| 1 | | - | BILLASINTRODUCEDANDPASSEDBYSENATE S.56 |
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| 2 | | - | 2025 Page1of8 |
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| 3 | | - | S.56 |
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| 4 | | - | IntroducedbySenatorsGulick,Hardy,Harrison,Hashim,Vyhovsky,Weeks |
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| 5 | | - | andWhite |
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| 6 | | - | ReferredtoCommitteeonGovernmentOperations |
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| 7 | | - | Date:February7,2025 |
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| 8 | | - | Subject:Executive;OfficeofNewAmericans;report |
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| 9 | | - | Statementofpurposeofbillasintroduced:Thisbillproposestocreatethe |
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| 10 | | - | OfficeofNewAmericansStudyCommitteetostudyandreportconcerningthe |
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| 11 | | - | creationofanindependentOfficeofNewAmericans. |
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| 12 | | - | AnactrelatingtocreatinganOfficeofNewAmericans |
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| 13 | | - | ItisherebyenactedbytheGeneralAssemblyoftheStateofVermont: |
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| 14 | | - | Sec.1.OFFICEOFNEWAMERICANSSTUDYCOMMITTEE;REPORT |
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| 15 | | - | (a)Creation.ThereiscreatedtheOfficeofNewAmericansStudy |
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| 16 | | - | CommitteetomakerecommendationsforcreatinganindependentOfficeof |
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| 17 | | - | NewAmericans. |
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| 18 | | - | (b)Membership.TheCommitteeshallbecomposedofthefollowing |
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| 19 | | - | members: |
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| 20 | | - | (1)theDirectoroftheVermontRefugeeOffice,whoshallbeChair; |
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| 38 | | - | 18 BILLASINTRODUCEDANDPASSEDBYSENATE S.56 |
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| 39 | | - | 2025 Page2of8 |
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| 40 | | - | (2)onecurrentmemberoftheHouseofRepresentatives,whoshallbe |
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| 41 | | - | appointedbytheSpeakeroftheHouse; |
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| 42 | | - | (3)onecurrentmemberoftheSenate,whoshallbeappointedbythe |
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| 43 | | - | CommitteeonCommittees; |
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| 44 | | - | (4)onemember,appointedbytheSecretaryofHumanServices; |
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| 45 | | - | (5)onemember,appointedbytheCommissionerofLabor; |
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| 46 | | - | (6)onemember,appointedbytheExecutiveDirectoroftheOfficeof |
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| 47 | | - | RacialEquity; |
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| 48 | | - | (7)onememberrepresentingtheAssociationofAfricansLivingin |
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| 49 | | - | Vermont;and |
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| 50 | | - | (8)sevenmembers,appointedbytheGovernor,whoshallinclude: |
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| 51 | | - | (A)onemember,nominatedbytheAssociationofAfricansLivingin |
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| 52 | | - | Vermont; |
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| 53 | | - | (B)onemember,nominatedbytheU.S.CommitteeforRefugeesand |
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| 54 | | - | Immigrants; |
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| 55 | | - | (C)onemember,nominatedbytheBrattleboroDevelopmentCredit |
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| 56 | | - | Corporation; |
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| 57 | | - | (D)onemember,nominatedbytheVermontAfghanAlliance; |
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| 58 | | - | (E)onemember,nominatedbyWorldEducationServices; |
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| 59 | | - | (F)onemember,nominatedbytheVermontAsylumAssistance |
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| 60 | | - | Project;and |
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| 81 | | - | 21 BILLASINTRODUCEDANDPASSEDBYSENATE S.56 |
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| 82 | | - | 2025 Page3of8 |
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| 83 | | - | (G)onememberwithexperienceorexpertiseservingnonnative |
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| 84 | | - | Vermontersonastatewidelevel. |
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| 85 | | - | (c)Powersandduties.TheCommitteeshallstudyandsubmitawritten |
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| 86 | | - | reporttotheHouseCommitteeonGovernmentOperationsandMilitary |
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| 87 | | - | AffairsandtheSenateCommitteeonGovernmentOperationsconcerning |
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| 88 | | - | recommendationsforcreatinganindependentOfficeofNewAmericans, |
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| 89 | | - | including: |
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| 90 | | - | (1)asummaryofthecurrentdemographic,economic,andpublichealth |
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| 91 | | - | dataregardingNewAmericansintheStateandinformationregardingthe |
