Yes on H.230 - suicide prevention
2023-03-26
Dear friend,
"How did you vote? I don't need to get your rambling rediculous emails to get results. The link you sent is not clear. Tell me how you vote."
I received this email from a resident last week asking me about my vote on H.230, a suicide prevention bill. I had previously sent them a link to my official legislative page, where you can follow results of any roll-call votes. Here's a direct link to that section of the page.
Roll call votes by Rep. Roberts
There are a couple of things that I found confusing about this as a new legislator that I'll highlight:
Roll-call votes, where the Clerk of the House records everyone's Yea or Nay vote individually, are the exception, not the rule. Most bills, amendments, and other actions are voted on by voice. (And some by Division, a headcount that I'll describe another day.)
When a voice vote is taken, it is often unanimous or an obvious majority.
A roll-call vote is taken only when someone requests it and is sustained by other members. In my experience this occurs when a) there is more doubt in the outcome of a vote, and/or b) the bill topic maybe considered controversial and members want to be on the record with their vote, and/or put other members on the record.
The roll-call vote is often taken for an amendment to the bill, or for what they call in the news a "procedural" vote like "Shall the bill be read a third time?"
Only sometimes do you see a roll-call vote on "Shall the bill pass?" On recent bills, roll-call votes on these procedural items have been followed by a voice vote on the bill itself. In these cases, the debate and procedure has led to a place where for the bill to pass, the amendment must pass. And once those votes have been counted on the amendment, we voice them via aye and nays for the final passage. Voice votes keep things moving.
So again, here you'll see my roll call votes, and here you can see all the bills that have passed, with most of them by voice vote.
I'll highlight a couple of votes from the end of last week.
I voted "Nay" on H.127, the sports wagering bill (see my newsletter post on that) -- on a voice vote. The bill pass the House and moves to the Senate for consideration. (You can call your two Senators at 802-828-2228, by the way. If you're not sure who they are, the person answering the phone will help.)
I voted "Yes" on two key amendments to H.230, the suicide prevention bill. Those appear on my roll-call record as Yeses on two key amendments, which passed Yes 99-No 43, Yes 98-No 46. The bill passed by voice vote.
H.230 was a bill where I considered two choices:
1) I could vote "Yes" to take reasonable measures that could give someone in crisis more of a chance to ask for mental-health help before accessing a gun for suicide.
According to widespread research (example: Harvard University), most people who die by suicide in the U.S. did not make a previous attempt. Most people who attempt suicide will not go on to complete suicide in the future.
The old myth that "They'll find another way" is simply not supported by decades of (horrifying) statistics and stories. To hear some of those, tune into the debate on the House floor from Wednesday.
There is also a myth that suicide is a planned act. Most suicides do not leave notes or any evidence of planned. Most suicides are impulsive, with the means found within minutes.
Vermont’s rate of suicide is 35% higher than the national average. Guns are a preferred means for various reasons. Each year nearly 60% of suicides are completed with a firearm. It is rare for someone to survive a suicide attempt in which a firearm is used, and that is why the bill focuses on this particular means of harm reduction.
H.230 requires:
Secure storage of firearms. A firearm must be kept stored unloaded and in a locked container that is equipped with a tamper resistant lock or other safety device when a child or prohibited person is likely to gain access to the firearm. There are practical exceptions for personal carry or when a firearm is kept within close proximity.
That firearms transfers cannot take place until 72 hours after a licensed dealer is provided with a transfer identification number or seven business days have passed since a background check was initiated.
This bill also expands access to the process for obtaining extreme risk protection orders.
Vermont's Attorney General and others reviewed H.230 and are ready to defend it on Constitutional grounds.
2) I could have voted "No" with the Republican bloc, who either said they wanted to study the problem further, or found various Constitutional arguments to take exception to the bill.
I voted "Yes." My two-minute explanation of why can be found at this point in the recorded livestream of the House floor.
H.230 is now in the Senate.
Thanks for reading. I always appreciate feedback. Have a great day!