AS END NEARS, LAWMAKERS SCRAMBLE TO MAKE DEALS

MONTPELIER - There were last-minute efforts to attach legalization of
medical marijuana and provisions on genetically modified seeds to
other bills.

There were dozens of hastily convened meetings, not just conference
committees but groups of two or three legislators as deals were struck
and pet projects were given the thumbs up or thumbs down.

And in a bit of goofiness of the sort that often erupts when
adjournment is near, there was the House proposal of amendment on the
capital construction budget bill calling for a legislative doghouse.

Despite rules barring dogs in state buildings except those
accompanying disabled people, "a certain German shepherd dog, with an
intense interest in the business of the Senate, has been periodically
resting, eating, sleeping and occasionally frolicking in the office of
the Senate President Pro Tempore," the House proposal began.

It called for a $50,000 expenditure for a "legislative doghouse" to be
built on the Statehouse grounds. The doghouse would be roomy, "heated
and cooled for wintertime warmth and summertime comfort" and
"constructed with rooftop skylights to provide interior lighting."

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Welch, who has been seen leading a
certain shepherd mix named Pepper into and out of the Statehouse,
flashed a broad grin and said, "I deny everything." He added that the
dog would not be available for comment.

Despite all of the end-of-session theatrics, hopes dimmed for a
possible adjournment by the end of this week as conferees on the
general fund budget bill for the next fiscal year failed to agree.
House and Senate members of the panel agreed on a $955 million bottom
line, with different priorities for that spending becoming fewer and
narrower. They were farther apart on some of the policy language in
the bill governing not just how much, but how, the money would be
spent."People who've been around here a while say it usually takes two
days after there's an agreement on the budget, just because of the
mechanics" of printing the final bill and getting both chambers to
approve it before the session closes for the year, Welch said.

Conferees on the capital construction bill continued to slog through
the House and Senate versions, issuing proposals and counterproposals
but apparently a fair distance from a final handshake. In one key
concession by the Senate side, Sen. Vincent Illuzzii, R-Essex-Orleans,
the chief Senate negotiator, said it dropped its request for $500,000
to help start up a new dairy processing plant in Springfield.

There was also plenty of floor action.

The Republican-controlled House rejected an amendment on a bill on
unemployment insurance that would have allowed a battering victim to
collect unemployment when it becomes unsafe to go to work because the
abuser might show up there.

Rep. Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington, argued that "for a very small
amount of money it could be a life saver for women." She said New
Hampshire has such a provision, and it usually costs less than $20,000
a year.

Opponents of the change, including the Douglas administration, argued
that Vermont's $250 million unemployment insurance trust fund is
solvent because lawmakers have avoided tapping it to pay for social
needs. "It's certainly a compelling issue," said lobbyist William
Driscoll of Associated Industries of Vermont. "It's just the wrong
source of money for that program."

A Senate amendment seeking to salvage legislation that would make
manufacturers of genetically modified seeds potentially liable if
their products drift onto an organic farmer's land failed when Lt.
Gov. Brian Dubie ruled it not germane to an underlying farm bill.

But senators did succeed in adding a provision legalizing medical
marijuana for very sick patients to a bill updating Vermont's laws
controlling advance directives for end-of-life care.

And in one big late-session surprise, the chairman of the House
Natural Resources and Energy Committee sought to bring back a
provision in state law whose critics call it the "10-acre loophole,"
and whose supporters call it the "10-acre exemption."

That was Rep. William Johnson's response to a Senate bill proposed by
Sen. Gerry Gossens, D-Addison, that would allow engineers to certify
that a septic system can be built on land that, without the engineer's
stamp of approval, could not get a permit.

Johnson called that a "safety valve" on the septic permitting system
that would allow more homes to be built around the state. He said he
preferred the other safety valve of the provision that formerly said a
property with more than 10 acres didn't need a septic permit.

Gossens called Johnson's idea a "nonstarter," and said he'd rather his
bill die this year.