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| 92 | | - | governmentservicesbeingutilizedandunderutilizedbyNewAmericans; |
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| 93 | | - | (2)asummaryorsurveyofvaryingandsuccessfulapproachesto |
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| 94 | | - | providinggovernmentservicestoNewAmericansinotherstates,with |
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| 95 | | - | particularfocusonthetopicsoftheroleofeducationandtraininginstitutions, |
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| 96 | | - | professionallicensing,housing,andsupportforemployersandmunicipalities; |
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| 97 | | - | (3)inconsultationwithcommunity-basedorganizationscomposedofor |
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| 98 | | - | servingNewAmericans,Stateagenciesanddepartmentsthatprovidedservices |
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| 99 | | - | toNewAmericans,municipalgovernmentleaders,educationalinstitutions, |
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| 100 | | - | andbusinessleaders,informationon: |
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| 101 | | - | (A)theexistingStateandlocal-levelbarriersforNewAmericansfor |
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| 102 | | - | gainfullyparticipatingintheState’sworkforce,economy,andbusiness |
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| 103 | | - | communities; |
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| 124 | | - | 21 BILLASINTRODUCEDANDPASSEDBYSENATE S.56 |
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| 125 | | - | 2025 Page4of8 |
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| 126 | | - | (B)additionalgovernmentalservicesneededbyNewAmericansbut |
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| 127 | | - | notyetofferedbytheState;and |
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| 128 | | - | (C)thetransferorconsolidationofexistinggovernmentalservices |
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| 129 | | - | forNewAmericansthatwouldbemoreefficientlyprovidedbyanewOffice |
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| 130 | | - | ofNewAmericans; |
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| 131 | | - | (4)thestructureofato-be-createdindependentOfficeofNew |
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| 132 | | - | Americans;and |
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| 133 | | - | (5)theproposedstructure,duties,funding,andlaborneedsofanOffice |
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| 134 | | - | ofNewAmericans. |
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| 135 | | - | (d)TheCommitteeshallbecomposedofthefollowingthree |
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| 136 | | - | subcommittees,withdutiesandleadershiptobeassignedbytheChairatthe |
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| 137 | | - | firstmeetingoftheCommittee: |
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| 138 | | - | (1)LegalServices; |
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| 139 | | - | (2)EquityandAccesstoStateProgramsandResources;and |
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| 140 | | - | (3)Workforce,EconomicOpportunity,andInclusion. |
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| 141 | | - | (e)Assistance.TheCommitteeshallhavetheadministrative,technical, |
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| 142 | | - | andlegalassistanceoftheAgencyofHumanServices. |
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| 143 | | - | (f)DateofReport.OnorbeforeSeptember1,2026,theCommitteeshall |
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| 144 | | - | submitthewrittenreportrequiredbysubsection(c)ofthissection. |
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| 145 | | - | (g)Meetings. |
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| 165 | | - | 20 BILLASINTRODUCEDANDPASSEDBYSENATE S.56 |
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| 166 | | - | 2025 Page5of8 |
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| 167 | | - | (1)TheChairshallcallthefirstmeetingoftheCommitteetooccuron |
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| 168 | | - | orbeforeSeptember1,2025. |
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| 169 | | - | (2)Amajorityofthemembershipshallconstituteaquorum. |
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| 170 | | - | (3)TheCommitteeshallceasetoexistontheearlierofSeptember1, |
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| 171 | | - | 2026orthedatethattheCommitteesubmitsitswrittenreport. |
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| 172 | | - | (h)Compensationandreimbursement. |
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| 173 | | - | (1)ForattendanceatmeetingsduringadjournmentoftheGeneral |
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| 174 | | - | Assembly,alegislativememberoftheCommitteeservinginthemember’s |
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| 175 | | - | capacityasalegislatorshallbeentitledtoperdiemcompensationand |
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| 176 | | - | reimbursementofexpensespursuantto2 V.S.A.§ 23fornotmorethan20 |
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| 177 | | - | meetings.Thesepaymentsshallbemadefrommoniesappropriatedtothe |
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| 178 | | - | GeneralAssembly. |
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| 179 | | - | (2)OthermembersoftheCommitteeshallbeentitledtoperdiem |
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| 180 | | - | compensationandreimbursementofexpensesaspermittedunder32 V.S.A. |
