Committee reports H953 favorably after brief floor vote

The Government Operations & Military Affairs committee voted unanimously Friday to report H953 favorably, advancing the bill described in committee as "an act relating to approval of an amendment to the charter of the town" to the next stage of consideration.

A committee member moved to find H953 favorable; Durk, the clerk, conducted a roll call in which members on the roster recorded 'Yes' votes (Representative Coffin; Senator Hango; Representative Cooperative; Representative Nent; Representative Pinsfelt; Skully; Representative Stone; Representative Waters Evans; Representative Byron). The motion carried as recorded by the clerk.

The bill text in committee referred to the charter amendment for the town (the transcript contains both the forms 'Hton' and 'Canton'); committee members did not use the hearing to debate the charter substance at length, instead completing the procedural vote and moving on to other items.

After the vote, members shifted attention to related policy items on the agenda, notably hemp and recreational-cannabis language in pending bills. The committee did not amend H953 on the floor and took no further action on the charter amendment during this session.

The committee adjourned after setting plans to continue work on cannabis-related bills and stakeholder consultation next week.