Legislative Update- April 8, 2024
The rumor around the state house is that the adjournment of the legislative session will be May 10th or 11th. Some are skeptical that the date is solid but its an election year and incumbents are eager to get back on the campaign trail so there is a sense of urgency in the state house. Crossover has happened and each committee knows the workload for the next few weeks. Among the rumors swirling about are the morning committees in the Senate will come to an end in three, now two, weeks!
This week AGC/VT will be weighing in on an issue we have pursued for at least 5 years: work zone safety. AGC/VT initiated a campaign in 2019 after the death of a flagger to seek more enforcement of Vermonts laws. The association and workers have worked hard to become highly trained using state of the art PPE and engineered work zones but the traveling public has yet to respond to those controls. The goal initially and today is to allow law enforcement to leave work zones for aggressive speeding for enforcement or when there is no enforcement available to automate using cameras with speed detection to create a culture of compliance. The belief of the association and allies is that simply the knowledge that someone may be photographed and ticketed for speeding creates a deterrence to the behavior. The House Committee on Transportation took testimony from the experience and statistics from other states which show real change to behavior if people are notified of automated enforcement.
AGC/VT will be testifying in the House Committee on Transportation this week in support of bill S.184. The bill would allow Vermonts Agency of Transportation to deploy speed cameras in work zones, high traffic areas, and stop light cameras. This is a huge policy shift from 5 years ago when accusations of "big brother" were levied against people interested in automated enforcement. Perhaps this year the rise in need for public safety in general will help contractors with their goals of work zone safety.
If you want to help either contact matt@agcvt.org or your local legislator to urge them to pass S.184 when they are up for vote.
This week AGC/VT will be weighing in on an issue we have pursued for at least 5 years: work zone safety. AGC/VT initiated a campaign in 2019 after the death of a flagger to seek more enforcement of Vermonts laws. The association and workers have worked hard to become highly trained using state of the art PPE and engineered work zones but the traveling public has yet to respond to those controls. The goal initially and today is to allow law enforcement to leave work zones for aggressive speeding for enforcement or when there is no enforcement available to automate using cameras with speed detection to create a culture of compliance. The belief of the association and allies is that simply the knowledge that someone may be photographed and ticketed for speeding creates a deterrence to the behavior. The House Committee on Transportation took testimony from the experience and statistics from other states which show real change to behavior if people are notified of automated enforcement.
AGC/VT will be testifying in the House Committee on Transportation this week in support of bill S.184. The bill would allow Vermonts Agency of Transportation to deploy speed cameras in work zones, high traffic areas, and stop light cameras. This is a huge policy shift from 5 years ago when accusations of "big brother" were levied against people interested in automated enforcement. Perhaps this year the rise in need for public safety in general will help contractors with their goals of work zone safety.
If you want to help either contact matt@agcvt.org or your local legislator to urge them to pass S.184 when they are up for vote.