Senate Committee on Finance

AGENDA

Via Zoom

April 6, 2021 - April 9, 2021

Last Updated 4/9/2021 3:12 PM

Meetings are livestreamed here unless otherwise noted

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

9:30 AM                   Senate Floor

1:30 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

H.360 vs S.118

Maria Royle, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

2:00 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

Tom Evslin, Former Vermont Chief Recovery Officer, Co-founder of Broadband Equity Now

2:30 PM                   Break

2:45 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

Lessons from the VTA

Chris Campbell, Former Executive Director, Vermont Telecommunications Authority

Holly Groschner, Former Legal Counsel, Vermont Telecommunications Authority

4:00 PM                   Chairs' Meeting

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

1:00 PM                   Senate Floor

1:30 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

Update on CUDs

Robert Fish, Rural Broadband Technical Assistance Specialist, Department of Public Service

2:15 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

Commissioner Tierney's Review of H.360 and S.118

June Tierney, Commissioner, Department of Public Service

3:00 PM                   Break

3:15 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

CUDs - Update on Status and Future Plans/Abilities (10 min each)

Sean Kio, Chair, Northwest CUD

Michael Rooney, Chair, Lamoille FiberNet

Christine Hallquist, Administrator, NEK Community Broadband

Bill Moore, Chair, Otter Creek CUD

Steve Huffaker, Chair, Maple Broadband

Evan Carlson, Chair, NEK Community Broadband

Christine Hallquist , Administrator, NEK Community Broadband

Jeff Such, Chair, Southern Vermont CUD

Ann Manwaring, Chair, DVFiber

Jeremy Hansen, Chair, CVFiber

F.X. Flinn, Chair, ECFiber

Thursday, April 8, 2021

1:00 PM                   Senate Floor

1:30 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

Other ISP Providers

Leslie Nulty, CFO, Mansfield Community Fiber, Inc.

Kim Gates, Controller, Franklin Telephone and Independent Telephone Companies

Bryan Marteeny, General Manager, Topsham Telephone

Roger Nishi, Vice President, Waitsfield Champlain Valley Telecom and Independent Telecom

Michael Birnbaum, Owner, Kingdom Fiber

Erika Smith, Director - Legislative and Regulatory Matters, Consolidated Communications

Jeff Austin, Senior Director, Fiber Build Strategy, Consolidated Communications

Elin Katz, VP Utilities, Tilson

3:15 PM                   Break

3:30 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

Testimony continued

4:30 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

VEDA's Role

Cassie Polhemus, CEO, Vermont Economic Development Authority

Friday, April 9, 2021

11:30 AM                   Senate Floor

1:30 PM                   GlobalFoundries as a Utility

Gregory Rieder, Principal Member, GlobalFoundries Technical Staff

Josh Castonguay, Vice President of Chief Innovation Executive & Power Supply, Green Mountain Power

Ben Edgerly Walsh, Climate & Energy Program Director, VPIRG

2:45 PM                   Break

3:00 PM                   H. 360 - An act relating to accelerated community broadband deployment

Committee Discussion

ATTENTION WITNESSES

Please email handouts to the committee assistant at least 24 hours before your scheduled meeting time. With few exceptions, any documents you send to a committee assistant, are open to the public and may be posted to the committee’s web page.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact

 Faith Brown at fbrown@leg.state.vt.us