January 20, 2022
(Recording unavailable)
Minutes
Rep. Kimbell called the meeting to order at 8:01am.
REDWnG Bill Tracking Tool. Rep. Sims presented a bill tracking tool created by Monique Priestley to track legislation related to the Rural Omnibus Bill and other REDWnG priorities.
There was a discussion about which bills should make it onto the tool. Several members commented that the tool becomes more valuable the more bills it includes.
A suggestion was made to add a red-yellow-green color-coding scheme to help track bill viability.
Representatives made suggestions about bills to add.
Members are encouraged to send bills they would like to add to the tracker to Rep. Sims. The tracker will also live on the REDWnG website.
Misc. Updates.
Several members from Corrections & Institutions gave an update on the $113 million ARPA Capital Projects Fund. Each of the Legislative, Judicial and Executive branches will submit project proposals for the fund to be approved by the US Treasury. A clarification was made between this fund and the Capital Improvements Program administered by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development that aims to seed transformative infrastructure projects across the state. Both initiatives have direct bearing on Vermont’s rural communities and will be important for the Caucus to follow closely. Rep. Kimbell suggested inviting Commissioner Goldstein to present at a future meeting on the Capital Improvements program.
A suggestion was made to invite someone from Agriculture & Forestry to give an update on bills related to the farm & forest economy. Rep. Bock gave a brief update on testimony that the committee has received recently pertaining to the Rural Omnibus Bill.
Representative Kornheiser gave a report on the work of the Pupil Weighting Task Force. A recording of a longer version of her presentation and a powerpoint to accompany it is available on the VT School Boards’ Association website.
The task force met every two weeks over the summer, and was charged with ensuring all public school students have equitable access to educational opportunities.
Their final report is available on the Joint Fiscal Office website, and was approved unanimously by the members of the task force. The report offers two options towards achieving more equitable outcomes for Vermont students: the first recommends the implementation of specific pupil weights, and the second the establishment of “cost equity payments” to districts based on the number of qualifying students in particular categories. The report contains recommendations towards the implementation of either option.
Two specific definition changes recommended in the report that have bearing on Vermont’s rural communities:
The report offers statistical definitions of a “small schools” based on clear inflection points in the graphs of the cost of achieving equitable outcomes for students: Less than 200, 100 or 50 students in districts with a population density of less than 100, 50 or 36 people per square mile, respectively. The report recommends tiered resource allocations to schools at each of these sizes & population densities.
The report also recommends changing the definition of “poverty” from students whose families are receiving SNAP benefits, which tends to be an underrepresentation in rural areas, to students receiving free & reduced lunch, and eventually recommends a universal declaration of income, by income bracket for all families.
The group adjourned at 8:50am. The next meeting will be Thursday, January 27th, at 8:00am. Rep. Sims will be in touch with the link and an agenda early next week.