Rep. Pritchard urges sooner review of telecom siting law as House takes up H.527

At a session of the House of Representatives, members suspended the rules to take up H.527, an act to extend the sunset for 30 V.S.A. §248a, the statute that governs issuance of certificates of public good for telecommunications facilities in Vermont. The motion to suspend rules passed on a voice vote and the House began consideration of the bill and its amendments.

Representative Pritchard offered a further amendment to H.527 to move the sunset date earlier — from the Senate amendment's 07/01/2029 to 07/01/2027 — and urged colleagues to act sooner rather than repeatedly extend the deadline. "We can and we must do better than this," Pritchard said, describing rural towns that have had to hire lawyers to participate in Public Utility Commission proceedings and citing the contested Westmore Tower case now before the Vermont Supreme Court. She added, "You have lost our trust," and asked that the vote be taken by role.

A member explaining the Senate proposal of amendment described the Senate changes as a more immediate, statutory approach to improve notice and local participation: shortening the sunset by one year (to 07/01/2029), requiring written notice to municipalities and regional planning commissions explaining rights and opportunities to participate in the 248a process, requiring a public meeting with the municipality or planning commission before applications are filed, and requiring applicant and Department of Public Service attendance at that meeting. That member said the Senate changes were intended to achieve faster procedural improvements than the House-directed PUC stakeholder workshop and formal recommendations would have produced.

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee reported a straw poll recommending concurrence with the Senate amendment by a 6–3 margin and found Representative Pritchard’s proposed amendment unfavorable by the same 6–3 margin. The committee member who presented the Senate changes said increasing the sunset by only one year, rather than postponing reforms, could accelerate permitting and potentially exacerbate local concerns.

Before the body could take the requested role vote on Pritchard’s amendment, House leaders were called to the podium and a caucus was requested; the presiding officer stood the House in recess. No final recorded roll call on the amendment or final disposition of concurrence was recorded in the transcript.

What happened next: the House recessed for a caucus and left the matter pending a role vote and further consideration once members reconvened. The record shows the bill was taken up for immediate consideration and remains subject to amendment and a possible concurrence vote.