Thursday, February 3, 2011

Well, after not contributing to the blog for a couple days it’s time to catch you up on what’s been happening. It was really not an overly busy week for me on the issues the VBA is most interested in. Tuesday and yesterday the House Ways and Means Committee took testimony on the income tax recommendations in the Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission report. I’m on the witness list for when they get to extending the sales tax to services.


This morning the House Judiciary Committee took a huge step towards enacting H. 88, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. As I’ve written when it was introduced, this is a bill that’s been around for a few years but never acted upon. Vermont and Massachusetts are the only two states left to enact it. Uniform law Commission Richard Cassidy did a great overview of the bill as well as a section by section explanation that, I’m certain, left no doubt in the minds of committee members both what the bill does and why Vermont needs it. He was followed by Administrative Judge Amy Davenport who began her testimony by saying “no matter what else you do this session, please pass this bill”. She talked about her experiences with interstate issues and made it clear to committee members why the tools in H. 88 would help the process. The last witness was VBA Board member and President-Elect Nominee Amber Barber who spoke as a family division practitioner. She focused on the enforcement tools in the bill and how they will help move cases. Clearly the committee “got it”. They were struggling to find any advocates who might oppose it. The only witness they didn’t get to was a representative of the Vermont Network Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. They will weigh in a later date in full support of the bill. We may finally see this enacted into law!

I just returned from a second meting with Tax Commissioner Mary Peterson and other members of the department along with Jim Knapp and Liam Murphy. Jim and Liam traveled down to Montpelier again to discuss the ePTTR. I think their voices (and the comments many of you made on the Property Law Section list serve) were heard and I think you’ll be seeing some action soon. Liam and Jim will sum up what was accomplished; run it by the tax department; and get it out to the list serve. Since I’m on that list, I’ll copy over the summary here when I get it. BTW, I have a 9 page collection of issues taken from the list serve if any of you (not on that list serve of course) want to see it, just let me know. Also, the VBA will be planning a 2 hour training session at the Mid Year Meeting on March 18th about the ePTTR. We’ll make special arrangements to allow you to bring your real estate paralegal if you have one. We also want to reach out to the family and probate bars and encourage their attendance even if their exposure to conveyancing may be sporadic.

Tomorrow I expect the Senate Judiciary Committee to return to their discussion of child support and to S. 38, the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act. I’ll update after those meetings take place. Thanks for reading.