Vermont Legislative Update Quick Links
Unused drug repository report recommends implementing new program
House committee begins review of cannabis bill
Finance Committee gives ok to insurance deregulation bill
Individual mandate proposal advances without penalty
Committee recommends new Substance Misuse Prevention Advisory Council
Automatic renewal legislation considered by Senate committee
Unused drug repository report recommends implementing new program
A workgroup report reviewed in the House Human Services Committee this week recommended that Vermont consider implementing an unused drug repository program. Such a program would provide for unused drugs to be collected from institutional settings such as long-term care pharmacies, Veteran’s Administration facilities, state correctional facilities, and hospitals. The reclaimed drugs could then be distributed to eligible patients who meet the program criteria of being uninsured, underinsured, or under 400 percent of the poverty level.
The workgroup recommended that Vermont contract with a state that is already operating a repository program in order to save on startup and infrastructure costs and to benefit from a larger repository pool. The committee will be returning to the issue in the coming weeks.
House committee begins review of cannabis bill
The House Government Operations Committee spent several hours this week considering the Senate-passed 68-page cannabis legalization bill. The bill would legalize the sale of cannabis by retail establishments in 2021. It sets up a new Cannabis Control Board that would issue licenses for the growers, wholesalers, manufacturers, retailers, and product testers.
Communities would be able to reject the sale of cannabis locally, but only after a town-wide vote. The local tax rate would be two percent, and would be in addition to a 16 percent state excise tax.
The bill appears to have the support of a majority of House members. Gov. Phil Scott has not indicated if he would sign the bill, but has continued to express concerns about road safety.
Finance Committee gives ok to insurance deregulation bill
The Senate Finance Committee gave its final approval this week to a bill, S.131, that would give the Department of Financial Regulation broad authority to waive insurance statutes, regulations and bulletins.
The proposal received initial opposition from the Vermont Insurance Agents Association, which argued that the bill would give DFR excessive discretion to waive hundreds of statutes and rules without public input. The bill was substantially narrowed as a result of VIAA’s testimony.
The Vermont plaintiff lawyers’ association later urged the committee to adopt additional restrictions, and those were incorporated in a committee amendment that was approved this week. The bill has now been sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee for what will likely be a perfunctory review.
Individual mandate proposal advances without penalty
Citing serious concerns about the proposed penalty structure in a bill that would affect the individual health insurance mandate, the House Ways and Means Committee stripped the penalty from H.524 before voting it out of committee this week. The bill retains the mandate for minimum essential health insurance coverage, but no penalty would be imposed for non-compliance.
Consistent with federal law, the bill also prohibits a group insurance policy from including provisions that exclude, restrict or otherwise limit coverage under the policy for preexisting health conditions. Annual and lifetime limits for essential benefits, as well as cost sharing for preventative services, would be banned.
After passage by the House Committee on Ways and Means, the House Appropriations Committee voted 7-4 to pass the bill, approving $100,000 in funding for a merged market study required by the bill. The committee declined to support funding for an actuary to participate in the bill’s health insurance affordability study.
Committee recommends new Substance Misuse Prevention Advisory Council
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee has approved a bill, S.146, that would create a new 16-member Substance Misuse Prevention Advisory Council to replace the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council. The bill also eliminates the Tobacco Evaluation and Review Board and creates a new Director of Substance Misuse Prevention.
The bill would redirect $400,000 of funding to the new council from funds previously designated for the Opioid Coordination Council. That funding will be reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee as part of the formal appropriations process once the budget bill is received from the House.
The purpose of the new council is to strengthen the state’s response to the substance use disorder crisis by advancing evidence-based and evidence-informed substance misuse prevention initiatives. The bill is pending before the full Senate.
Automatic renewal legislation considered by Senate committee
The Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee took a preliminary look this week at a House-passed bill, H.327, that would repeal legislation passed last year regarding the automatic renewal of subscriptions. Last year’s bill requires a company to obtain from a consumer a separate, stand-alone acceptance of an automatic contract renewal provision in a subscription agreement. The bill passed last year over the objection of a long list of Internet companies.
H.327 is based on a California bill, and it substitutes for the so-called “double opt-in” requirement, new, up-front contract disclosures, as well as a requirement that companies provide consumers with notice and an easy ability to cancel before contracts renew.
The bill passed the House with little objection, but it faces an uncertain future in the Senate committee, where the bill originated last year. Several committee members expressed skepticism this week about the repeal of the new requirement.
