April 2,2009

Yesterday I was away from my desk and at the Statehouse most of the day and didn’t get to blog at all. There is a lot happening and it’s happening quickly as May 8th is closer than one thinks. The House Commerce Committee returned to S. 86, the trust bill yesterday, taking about an hour of testimony from Mark and Paul again. The committee is very interested in this discussion and is the one committee of the house that has some expertise at understanding uniform bills. Earlier this year, that committee advanced the Uniform Limited Cooperative Associations bill as well as a uniform investments bill. Mark and Paul will return sometime next week although no date has yet been set.
Schedules are fluid today and tomorrow for the house as the budget and civil marriage are hitting the floor for debate today.

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously confirmed the reappointment of Matt Valerio as Defender General, Magistrates Gartner, Hoyt, and Harlow; and confirmed the appointment of Joe Benning to the Human Rights Commission. The senate needs to vote on these but there doesn’t appear to be any opposition to any of them.

A Conference Committee on the 2009 budget adjustment act finally signed an agreement yesterday afternoon. That conference report now needs to be approved by both chambers before heading to the governor for signature (or veto). You may be interested in language in the bill that affects the probate courts in the southernmost four counties. Section 118 of the bill merges the Manchester Probate District into the Bennington District, with an appropriate adjustment to the judge’s salary in Section 119.

Here is the language that controls the other three counties:


(b) If a judicial position becomes vacant in the probate districts of Fair
Haven, Hartford, Marlboro, Rutland, Westminster, or Windsor prior to
February 1, 2011, the county containing the district with the vacant judge
position shall become a single probate district county effective upon the date of
the vacancy. The remaining probate judge in the county shall become the
probate judge of the single district probate court for the remainder of the
current term. Upon consolidation, the judge of probate shall be paid
$59,321.00 for the Windham probate district and $75,859.00 for the Rutland
and Windsor probate districts.

The 2010 budget bill on the house floor today for debate also contains some language of interest to the judiciary. It amends 4 VSA 25 to make it optional for the supreme court to close courts on furlough days. The present statute requires the court to do so, and those days must the same statewide. So, if furlough days are required for budget reasons, the court will now have some flexibility as to how they are handled. The bill also contains this language bringing the judicial branch in line with the executive branch on salary reduction:

(a) For compensation paid from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, the supreme court is authorized to reduce salaries established by statute that are paid by the judicial department appropriation up to 5 percent and reduce the hourly rates of non-bargaining unit employees earning in excess of $28.85 per hour up to 5 percent.