licensing programs the department already operates.

Members debated whether the fiscal estimate reflected an actual need. Some legislators pointed to other states that enacted similar baby-food measures without adding staff; others said differences in starting capacity explain why Vermont might need to budget for a position now. Committee members said they prefer to assign formal enforcement to the Attorney General's office and keep the Department of Health as a consultative resource, which would avoid the health department's need to request a funded position.

The committee asked ledge counsel to draft an amendment shifting complaint-handling responsibilities to the AG and including infant formula in the enforcement subsection. The chair noted that the existing fiscal note will remain part of the record until any amendment is adopted or rejected on the floor. The committee paused to allow counsel time to prepare the amendment and said it will reconvene when more testimony or the revised language is available.

The bill does not yet include a formal vote in the committee record; members emphasized next steps will depend on the language ledge counsel drafts and whether the full body adopts any amendment.