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| 181 | | - | § 1010fornotmorethan20meetings.Thesepaymentsshallbemadefrom |
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| 182 | | - | moniesappropriatedtotheAgencyofHumanServices. |
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| 183 | | - | Sec.2.EFFECTIVEDATE |
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| 184 | | - | Thisactshalltakeeffectonpassage. |
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| 185 | | - | Sec.1.OFFICEOFNEWAMERICANSSTUDYCOMMITTEE;REPORT |
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| 186 | | - | (a)Creation.ThereiscreatedtheOfficeofNewAmericansStudy |
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| 187 | | - | CommitteetomakerecommendationsforcreatinganindependentOfficeof |
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| 188 | | - | NewAmericans. |
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| 189 | | - | 1 |
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| 206 | | - | 18 BILLASINTRODUCEDANDPASSEDBYSENATE S.56 |
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| 207 | | - | 2025 Page6of8 |
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| 208 | | - | (b)Membership.TheCommitteeshallbecomposedofthefollowing |
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| 209 | | - | members: |
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| 210 | | - | (1)theDirectoroftheVermontRefugeeOffice,whoshallbeChair; |
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| 211 | | - | (2)onemember,appointedbytheCommissionerofLabor; |
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| 212 | | - | (3)onemember,appointedbytheExecutiveDirectoroftheOfficeof |
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| 213 | | - | RacialEquity;and |
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| 214 | | - | (4)fivemembers,appointedbytheGovernor,onewhomustbeaNew |
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| 215 | | - | Americanwithlivedexperience,whoshallinclude: |
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| 216 | | - | (A)onemember,nominatedbytheAssociationofAfricansLivingin |
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| 217 | | - | Vermont; |
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| 218 | | - | (B)onemember,nominatedbytheU.S.CommitteeforRefugeesand |
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| 219 | | - | Immigrants; |
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| 220 | | - | (C)onemember,nominatedbytheVermontAfghanAlliance; |
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| 221 | | - | (D)onemember,nominatedbytheBrattleboroDevelopmentCredit |
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| 222 | | - | Corporation;and |
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| 223 | | - | (E)onemember,nominatedbyMigrantJustice. |
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| 224 | | - | (c)Powersandduties.TheCommitteeshallstudyandsubmitawritten |
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| 225 | | - | reporttotheHouseCommitteesonCommerceandEconomicDevelopmentand |
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| 226 | | - | onGovernmentOperationsandMilitaryAffairsandtheSenateCommitteeson |
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| 227 | | - | EconomicDevelopment,HousingandGeneralAffairsandonGovernment |
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| 228 | | - | OperationsconcerningrecommendationsforcreatinganindependentOfficeof |
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| 229 | | - | NewAmericans,including: |
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| 230 | | - | (1)asummaryofthecurrentdemographic,economic,andpublichealth |
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| 231 | | - | dataregardingNewAmericansintheStateandinformationregardingthe |
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| 232 | | - | governmentservicesbeingutilizedandunderutilizedbyNewAmericans; |
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| 233 | | - | (2)asummaryorsurveyofvaryingandsuccessfulapproachesto |
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| 234 | | - | providinggovernmentservicestoNewAmericansinotherstates,with |
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| 235 | | - | particularfocusonthetopicsoftheroleofeducationandtraininginstitutions, |
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| 236 | | - | professionallicensing,housing,andsupportforemployersandmunicipalities; |
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| 237 | | - | (3)inconsultationwithcommunity-basedorganizationscomposedofor |
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| 238 | | - | servingNewAmericans,theVermontAsylumAssistanceProject,State |
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| 239 | | - | agenciesanddepartmentsthatprovideservicestoNewAmericans,the |
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| 240 | | - | SecretaryofState’sOffice,municipalgovernmentleaders,educational |
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| 241 | | - | institutions,andbusinessleaders,informationon: BILLASINTRODUCEDANDPASSEDBYSENATE S.56 |
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| 242 | | - | 2025 Page7of8 |
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| 243 | | - | (A)theexistingStateandlocal-levelbarriersforNewAmericansfor |
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| 244 | | - | gainfullyparticipatingintheState’sworkforce,economy,andbusiness |
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| 245 | | - | communities; |
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| 246 | | - | (B)additionalgovernmentalservicesneededbyNewAmericansbut |
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| 247 | | - | notyetofferedbytheState;and |
