It’s been two weeks plus since I posted to this blog; but
there’s a reason for that. Let me explain. At the end of the session, especially
after conference committees begin working on resolving differences between the
two chambers, lots happens in the background. More than other times during the
session, conversations happen outside of the committee room and off the record.
Things move quickly and change often, too often actually. It’s hard to say
where things are at any point in time. It’s best to do our work quietly and in
one on one or in small group conversations.
The legislature adjourned as you know about 11PM Saturday.
The funding for the judiciary held at $43,945,757 (H.490) even though the revenue bill deleted
the $10 IFP fee. The legislature passed H.489 which includes increased fees
mostly in probate cases to support the judiciary. The only change from the
earlier senate passed version was the elimination of the $10 fee to apply for
"in forma pauperis".My concern was that the predicted $35,000 that fee was to
raise would be subtracted; didn’t happen.
As we’ve reported before, Dan and I reached out to his
Representative Mary Hooper. We spoke to
her on numerous occasions. She became a true advocate for the judiciary. After
the roll call vote last night on the budget Mary explained her vote as follows:
Rep. Hooper of Montpelier explained her vote as follows: “Mr.
Speaker:
Vermonters’ access to justice is protected in this budget.
The Judiciary is receiving a $2 million increase which will ensure – unlike 6
years ago – our courts will be open every day.”
Also, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee
addressed the same issue on the floor of the senate during its passage of the
budget. She said that senators had heard from many members of the bar who
raised concerns about access to justice and that spurred the committee to look
for ways to fully fund the courts. In addition, Vermont Legal Aid had a cut
from the house passed bill restored in the senate.
The conference report contains some policy language about
the courts. It can be read on pages 2488-2492 here:
The capital bill (H.482) passed on Thursday with the
Lamoille courthouse funded at $5M. The court's case management system will get
$500K next year and $4M the year after. This is down from $750K next year and
$5M the year after.
Real estate practitioners should be interested in what the
legislature did to raise funds to clean up Lake Champlain. H. 35, a bill to
improve the quality of state waters contains a .02% surcharge on the property transfer
tax. Here is the language of the bill:
Property Transfer Tax Surcharge; Water Quality
Long-Term Financing Report
Sec. 38. 32 V.S.A. § 9602a is added to read
§ 9602a. CLEAN WATER SURCHARGE
There shall be a surcharge of 0.2 percent on the value of
property subject to
the property transfer tax under section 9602 of this title,
except that there shall
be no surcharge on the first $100,000.00 in value of
property to be used for the
principal residence of the transferee or the first
$200,000.00 in value of
property transferred if the purchaser obtains a purchase
money mortgage
funded in part with a homeland grant through the Vermont
Housing and
Conservation Trust Fund or which the Vermont Housing and
Finance Agency
or U.S. Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has
committed to
make or purchase. The surcharge shall be in addition to any
tax assessed under
section 9602 of this title. The surcharge assessed under
this section shall be
paid, collected, and enforced under this chapter in the same
manner as the tax
assessed under section 9602 of this title. The Commissioner
shall deposit the
surcharge collected under this section in the Clean Water
Fund under 10
V.S.A. § 1388.
Sec. 39. REPEAL OF CLEAN WATER SURCHARGE
32 V.S.A. § 9602a (Clean Water Surcharge) shall be repealed
on July 1, 2018.
NOTE: the surcharge
in Sec. 38 takes effect on passage.
So the date the governor signs the bill is the date to watch
for. As soon as I know that I will let you all know.
I can report that three bills we were interested in this year
have all been signed into law. They are the Uniform Transfer to Minors Act; the
revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act; and the Uniform Interstate
Family Support Act.
So, for now, this wraps up my legislative reporting. I want to
thank all of you for your help during this session. Tom Moody and Peter Erly
led the effort to get the LLC bill through the process deftly and quickly. Penny
Benelli helped the UIFSA to pass. Stephanie Willbanks and Joe Cook’ s efforts
guaranteed passage of the UTMA. Without their help and willingness to volunteer
their time, none of this would have happened. It’s a real testament to the
members of the VBA and their service to our profession and to all Vermonters. You
all make me proud to work for you.
As always, thanks for reading. Enjoy summer. The legislature
will be back before we know it!
Yikes, I can’t believe I just said that.
