Montpelier – The bill that would add the terms "gender identity and expression" to Vermont's nondiscrimination legislation (H.478) appeared stalled at press time. House Judiciary Chairman Bill Lippert (D-Hinesburg) said he still hopes to take more testimony and get the bill out for a floor vote this session, but that other issues have taken nearly all the committee's time. Among those issues are considerations of changes to Corrections Department policies (a compilation of bills now called the "Safe Communities" bill) and a bill to allow the state to incarcerate sexual predators for treatment after their sentences have been served (H.108, Civil Commitment).
     "I am pleased that we've been able to do some successful work [on H.478] outside the committee, and I am hopeful that we will be able to take some more testimony and move the bill forward this session," said Lippert in a phone interview. A few questions remain, he said, regarding the appropriate definitions to include in the bill, which in its draft form had no definitions of the term "gender identity and expression."
      The legislature has voted to extend the funding for its session into the first week of June. It is unlikely that a bill voted out of the House at the very end of the session would be considered by the Senate before adjournment for the year.
        Equality Vermont's Virginia Renfrew said it is up to the community to keep the pressure on to get the Gender Identity and Expression bill out of the House Judiciary Committee and onto the floor. If it is approved by the House this year, the bill will be considered in the Senate Judiciary Committee in the second half of the biennium, beginning next January.
        Besides Chairman Lippert, members of the House Judiciary Committee include: Maxine Grad (D-Moretown), vice chair; Alison Clarkson (D-Woodstock); Thomas DePoy (R-Rutland); Avis Gervais (D-Enosburg); Richard Hube (R-South Londonderry); Willem Jewett (D-Ripton); Michael Kainen (R-Hartford); Patti Komline (R-Dorset); and Richard Marek (D-Newfane).