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| 248 | | - | (C)thetransferorconsolidationofexistinggovernmentalservices |
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| 249 | | - | forNewAmericansthatwouldbemoreefficientlyprovidedbyanewOfficeof |
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| 250 | | - | NewAmericans; |
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| 251 | | - | (4)theproposedstructure,duties,funding,andlaborneedsofanOffice |
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| 252 | | - | ofNewAmericans;and |
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| 253 | | - | (5)adefinitionoftheterm“NewAmericans”forthepurposesofan |
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| 254 | | - | OfficeofNewAmericans. |
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| 255 | | - | (d)TheCommitteemaycreatesubcommittees,withdutiesandleadership |
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| 256 | | - | tobeassignedbytheChair. |
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| 257 | | - | (e)Assistance.TheCommitteeshallhavetheadministrative,technical, |
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| 258 | | - | andlegalassistanceoftheAgencyofHumanServices. |
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| 259 | | - | (f)DateofReport.OnorbeforeSeptember1,2026,theCommitteeshall |
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| 260 | | - | submitthewrittenreportrequiredbysubsection(c)ofthissection. |
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| 261 | | - | (g)Meetings. |
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| 262 | | - | (1)TheChairshallcallthefirstmeetingoftheCommitteetooccuron |
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| 263 | | - | orbeforeSeptember1,2025. |
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| 264 | | - | (2)Amajorityofthemembershipshallconstituteaquorum. |
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| 265 | | - | (3)TheCommitteeshallceasetoexistontheearlierofSeptember1, |
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| 266 | | - | 2026orthedatethattheCommitteesubmitsitswrittenreport. |
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| 267 | | - | (h)Compensationandreimbursement. |
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| 268 | | - | (1)ForattendanceatmeetingsduringadjournmentoftheGeneral |
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| 269 | | - | Assembly,alegislativememberoftheCommitteeservinginthemember’s |
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| 270 | | - | capacityasalegislatorshallbeentitledtoperdiemcompensationand |
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| 271 | | - | reimbursementofexpensespursuantto2 V.S.A.§ 23fornotmorethan10 |
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| 272 | | - | meetings.Thesepaymentsshallbemadefrommoniesappropriatedtothe |
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| 273 | | - | GeneralAssembly. |
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| 274 | | - | (2)OthermembersoftheCommitteeshallbeentitledtoperdiem |
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| 275 | | - | compensationandreimbursementofexpensesaspermittedunder32 V.S.A. |
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| 276 | | - | § 1010fornotmorethan10meetings.Thesepaymentsshallbemadefrom |
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| 277 | | - | moniesappropriatedtotheAgencyofHumanServices. BILLASINTRODUCEDANDPASSEDBYSENATE S.56 |
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| 278 | | - | 2025 Page8of8 |
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| 279 | | - | Sec.2.EFFECTIVEDATE |
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| 280 | | - | Thisactshalltakeeffectonpassage. |
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| 1 | + | BILL AS INTRODUCED S.56 |
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| 2 | + | 2025 Page 1 of 5 |
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| 3 | + | |
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| 4 | + | |
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| 5 | + | VT LEG #378397 v.1 |
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| 6 | + | S.56 1 |
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| 7 | + | Introduced by Senators Gulick, Hardy, Harrison, Hashim, Vyhovsky, Weeks 2 |
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| 8 | + | and White 3 |
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| 9 | + | Referred to Committee on 4 |
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| 10 | + | Date: 5 |
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| 11 | + | Subject: Executive; Office of New Americans; report 6 |
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| 12 | + | Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to create the 7 |
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| 13 | + | Office of New Americans Study Committee to study and report concerning the 8 |
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| 14 | + | creation of an independent Office of New Americans. 9 |
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| 15 | + | An act relating to creating an Office of New Americans 10 |
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| 16 | + | It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 11 |
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| 17 | + | Sec. 1. OFFICE OF NEW AMERICANS STUDY COMMITTEE ; REPORT 12 |
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| 18 | + | (a) Creation. There is created the Office of New Americans Study 13 |
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| 19 | + | Committee to make recommendations for creating an independent Office of 14 |
