HOUSE COMMITTEE PRIORITIES

It is Sunday evening and the close of the first week of the 2010 legislative session. The tone of the State House this year is somber as our fiscal constraints loom so large. While most of the news this week has been about the budget, here is some of what to expect from the 14 House committees this year:

1. WAYS AND MEANS: is concentrating on our revenue streams. Expect to hear about steps to provide for greater accountability, jobs creation initiatives, and another look at “current use.”

2. APPROPRIATIONS will focus on expenditures. They will work to create a balanced budget that reflects the values of Vermonters, knowing that many who depend on state government will receive less in the coming year due to the size of the deficit.

3. COMMERCE will address Vermont’s troubled unemployment insurance fund as well as strengthening long-term planning for Vermont’s economic future.

4. HUMAN SERVICES’ primary focus will be responding to budget challenges. As the economy struggles, Vermonters are seeking assistance who have never needed it before. We will hear about chronic mental health issues, changes in child abuse and neglect, and juvenile justice laws.

5. TRANSPORTATION will present a bill that will provide a 1-year pilot project to allow heavy trucks currently restricted to town roads to use our Interstate highways. Expect to hear more about our 433 structurally deficient bridges. Nineteen of these were identified as most urgent as their closure would require a 30-60 mile detour.

6.…

While all eyes are on the federal government activity to overhaul health care, here are a few bills recently signed into law in our state:

REFORMING HEALTH CARE:  H.444 was signed into law on June 2nd as Act 61.  This is a 124 page omnibus bill which positions Vermont to receive ARRA (federal stimulus) money for health information technology.  A partial list of features of this bill is as follows: 1) allows farmers and self-employed people to use depreciation as an allowable business expense for reporting income; 2) people who have lost their insurance no longer have to wait twelve months for state-sponsored insurance; 3) asks providers to develop recommendations to coordinate treatment of stroke patients in Vermont;  4)  sets up a pilot program to provide vaccines at no cost;  5) bans the use of the flame retardant known as “Deca” which has been found, ironically, to be highly toxic when it burns.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG MARKETING:  S.48 was signed into law on June 8th as Act 59.  One of the great contributors to rising health care expenses is the cost of prescription drugs.  Alarmingly, one-third of every dollar spent on prescription drugs goes into marketing. In 2002, Vermonters spent $377 million on prescription, over-the-counter and nondurable medical supplies.  In 2007, this number grew to $572 million or an average increase of 8.7% per year.

According to the April 2009 report of the Vermont Attorney General’s office, pharmaceutical manufacturers reported spending almost $3 million in Vermont on fees, travel expenses and …

It is a sad day for Vermont when the Governor vetoes a budget and calls the Legislature back in session; it is sadder still when the Legislature chooses to override that veto.  While the media and various pundits characterized this as a “Showdown in Montpelier,” this does not accurately reflect the seriousness and grief felt by many that this could not have been worked out through negotiation.

Most of us held out until the last minutes, hoping for an agreement between the administrative and legislative leadership.  The last day, we heard the closest they had come was to postpone some decision-making.  It was time to move forward with the 2010 budget, warts and all, make some corrections with the “Companion Bill” and encourage both leadership teams to begin in earnest to address the challenges in FY2011 and FY2012.

Make no mistake about it.  Both the Governor’s proposal and the Legislature’s budget, cut programs, cut spending, used ARRA (Federal Stimulus) funds, raised some revenues, cut some taxes and looked for savings.  Both budgets were balanced for FY2010 but faced difficulties in FY2011 and more so in FY2012.   The major difference between the budgets had to do with how FY2010 was balanced.  The Legislature left future burden on the General Fund while the Governor left the burden on the Education Fund, i.e. property taxes.

I voted to override the veto.  When I ran for election, I promised many people that I would work for quality education while also containing our distressingly high …

Let’s face it.  The budget is a moving target and anything I write today will be old news by Thursday.  So let’s talk about something completely different:  safe drinking water and H.80: An Act Relating to the Use of Chloramine as a Disinfectant in Public Water Systems.

Here is where everyone agrees: The importance of clean drinking water for our health and well-being cannot be underestimated.  It is our country’s commitment to clean water that eradicated such water-born epidemics as cholera and typhoid.

The Champlain Water District or CWD, serves a variety of towns in Chittenden County including Shelburne and has been a leader in the field of clean and safe water.  It was the first to receive the “Excellence in Water Treatment Award” for safe water and after ten years, is still only one of six in the country to retain this title.

The drinking water used by the CWD is drawn from Lake Champlain, 2500 feet out and 75 feet down. The treatment facility, located in Queen City Park serves 68,000 people.  To keep the drinking water clean and safe, the CWD treats the water in ways that meet the health and safety guidelines set by the EPA.  Not only is the district required to disinfect the water at the treatment plant, it must also insure that the water remains disinfected all the way down the miles and miles of piping.

The CWD used chlorine as a primary and secondary disinfectant for many years.  But chlorine alone has …

It is Sunday night, less than 24 hours since the House adjourned.  By the time you get this, any information I have to share about last week will be stale.  Instead of content on the final decisions in the Legislature, I thought I would take a moment to share a few observations from the perspective of a first year legislator.  Here are a few:

THE FLOOR:  The floor of the house is where all the theatrics take place. Opportunities for great sound bites abound and the presence of VPR streaming is irresistible for some.  The rules of the House keep us in order for the most part, allowing all voices to be heard and keeping the speeches relevant.  For me, the first time I spoke on the floor, I had my 2-sentence introduction written out and was worried about making a mistake.  Friday night, I presented the Senate amendment to the compost bill, survived a difficult interrogation, added an amendment and got the bill through on a unanimous vote.  It felt like growth.

