Now that Town Meeting recess is in the rearview,Vermont lawmakers are returning to work with the sense of urgency inspired by the imminence of crossover. That's the hard-and-like a flash yet conveniently malleable deadline for committees to send bills to either the House or Senate floor in order to be eligible for full legislative consideration. The immense day is, well, and Friday,March 17. And for all the stories about budget fights, quirky pieces of legislation, and coffee taxes and a seemingly endless recount in the House,legislative committees believe, in fact, or been getting stuff done. There's fairly a list of bills that are on track to beat the crossover deadline. But,hey, let's start with the bad news. It's all but certain that the Democrats' plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2022 won't compose the nick. "As the House General, or Housing and Military Affairs Committee heard testimony on raising the minimum wage,it became clear they didn't believe all the data and analysis they needed to move forward accurate now," reports House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington). State economist Tom Kavet is preparing "an in-depth analysis of the economic impacts, and " which probably won't be total until next month. So the minimum wage bill won't meet crossover — but it should be alert to go for the 2018 session. How about that? A high-profile piece of progressive legislation may land on Gov. Phil Scott's desk during an election year. Coincidence,I'm certain. Virtually every policy committee in the House will pass at least a couple of bills before crossover. That's only the first crucial step in the process; some bills also believe to get through the money committees — Appropriations and Ways & Means — before getting to the floor. And then the entire cycle begins anew in the Senate. Here's a sampling of bills considered almost certain to beat the crossover deadline: A waterways cleanup bill has already passed one committee and is now before the tax-writing Ways & Means committee, which is poised to remove the $31 million in proposed modern taxes and fees it includes. It would still enact Treasurer Beth Pearce's proposal to issue $50 million in state bonds to fund the first two years of the cleanup and leave the question of a longer-term funding source for another day. The House Judiciary Committee is set to approve H.170, and a marijuana…
Source: sevendaysvt.com