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| 20 | + | New Americans. 15 |
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| 21 | + | (b) Membership. The Committee shall be composed of the following 16 |
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| 22 | + | members: 17 |
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| 23 | + | (1) the Director of the Vermont Refugee Office, who shall be Chair; 18 |
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| 24 | + | (2) one current member of the House of Representatives, who shall be 19 |
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| 25 | + | appointed by the Speaker of the House; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.56 |
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| 26 | + | 2025 Page 2 of 5 |
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| 27 | + | |
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| 28 | + | |
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| 29 | + | VT LEG #378397 v.1 |
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| 30 | + | (3) one current member of the Senate, who shall be appointed by the 1 |
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| 31 | + | Committee on Committees; 2 |
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| 32 | + | (4) one member, appointed by the Secretary of Human Services; 3 |
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| 33 | + | (5) one member, appointed by the Commissioner of Labor; 4 |
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| 34 | + | (6) one member, appointed by the Executive Director of the Office of 5 |
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| 35 | + | Racial Equity; 6 |
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| 36 | + | (7) one member representing the Association of Africans Living in 7 |
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| 37 | + | Vermont; and 8 |
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| 38 | + | (8) seven members, appointed by the Governor, who shall include: 9 |
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| 39 | + | (A) one member, nominated by the Association of Africans Living in 10 |
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| 40 | + | Vermont; 11 |
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| 41 | + | (B) one member, nominated by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and 12 |
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| 42 | + | Immigrants; 13 |
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| 43 | + | (C) one member, nominated by the Brattleboro Development Credit 14 |
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| 44 | + | Corporation; 15 |
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| 45 | + | (D) one member, nominated by the Vermont Afghan Alliance; 16 |
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| 46 | + | (E) one member, nominated by World Education Services; 17 |
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| 47 | + | (F) one member, nominated by the Vermont Asylum Assistance 18 |
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| 48 | + | Project; and 19 |
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| 49 | + | (G) one member with experience or expertise serving nonnative 20 |
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| 50 | + | Vermonters on a statewide level. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.56 |
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| 51 | + | 2025 Page 3 of 5 |
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| 52 | + | |
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| 53 | + | |
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| 54 | + | VT LEG #378397 v.1 |
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| 55 | + | (c) Powers and duties. The Committee shall study and submit a written 1 |
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| 56 | + | report to the House Committee on Government Operations and Military 2 |
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| 57 | + | Affairs and the Senate Committee on Government Operations concerning 3 |
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| 58 | + | recommendations for creating an independent Office of New Americans, 4 |
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| 59 | + | including: 5 |
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| 60 | + | (1) a summary of the current demographic, economic, and public health 6 |
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| 61 | + | data regarding New Americans in the State and information regarding the 7 |
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| 62 | + | government services being utilized and underutilized by New Americans; 8 |
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| 63 | + | (2) a summary or survey of varying and successful approaches to 9 |
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| 64 | + | providing government services to New Americans in other states, with 10 |
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| 65 | + | particular focus on the topics of the role of education and training institutions, 11 |
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| 66 | + | professional licensing, housing, and support for employers and municipalities; 12 |
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| 67 | + | (3) in consultation with community-based organizations composed of or 13 |
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| 68 | + | serving New Americans, State agencies and departments that provided services 14 |
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| 69 | + | to New Americans, municipal government leaders, educational institutions, 15 |
