Journal of the House ________________ Friday, May 8, 2009 At nine o'clock and thirty minutes in the forenoon the Speaker called the House to order. Devotional Exercises Devotional exercises were conducted by Camelli, Mia and Gloria Morrison singing “God Bless America, and Mia, a violinist, who and has performed in China, Europe and Carnegie Hall. Message from the Senate No. 58 A message was received from the Senate by Mr. Marshall, its Assistant Secretary, as follows: Mr. Speaker: I am directed to inform the House that: The Senate has considered a bill originating in the House of the following title: H. 125. An act relating to the sale of unpasteurized milk. And has passed the same in concurrence with proposal of amendment in the adoption of which the concurrence of the House is requested. The Senate has considered a joint resolution originating in the House of the following title: J.R.H. 27. Joint resolution urging Congress to enact H.R. 676, the National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act). And has adopted the same in concurrence. The Senate has considered House proposal of amendment to Senate bill of the following title: S. 25. An act relating to the repeal or revision of certain state agency reporting requirements. And has concurred therein. The Senate has considered House proposal of amendment to Senate proposal of amendment to House bill of the following title: 1753 1754 JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE H. 444. An act relating to health care reform. And has concurred therein. The Senate has considered House proposal of amendment to Joint Senate Resolution of the following title: J.R.S. 32. Joint resolution authorizing the commissioner of forests, parks and recreation to enter into land exchanges and to sell a portion of Camel’s Hump State Park. And has concurred therein. The Senate has considered the reports of the Committees of Conference upon the disagreeing votes of the two Houses upon Senate bills of the following titles: S. 7. An act to prohibit the use of lighted tobacco products in the workplace. S. 26. An act relating to recovery of profits from crime. And has accepted and adopted the same on its part. The Senate has considered the report of the Committee of Conference upon the disagreeing votes of the two Houses upon House bill of the following title: H. 445. An act relating to capital construction and state bonding. And has accepted and adopted the same on its part. Pursuant to the request of the House for a Committee of Conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on House bill entitled: H. 83. An act relating to underground storage tanks and the petroleum cleanup fund. The President pro tempore announced the appointment as members of such Committee on the part of the Senate: Senator MacDonald Senator McCormack Senator Snelling The Governor has informed the Senate that on May 7, 2009, he approved and signed a bill originating in the Senate of the following title: S. 96. An act relating to unclaimed property. Message from the Senate No. 59 A message was received from the Senate by Mr. Marshall, its Assistant Secretary, as follows: FRIDAY, MAY 08, 2009 1755 Mr. Speaker: I am directed to inform the House that: The Senate has considered House proposals of amendment to Senate proposal of amendment to House bills of the following titles: H. 136. An act relating to executive branch fees. H. 436. An act relating to decommissioning and decommissioning funds of nuclear energy generation plants. And has accepted and adopted the same on its part. The Senate has considered the reports of the Committees of Conference upon the disagreeing votes of the two Houses upon House bills of the following titles: H. 83. An act relating to underground storage tanks and the petroleum cleanup fund. H. 427. An act relating to making miscellaneous amendments to education law. H. 438. An act relating to the state’s transportation program. H. 441. An act making appropriations for the support of government. And has accepted and adopted the same on its part. Pages Honored In appreciation of their many services to the members of the General Assembly, the Speaker recognized the following named Pages who are completing their service today and presented them with commemorative pins: Page Brooke Angell of Randolph Page Greg Asnis of Berlin Page Rhea Costantino of Montpelier Page Ashlynn Doyon of Hardwick Page Renae M. Hall of Hardwick Page Connor Herrick of South Hero Page Louisa Jerome of Brandon Page Benson May of Putney Page Anna Pettee of Guilford Page McKinley Pierce of Warren Remarks Journalized On motion of Rep. Donovan of Burlington, the following remarks by Rep. Aswad of Burlington were ordered printed in the Journal: 1756 JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE “Mister Speaker: I rise to a point of personal privilege. I have a parody on some words written by Paul Anka. And now the end is here And so we face the final adjournment My friends, I'll say it clear state our case of which I'm certain We drafted, we introduced, we took testimony, We debated and guess what, we even roll call voted And more much more than that We did it our way Regrets, we've had a few But then again, too few to mention We did do what we had to do And saw it through without exemption We planned each calendar day And then we did it our way Yes there were times, I'm sure you knew When we bit off more than we could chew But through it all when there was doubt We talked about it And worked it out We faced it all and we stood tall And did it our way To think we did all that And may I say, not in a shyway Oh, no not us, we did it our way For what is a bill What has it got If not teeth Then it aught not To pass and see the light of day The record shows We were on our toes And did it our way FRIDAY, MAY 08, 2009 1757 Technology Committee Appointed The Speaker appointed the following members to the Technology Committee: Rep. Atkins of Winooski Rep. Davis of Washington Rep. Ram of Burlington Rep. Turner of Milton House Resolution Adopted H.R. 20 House resolution, entitled House resolution encouraging a renewed commitment to the cleanup and restoration of the water quality of Lake Champlain as part of the 400th anniversary of its discovery by Samuel de Champlain Was taken up and adopted. Joint Resolution Adopted in Concurrence J.R.S. 34 Joint resolution, entitled Joint resolution designating October, 2009, as health care career awareness month; Was taken up read and adopted in concurrence. Rules Suspended; Favorable Report; Action Postponed S. 121 On motion of Rep. Komline of Dorset, the rules were suspended and House bill, entitled An act relating to miscellaneous election laws Appearing on the Calendar for notice, was taken up for immediate consideration. Rep. Hubert of Milton, for the committee on Government Operations, to which the bill had been referred reported in favor of its passage. Thereupon, the bill was read the second time, and on motion of Rep. Komline of Dorset, action on the bill was postponed until after consideration of H. 83, which was agreed to. Rules Suspended; Report of Committee of Conference Adopted H. 83 1758 JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE On motion of Rep. Komline of Dorset, the rules were suspended and House bill, entitled An act relating to underground storage tanks and the petroleum cleanup fund Appearing on the Calendar for notice, was taken up for immediate consideration. The Speaker placed before the House the following Committee of Conference report: To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Committee of Conference to which were referred the disagreeing votes of the two Houses upon the bill respectfully reported that it has met and considered the same and recommended that the House accede to the Senate proposal of amendment, and that the bill be further amended as follows: First: In Sec. 5, 10 V.S.A. § 1942, by striking subsection (b) in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following: (b) There is assessed against every seller receiving more than $10,000.00 annually for the retail sale of heating oil or, kerosene, or other dyed diesel fuel sold in this state and not used to propel a motor vehicle, a licensing fee of one-half cent per gallon of such heating oil or, kerosene, or other dyed diesel fuel. This fee shall be subject to the collection, administration, and enforcement provisions of chapter 233 of Title 32, and the fees collected under this subsection by the commissioner of taxes shall be deposited into the petroleum cleanup fund. The secretary, in consultation with the Vermont Petroleum Association and the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, Inc. shall annually determine whether or not to assess the one-half cent licensing fee for the upcoming year. If the unencumbered balance of heating fuel account of the fund established under subsection 1941(a) of this title is equal to or greater than $3,000,000.00, then the one-half cent licensing assessment for the upcoming year shall not be assessed. If the unencumbered balance in the fund is less than $3,000,000 $3,000,000.00, then the annual fee may be assessed. The secretary shall notify all sellers assessing this fee of the status of the fee for the upcoming year. This fee provision shall terminate April 1, 2011 2016.