THE COMMITTEE ROOM:  The serious work of the House happens in the committee room.  For most committees, we drop our partisan politics at the door, roll up our sleeves and get to the work at hand.  Some committees are focused on finances while others spend more time on policy. Each bill begins with a problem and makes a stab at a solution.  Through testimony from stakeholders, experts and state agencies, we either refine the bill, seek more …

Sorry, my link did not seem to work.  To view the bill as passed out of the House:

1.  go to http://www.leg.state.vt.us/

2.  Under “Legislative Information Database,” click on “display current status”

3. enter H.446 (remember period) and “display status”

4.  you can view the progress of the bill on the table. Under “bill text” click on “as passed the house”…

Here is a bit of history many probably do not know.  In the 1970’s a property on Popple Dungeon Drive in Charlotte was being considered as a potential site for a nuclear power plant.  I do not know the history as to why this site was dropped in favor of Vernon, the current home of Vermont Yankee.  I do not know who the decision makers were or what the community response was some 35 years ago.  What I can do is picture how different this community would be, how different our relationship to Lake Champlain would be, if Charlotte had been chosen over Vernon.  Popple Dungeon Nuclear Power.

So what decisions can we make today that we can look back on, 30 odd years from now and say, I am so glad we did what we did in 2009.  Or maybe it could have been called Charlotte Nuclear Power.

My reason for running for the legislature last year was clear. I wanted to be a part of creating the vision and implementing a plan that would keep this state beautiful, clean, safe and abundant in meaningful, not superficial ways.  I wanted to be a part of building a vibrant economy that was in concert with our respect for our natural resources and thoughtful way of life.  It is my hope, that the Vermont Energy Act of 2009, passing out of the House with a 2:1 vote on Earth Day, will be part of that experience.  Here is what H-446 is …

Over the past two weeks, the floor of the House has been a hotbed of debate.  Some of this debate has been deeply moving, some quite humorous, and some simply tri-partisan bickering.  Much of the time, however, I find the debate lively and engaging, emphasizing the need to have divergent points of view brought forward to help guide us toward thoughtful decision making.

By happenstance, the seat I picked on the first day of the session provides me with instant access to many of these views.  To my left, is a 5th term Democrat.  To my right sits the youngest member of the House.  Directly in back of me is the Republican leadership.  It has proven to be a great place as we work our way through these issues.

Last week, we passed the Marriage Equality Bill, the Budget Adjustment Bill and the Capital Bill.   These have been extensively covered in the news so I thought a quick update on other activities might be a relief.  Here goes:

Transportation:  H-438, the Transportation Bill, passed out of the House at the end of March and is now in the Senate.  The bill proposed a $120 million bond to be funded by a $.05 gas and diesel tax for the next three years.  Here is one way to quantify this:  if you drive 15,000 miles per year and your vehicle gets 20 mpg, a $.05 gas tax would cost you $37.50 per year. Compare this to the potential cost of damage due …

(Note:  see Doyle Survey Results link above for a comparison of the Shelburne results to the full poll results)

The other day, I sat down with the Senator Doyle’s Town Meeting Day surveys and decided to “have at it.” What was on the mind of Shelburne voters and how did these surveys compare to the calls and emails I receive?  I counted each survey, all 201 of them, recording results, one question at a time.  I read longer responses on the back of the forms, then I entered the data onto an Excel spreadsheet and looked at the results.

Let us be very clear here.  The Doyle Survey is not a scientific poll. It is not set up to ensure a representative sample has been taken and the system for distribution is not standardized.  Since I tabulated the results myself without oversight, citizens must rely on my accuracy and integrity rather than standard survey protocol.

But the survey is not without merit.  As WPTZ noted last year,  “The Doyle survey is not a scientific poll, but a sampling of views of voters taking part in Town Meeting Day.”  After a quick call to my math genius friend John Huntington Smith, I learned that the survey may not be statistically significant but was useful in showing trends.  He said the survey has value, “you get a feel, it is not precise, but it is a feel.”   We talked about the inherent problems in the phrasing of questions, particularly question # 7.  …

In 2006, the Legislature established the Commission on the Future of Economic Development (CFED).  Made up of leaders in the private sector and government, CFED was charged with identifying those elements that advance or impede economic development.  It was also asked to develop goals believed to be most critical to Vermont’s future prosperity and vitality.

From this work, the Committee identified four principal goals to establish economic viability, security and opportunity for all.  These were:

1.    Develop a highly-skilled multi-generational workforce
2.    Invest in digital, physical and human infrastructure
3.    Take advantage of our small scale to create nimble, efficient and effective government and regulation
4.    Leverage our brand and scale:  our rural character, reputation for environmental quality, and entrepreneurial spirit.

“Bold and disciplined action is needed to accomplish these goals,” the report stated.  “The legislature, administration, and myriad of economic and community partners must work together with unerring discipline to focus our policies, regulations, programs and incentives on the critical interconnection between Vermont’s assets, our collective values, our capabilities, and the opportunities which will increase state revenues and the prosperity of all Vermonters.”  http://www.snellingcenter.org/cfed

This session, the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development has been working on a bill to develop near-term and long-term economic strategies guided by the four CFED goals.  Near-term strategies focus on stakeholder collaboration for effective use of the stimulus monies.  An example of this would be writing unified proposals for competitive grants. Long-term strategies set a statewide framework for collectively realizing sustainable economic …