Lawmakers stare down Covid-19, housing shortage, pension crisis and more as legislative session

Lawmakers stare down Covid-19, housing shortage, pension crisis and more as legislative session approaches


Covid-19, Town Meeting Day, housing, pensions, labor shortages and a constitutional amendment. These are the top priorities Vermont’s legislative leaders say they want to tackle when lawmakers return to Montpelier (or to their webcams) in January.

Covid-19

As it has been for nearly two years, Covid-19 remains at the forefront of everyone’s minds, especially as the Omicron variant drives a furious surge of cases across the country. The highly contagious variant could drive lawmakers to their third consecutive remote session, but regardless of whether they meet in Montpelier or online, the pressure is on to help relieve the pressure being felt by the health care system and all Vermonters.

Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, told VTDigger in an interview this week that legislators plan to vote on a statewide mask mandate for public indoor spaces. But she’s pessimistic about it becoming law, with Republican Gov. Phil Scott pledging several times to veto such a bill, and the Legislature, by Balint’s count, not having the votes to override Scott’s veto.

House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, told VTDigger in a separate interview that a mask mandate would be only one piece of the puzzle and that there are other tools with which to address this latest wave of the virus.

Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2021/12/24/lawmakers-stare-down-covid-19-housing-shortage-pension-crisis-and-more-as-legislative-session-approaches/