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| 70 | + | and business leaders, information on: 16 |
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| 71 | + | (A) the existing State and local-level barriers for New Americans for 17 |
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| 72 | + | gainfully participating in the State’s workforce, economy, and business 18 |
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| 73 | + | communities; 19 |
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| 74 | + | (B) additional governmental services needed by New Americans but 20 |
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| 75 | + | not yet offered by the State; and 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.56 |
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| 76 | + | 2025 Page 4 of 5 |
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| 77 | + | |
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| 78 | + | |
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| 79 | + | VT LEG #378397 v.1 |
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| 80 | + | (C) the transfer or consolidation of existing governmental services 1 |
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| 81 | + | for New Americans that would be more efficiently provided by a new Office of 2 |
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| 82 | + | New Americans; 3 |
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| 83 | + | (4) the structure of a to-be-created independent Office of New 4 |
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| 84 | + | Americans; and 5 |
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| 85 | + | (5) the proposed structure, duties, funding, and labor needs of an Office 6 |
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| 86 | + | of New Americans. 7 |
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| 87 | + | (d) The Committee shall be composed of the following three 8 |
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| 88 | + | subcommittees, with duties and leadership to be assigned by the Chair at the 9 |
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| 89 | + | first meeting of the Committee: 10 |
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| 90 | + | (1) Legal Services; 11 |
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| 91 | + | (2) Equity and Access to State Programs and Resources; and 12 |
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| 92 | + | (3) Workforce, Economic Opportunity, and Inclusion. 13 |
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| 93 | + | (e) Assistance. The Committee shall have the administrative, technical, 14 |
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| 94 | + | and legal assistance of the Agency of Human Services. 15 |
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| 95 | + | (f) Date of Report. On or before September 1, 2026, the Committee shall 16 |
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| 96 | + | submit the written report required by subsection (c) of this section. 17 |
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| 97 | + | (g) Meetings. 18 |
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| 98 | + | (1) The Chair shall call the first meeting of the Committee to occur on 19 |
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| 99 | + | or before September 1, 2025. 20 |
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| 100 | + | (2) A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.56 |
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| 101 | + | 2025 Page 5 of 5 |
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| 102 | + | |
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| 103 | + | |
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| 104 | + | VT LEG #378397 v.1 |
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| 105 | + | (3) The Committee shall cease to exist on the earlier of September 1, 1 |
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| 106 | + | 2026 or the date that the Committee submits its written report. 2 |
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| 107 | + | (h) Compensation and reimbursement. 3 |
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| 108 | + | (1) For attendance at meetings during adjournment of the General 4 |
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| 109 | + | Assembly, a legislative member of the Committee serving in the member’s 5 |
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| 110 | + | capacity as a legislator shall be entitled to per diem compensation and 6 |
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| 111 | + | reimbursement of expenses pursuant to 2 V.S.A. § 23 for not more than 20 7 |
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| 112 | + | meetings. These payments shall be made from monies appropriated to the 8 |
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| 113 | + | General Assembly. 9 |
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| 114 | + | (2) Other members of the Committee shall be entitled to per diem 10 |
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| 115 | + | compensation and reimbursement of expenses as permitted under 32 V.S.A. 11 |
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| 116 | + | § 1010 for not more than 20 meetings. These payments shall be made from 12 |
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| 117 | + | monies appropriated to the Agency of Human Services. 13 |
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| 118 | + | Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 14 |
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| 119 | + | This act shall take effect on passage. 15 |
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