VT Journal of the House
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At ten o'clock in the forenoon the Speaker called the House to order.
Devotional Exercises
Devotional exercises were conducted by Reverend Steve Berry of First Congregational Church of Manchester.
Pledge of Allegiance
Page Molly Taylor of Bethel led the House in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Message from Governor
A message was received from His Excellency, the Governor, by Mr. Neale Lunderville, Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs, as follows:
Mr. Speaker:
I am directed by the Governor to inform the House that on the twenty-sixth day of April, 2004, he approved and signed a bill originating in the House of the following title:
H. 777 An
act relating to genetically engineered seed
Bill Referred to Committee on Appropriations
H. 558
House bill, entitled
An act relating to licensing standards for the Vermont state hospital;
Appearing on the Calendar, carrying an appropriation, under rule 35a, was referred to the committee on Appropriations.
House Resolution Placed on Calendar
The Speaker placed before the House the following resolution which was read and in the Speaker’s discretion, placed on the Calendar for action tomorrow under Rule 52.
H.R.
34
House
resolution designating May 3-9, 2004 as Public Service Recognition Week in
Offered by: Representatives Tracy of Burlington, Adams of Hartland, Allaire of Rutland City, Allard of St. Albans Town, Anderson of Woodstock, Audette of South Burlington, Baker of West Rutland, Bohi of Hartford, Bolduc of Barton, Bostic of St. Johnsbury, Botzow of Pownal, Brennan of Colchester, Brooks of Montpelier, Carey of Chester, Chen of Mendon, Connell of Warren, Cross of Winooski, Crowley of West Rutland, Dakin of Colchester, Darrow of Dummerston, Deen of Westminster, Donaghy of Poultney, Donovan of Burlington, Dostis of Waterbury, Edwards of Brattleboro, Emmons of Springfield, Endres of Milton, Fallar of Tinmouth, Fisher of Lincoln, Flory of Pittsford, French of Randolph, Gervais of Enosburg, Haas of Rutland City, Head of South Burlington, Heath of Westford, Helm of Castleton, Hingtgen of Burlington, Hudson of Lyndon, Hummel of Underhill, Hunt of Essex, Jewett of Ripton, Johnson of South Hero, Keenan of St. Albans City, Kennedy of Chelsea, Ketchum of Bethel, Kirker of Essex, Kitzmiller of Montpelier, Klein of East Montpelier, Koch of Barre Town, Krawczyk, A. of Bennington, Larocque of Barnet, Larson of Burlington, Lippert of Hinesburg, Maier of Middlebury, Marek of Newfane, Marron of Stowe, Masland of Thetford, McCullough of Williston, McLaughlin of Royalton, Milkey of Brattleboro, Miller of Shaftsbury, Molloy of Arlington, Monti of Barre City, Morrissey of Bennington, Myers of Essex, Nease of Johnson, Nuovo of Middlebury, Obuchowski of Rockingham, O’Donnell of Vernon, Otterman of Topsham, Partridge of Windham, Peaslee of Guildhall, Perry of Richford, Peterson of Williston, Pillsbury of Brattleboro, Pugh of South Burlington, Reese of Pomfret, Robinson of Richmond, Rodgers of Glover, Rusten of Halifax, Seibert of Norwich, Shand of Weathersfield, Sharpe of Bristol, Sheltra of Derby, Shouldice of Calais, Smith of Morristown, Sunderland of Rutland Town, Sweaney of Windsor, Sweetser of Essex, Symington of Jericho, Trombley of Grand Isle, Valliere of Barre City, Vincent of Waterbury, Waite of Pawlet and Zuckerman of Burlington
Whereas, since 1985, the first week of May has been celebrated as Public Service Recognition Week in honor of the men and women who serve the United States as federal, state, and local government employees, and
Whereas, Congress and President Bush have designated Public Service Recognition Week to educate citizens concerning the essential nature of the services which public employees perform for and provide to the citizenry, and
Whereas, public employees serve Vermonters every day, and our citizens have consistently endorsed the quality and accessibility of Vermont’s public services, and
Whereas, public sector employees maintain our roads and bridges; deliver essential services to families, the elderly, veterans, persons with disabilities, and other Vermonters in need; ensure quality education for our children; preserve our natural environment and historic heritage; guarantee the public safety through law enforcement activities and emergency response services; promote economic development, including assisting Vermonters in finding jobs and improving their employment skills; safeguard our public health; and care for the most vulnerable in our society, and
Whereas, without dedicated civil servants, there would not be any continuity of governmental services when changes occur within the elected leadership structures of our democracy, and
Whereas, recognition of governmental employees encourages more persons to consider public service as an honorable career choice, now therefore be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives:
That this legislative body is pleased to recognize the dedication and outstanding contributions of all Vermont’s federal, state, and municipal employees on behalf of the citizens of Vermont, and be it further
Resolved: That this legislative body designates the week of May 3-9, 2004 as Public Service Recognition Week in Vermont, and be it further
Resolved: That the Clerk of the House be directed to send a copy of this resolution to Governor James Douglas, the Vermont State Employees’ Association, the Vermont NEA, and the Vermont AFL-CIO as the representatives of these dedicated public servants.
