Shap Smith, the first Lawyer-Speaker of the House since Tim O’Connor, opened the session last Wednesday by appointing House committees before noon on day one! And those committees are getting down to business just as quickly. The committees which the VBA works most frequently are the Judiciary and Appropriations Committees of both chambers. Here are the membership lists for all four, beginning with the House:

The Senate Committees are:

The House Judiciary Committee began its work with H. 11, a bill that revises the intestacy statutes for spousal shares. This is the same bill as H. 203, passed in 2008 but vetoed by the governor because of a technical error in the effective date section of the bill. That bill is expected to pass the full House next week, move over to the Senate where we’re working on quick passage also. The remaining discussion centers around the effective date of the bill. Had H. 203 been signed into law, it would have had an effective date of January 1, 2009.

It is expected that H. 11 would become effective “on passage”, meaning the day the governor signs the bill. The VBA will monitor its progress and keep everyone informed. Many of you attended the CLE at our Annual Meeting in Lake Morey that explained these changes. Regardless of the actual effective date, it will only apply to estates of persons dying after the effective date. NOTE that this bill will increase the homestead exemption from $75,000 to $125,000 also.

House Judiciary has already taken testimony from Court Administrator Lee Suskin, Administrative Judge Amy Davenport, CFO Bob Greenmore, and Judicial Educator Pat Gabel concerning the financial issues surrounding the operation of the courts. We’ve all been reading of the possibility of court closings, employee furloughs, and other cost cutting measures that may be necessary. Although this committee does not have jurisdiction over the budget, their input to the appropriations process is important. And this committee is concerned and I’d say sympathetic to the needs of Vermonters to access justice. The court has already taken some steps to find some savings for the remainder of this fiscal year. Here is a portion of the text of an email from the Chief Justice to court staff:

You will recall that on Friday, December 19, the Joint Fiscal Committee cut an additional $245,000 from the Judiciary’s FY09 budget appropriation, as previously adjusted by Rescission #1. An ad hoc group from the Judiciary met on Tuesday, December 23, to provide recommendations to the Supreme Court as to how to achieve this $245,000 reduction. Following the meeting of the ad hoc budget committee, various constituencies within the Judicial Branch were consulted further.

As you know, we must make these decisions in the context of rapidly changing events and with the expectation that this kind of uncertain environment will be the rule for the short term. Our decision on the $245,000 rescission takes into account all of these factors and is designed to best meet, under these difficult financial circumstances, our obligations to the people of the State of Vermont to continue to fulfill our role as a co-equal branch of government, our obligations to the people who rely on our court system to resolve disputes and protect individual rights, and our obligations to our dedicated employees who continue to serve Vermonters to the best of their abilities under very challenging conditions.

Supreme Court Decision:
The Court has decided that it will meet the $245,000 rescission commitment by declaring five judicial branch furlough days between now and the end of Fiscal Year 2009, and on those five days all the courts in the state will be closed to the public, a circumstance anticipated by the statute set forth at 4 V.S.A. 25. These five furlough days will be unpaid days for (1) all judicial officers and (2) all state Judiciary employees who are not in the bargaining unit and who earn [on an annualized basis] $60,000 or more. Given the number of statutory salaries in the Judicial Branch, the Supreme Court determined that the exercise of its furlough authority in this manner was the closest equivalent to the 5% pay cut taken by the more highly-paid employees and officials in the other branches of government. During weeks in which a furlough day falls, the half-day closing policy will not be in effect. In other words, each affected court will continue to observe the half-day closing period each week EXCEPT during a week in which a furlough day falls.

Paul L. Reiber, Chief Justice

Vermont Supreme Court

Many other ideas are on the table; Judge Davenport outlined some for the committee on Tuesday. They include regional arraignments to cut down on transport costs. Actually, the Supreme Court at 1:30 today, the 14 th, issued an emergency amendment to VRCrP 5 allowing for regional arraignments, i.e., waiving venue requirements in the territorial unit. Arraignments may occur in the District Court closest to the correctional center in which a defendant is lodged. Other ideas include consolidating Probate Courts in the four counties that now have two courts each. Increasing collection efforts for traffic fines is now a priority as the number of traffic tickets being written is declining. There are special funds that are funded by the surcharge on tickets and those funds are seeing their balances shrink. Finally, consolidating the positions of court manager (in “state” district and family courts) with county court clerk in the superior courts may well be a proposal in the near future. This, of course, only applies in those smaller counties where the courts are all housed in one building.

The Senate Appropriations Committee spent Wednesday afternoon brainstorming about the court’s financial crisis in a far reaching “what if” type of conversation. The VBA was invited to take part along with the court administrator’s office, the state’s attorneys and the defender general. Even if no specific proposal or bill comes from that conversation, the fact that the committee took the time to examine the issue that deeply is a real change in approach. I think it will lead to action later this year that may have a positive outcome. We’ll wait and see.

Thanks for all of you that have let me know that you’re available to speak to legislators if the VBA needs your help. And thanks for reading.

Questions about this site should be sent to fcopeland@vtbar.org
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