Jeanette White

Update from the Statehouse

State senator gives a rundown of some of the laws moving through the legislative process

As I write, we are just entering our sixth week of the final year of the 2017-18 Legislative Session. It seems as if this year is not only busy but that we are also addressing many major issues: minimum wage, gun legislation, law-enforcement coverage and issues, dispatch, universal primary care, prisons and prisoners, among others.

None of these issues have reached any conclusions, but we continue to work on them. We have, however, passed some major pieces of legislation.

Legalizing small amounts of marijuana for personal use passed the Senate last year, passed the House this year, and has been signed by the governor. I realize that this is a major step - Vermont is the first state to do so in its Legislature, not as a result of citizen referendum.

I do believe that once this law goes into effect, there will be more interest in regulation of the product that will lead to some sort of tax-and-regulate legislation during the next biennium.

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