Third Reading; Bill Passed in Concurrence
with Proposal of Amendment
S. 42
Senate bill, entitled
An act relating to creating an office of land recycling, and otherwise revising the brownfields reclamation program;
Was taken up, read the third time and passed in concurrence with proposal of amendment.
Bill Amended; Third Reading Ordered
H. 629
Rep. Hingtgen of Burlington, for the committee on Education, to which had been referred House bill, entitled
An act relating to bullying prevention policies;
Reported in favor of its passage when amended as by striking all after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
Sec. 1. 16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(32) is added to read:
(32) “Bullying” means any overt act or combination
of acts directed against a student by another student or group of students and
which:
(A) is repeated over time;
(B) is intended to ridicule, humiliate, or
intimidate the student; and
(C) occurs during the school day on school
property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity, or before or
after the school day on a school bus or at a school-sponsored activity.
Sec. 2. 16 V.S.A. § 1161a(a)(6) is amended to read:
(a) Each public and each
approved independent school shall adopt and implement a comprehensive plan for
responding to student misbehavior. To
the extent appropriate, the plan shall promote the positive development of
youth. The plan shall include:
* * *
(6) a description of
behaviors on and off school grounds which constitute misconduct, including
harassment, bullying, and hazing, particularly those behaviors which may
be grounds for expulsion. The plan shall
include a description of
misconduct as listed in subdivisions 11(a)(26)(A)-(C) and (32) of this
title which, although serious, does not rise to the level of harassment or
bullying as that term is those terms are defined therein; and
* * *
Sec. 3. UPDATE OF MODEL SCHOOL PLAN ON STUDENT DISCIPLINE TO INCLUDE BULLYING PREVENTION; COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION; REPORT
(a) By January 1, 2005, the commissioner of
education shall update and distribute to all superintendents, school boards,
and principals a model school plan on student discipline, as required by Sec.
15(a) of No. 113 of the Acts of the 1999 Adj. Sess. (2000), for use in
addressing bullying in schools. The
model plan shall:
(1) state that bullying, as defined in
subdivision 11(a)(32) of Title 16, is a form of dangerous and disrespectful
behavior that will not be permitted or tolerated;
(2) enable students to report anonymously to
teachers and school administrators acts of bullying;
(3) enable parents or guardians of students to
file written reports of suspected bullying;
(4) require teachers and other school staff who
witness acts of bullying or receive student reports of bullying to notify
school administrators;
(5) require school administrators to investigate
any written reports filed and to review any anonymous reports;
(6) include an intervention strategy for school
staff to deal with bullying;
(7) include the prohibition against bullying in
the student or school handbook and otherwise make students aware of the
prohibition against bullying, the penalties therefor, and the procedures for
reporting bullying;
(8) require the school to notify the parent or
guardian of a student who
commits a verified act of
bullying of the response of the school staff and consequences that may result
from further acts of bullying; and
(9) to the extent
permitted under the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act of 1974 (P.L.
93-380) and as amended, require the school to notify the parent or guardian of
a student who is a victim of bullying of the action taken to prevent any
further acts of bullying; and
(10) require the school to collect data on the
number of reported incidents of bullying and the number of incidents that have
been verified and to make such data available to the commissioner and to the
public.
(b) On or before January 15, 2007, the
commissioner of education shall report to the senate and house committees on
education on implementation of this section.
The report shall include pertinent data such as incidences of bullying
gathered by school districts.
The
bill, having appeared on the Calendar one day for notice, was taken up and read
the second time.
Pending the question, Shall the House amend the bill as recommended by the committee on Education? Rep. Hingtgen of Burlington demanded the Yeas and Nays, which demand was sustained by the Constitutional number. The Clerk proceeded to call the roll and the question, Shall the House amend the bill as recommended by the committee on Education? was decided in the affirmative. Yeas, 130. Nays, 9.
