The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (H.88) was introduced today and was committed to the House Judiciary Committee. Vermont and Massachusetts are the only states that have yet to adopt the UCCJEA. The adult guardianship bill I mentioned in yesterday’s post (H.79) also went to Judiciary. These same two bills rested for the last two years in that committee; we hope we can get both of them out and passed in this biennium.
Yesterday the Speaker appointed the house’s four members to the Joint Committee on Judicial Retention. They are:
Rep. Jewett of Ripton
Rep. Koch of Barre Town
Rep. Martin of Springfield
Rep. French of Shrewsbury
We’re still waiting on the Senate to make its appointments. The job for the committee this year is a big one: 5 justices and 10 trial judges are standing for retention. The additional workload for the 8 members is large and the additional hours they’ll be putting in will be significant. I hope the process starts soon.
A committee of members of our Probate and Trust Section, along with one bank trust officer, submitted a draft of a new uniform principal and income act. Rep. Tom Koch has reviewed it and will be introducing it; it’s in the hands of legislative counsel for drafting.
The House Commerce Committee spent time on the uniform limited cooperative associations bill with the original goal of maybe voting it out later today. Well that’s not going to happen. I spoke with the Chair of House Commerce and got some time for members of the Business Associations Section to review it and possibly offer testimony if desired. It’ll probably be a couple of weeks before the Committee can get its work done on the ULCA.
Don’t forget the tax on services issue which will hang over this session until the final gavel. Expect to hear from the VBA on this next week. Thanks for reading. Stay warm.
Bob,
ReplyDeleteA busy year already and a year in which quite a number of Uniform Laws have been introduced.
That pleases me, not only because I an proud of the work of the Uniform Laws Commission, but also because it helps keep Vermont law vital.
You can add another to that list: Senator Sears is introducing the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act, and has asked me to testify on it on next Friday. I am hoping Vermont will be the first state to adopt it, but it also getting serious attention in Washington, Wisconsin and North Carolina!
Rich