Committee approves amendment to S.323, removes $300,000 appropriation; implementation contingent on FY2027 funding

A committee voted to amend and approve Senate Bill S.323 (draft 3.2), removing a $300,000 direct appropriation while retaining language that conditions hiring a consultant and related duties on the availability of funds in fiscal year 2027. The amendment passed on a roll-call vote recorded as eight yes votes and no recorded no votes.

The draft moves language from an existing chapter into a subchapter under Vermont agriculture and makes several editorial and timing changes. Committee staff said the KO inspector provision will take effect March 1, 2027, and that hemp provisions in the bill are effective on passage; other sections take effect July 1. Members explained that removing the explicit dollar figure reflects guidance from the Joint Fiscal Office that no appropriation currently exists for that item and that leaving the contingency clause reduces the chance the bill would be held up by a required appropriation amendment.

Committee members also confirmed the bill no longer contains the PAS and pesticides provisions present in earlier drafts. After brief technical discussion — including small editorial fixes and a debate over whether the phrase listing “maple syrup” should be broadened to “maple products” — the committee proceeded to a motion to adopt draft 3.2. The clerk called the roll, recording the following yes votes: John Barton; Shell Boslin; Jack Bighgam; Gregory Greg Bilber; Jed Lipsky; Richard Nelson; John O'Brien; and Chair Dery. The clerk reported the vote as "8 Z" in the transcript; the reporting appeared to be a typographical rendering of eight yes votes.

Members agreed to designate an official bill reporter and to circulate a clean copy without highlight markings before the bill goes to the floor. The committee scheduled the bill for the floor session tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.