Those who voted in the affirmative are:
Adams of Hartland
Allaire of
Allard of
Amidon of
Anderson of
Aswad of
Atkins of Winooski
Audette of
Bailey of
Baker of
Bartlett of
Bohi of
Bostic of St. Johnsbury
Botzow of Pownal
Branagan of
Brennan of
Brooks of Montpelier
Brown of Walden
Carey of
Chen of Mendon
Clark of St. Johnsbury
Clark of Vergennes
Connell of
Corcoran of
Cross of Winooski
Crowley of
Dakin of
Darrow of Dummerston
Deen of
DePoy of
Donaghy of Poultney
Donahue of
Donovan of
Dostis of
Duffy of
Dunsmore of
Edwards of
Emmons of
Endres of
Errecart of Shelburne
Fisher of
Flory of Pittsford
French of
Gervais of Enosburg
Haas of
Head of
Heath of Westford
Helm of Castleton
Hingtgen of
Houston of Ferrisburgh
Howrigan of
Hube of
Hudson of Lyndon
Hummel of Underhill
Hunt of
Jewett of Ripton
Johnson of South Hero
Keenan of
Kennedy of
Kenyon of
Keogh of
Ketchum of
Kirker of
Kiss of
Kitzmiller of
Klein of
Krawczyk, A. of
Krawczyk, J. of
Larrabee of
Larson of
LaVoie of Swanton
Lippert of Hinesburg
Maier of Middlebury
Marek of Newfane
Marron of Stowe
Martin of
Masland of Thetford
Mazur of
McAllister of Highgate
McCullough of Williston
McLaughlin of Royalton
Milkey of
Miller of Shaftsbury
Miller of Elmore
Molloy of
Monti of
Morrissey of
Myers of
Nease of Johnson
Nitka of
Nuovo of Middlebury
Obuchowski of Rockingham
O'Donnell of
Otterman of Topsham
Partridge of
Peaslee of Guildhall
Perry of Richford
Peterson of Williston
Pillsbury of
Pugh of
Reese of Pomfret
Robinson of
Rodgers of Glover
Rusten of
Schiavone of Shelburne
Seibert of
Severance of
Shand of Weathersfield
Sharpe of
Shouldice of
Smith of
Smith of
Starr of
Sunderland of
Sweaney of
Sweeney of
Sweetser of
Symington of
Towne of
Tracy of
Trombley of Grand Isle
Valliere of
Vincent of
Waite of Pawlet
Webster of
Westman of
Winters of Swanton
Wood of
Wright of
Zuckerman of
Those who voted in the negative are:
Bolduc of Barton
Gray of
Hall of
Johnson of
Kilmartin of
Parent of
Sheltra of
Winters of Williamstown
Young of Orwell
Those members absent with leave of the House and not voting are:
Crawford of Burke
Fallar of Tinmouth
Grad of Moretown
Kainen of
Koch of
Larocque of Barnet
Livingston of
Metzger of
Rogers of Castleton
Shaw of
Rep. Kirker of Essex explained her vote as follows:
“Mr. Speaker:
H. 629 is a bill that I have struggled with. I believe that bullying is a symptom of larger, pervasive, social and cultural issues in our society.
This bill is one more example of the state expecting schools to assume parental responsibilities.
However, I support the bill in the hope that a clear message about the importance of respect in our society will be brought to the forefront. Let us all remember that children learn from adults who model behaviors and set expectations for right and wrong.”
Rep. Young of Orwell explained his vote as follows:
“Mr. Speaker:
The childhood poem “sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me”, is hereby repealed.”
Bill Amended; Third Reading Ordered
H. 779
Rep. Sweeney of Colchester, for the committee on Local Government, to which had been referred House bill, entitled
An act relating to the charter of the city of Winooski;
Reported in favor of its passage when amended as follows:
First: By striking Sec. 1 in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
Sec. 1. CHARTER AMENDMENT
Notwithstanding the certification
requirements of 17 V.S.A. § 2645, the Charter of the City of Winooski is amended
as it appears in this act. The voters approved the amendments on March 4, 2003
except for the amendment repealing § 5.20 related to the Gilbrook Property
which the voters approved on November 5, 2002.
Second: In Sec.
16, 24 App. V.S.A. chapter 17
§ 2.17 by striking subsection (c).
Third: By adding a new Sec. 19a to read:
Sec. 19a. 24 App V.S.A. chapter 17 § 5.12 is amended to read:
§ 5.12. Property sales and leases
(a) The city council may authorize the sale of real or personal estate belonging to the city when the same shall not exceed in value ten thousand dollars, or may lease the same for a term not exceeding one year and all conveyances, grants and leases of any such real estate shall be executed by the