Senator from Washington moves S.240 to Health and Welfare; voice vote carries referral

The Vermont Senate voted by voice to refer S.240 to the Committee on Health and Welfare after the Senator from Washington moved that the Committee on Finance be relieved of the bill. The presiding officer put the question and declared, "The ayes have it and you have relieved the Committee of Finance of S240 and referred the bill to the Committee on Health and Welfare."

The motion was made without a recorded roll-call vote; the transcript records only the voice vote outcome. In the session reading the bill was described as "an act relating to expanding Medicaid," but the transcript contains a garbled phrase immediately after that description (transcribed as "Doctor. Dinosaur"). The full, official bill title and text are not specified in the transcript and were not read during the recorded exchange.

The referral moves oversight and any further hearings or amendments for S.240 to the Health and Welfare Committee. No amendment or secondary motion was recorded on the floor during the referral, and no roll-call vote tally was provided in the transcript.

Next steps: The bill will proceed through the Health and Welfare Committee process, which may include public testimony, committee amendment, and any committee votes; the transcript does not indicate any scheduled Health and Welfare hearing date for S.240.