Senate Rules Committee clears municipal charter bills to Government Operations

The Senate Rules Committee voted to release a set of municipal charter bills to the Senate Committee on Government Operations for further consideration.

Senator Hardy asked the Rules Committee to clear what he described as four municipal charter bills — naming H.503, H.881, H.885, H.886 and H.86 — to be sent either directly to Government Operations or, in one case, transmitted from Rules to Government Operations. "Yes, I would request that these 4 bills, h503, h881, h885, h886, h86 be sent either directly to gov ops or be sent from the rules committee to GovOps in the case of 1 of the bills," Hardy said.

The request noted the measures are municipal charters associated with Burlington, South Burlington, St. Johnsbury and Berlin; Hardy also said a possible fifth bill may be forthcoming. The chair observed there has been "a kind of unbroken tradition of moving charters quickly out," explaining why the items were presented for expedited clearance.

Senator Hardy moved to release the bills; the motion was recorded as seconded by Senator Perchliff. The chair called for a voice vote; the transcript records two members saying "Aye" and the chair signaled approval. The transcript does not record a full roll-call tally or identify additional votes beyond the two affirmative responses.

Because the transcript records Hardy saying "four" bills but then listing five bill numbers, the public record here notes that inconsistency: the committee approved release for the bills as spoken, but the exact mapping of bill numbers to the four-charter count was not specified in the transcript.

The released bills will be considered next by the Senate Committee on Government Operations during the legislature's final week, according to the request on the floor. No additional debate or amendments were recorded during the Rules Committee meeting.