Legislative Report 5/16/2022 - Legislative session comes to a productive end

 

The last couple of weeks of a legislative session are marked by a frenzy of movement as bills pass back and forth between the House and Senate with proposals of amendment and further proposals of amendment. When agreement can’t be reached through the amendment process, conference committees are appointed to work out a compromise acceptable to both chambers.  This year the processes worked smoothly, and agreements were able to be reached on most of the key bills.  But there were a few disappointments.

 

The governor used his veto pen liberally. An earlier veto of a housing bill resulted in going back to the drawing board to remove or adjust provisions he objected to. Another was the ban on firearms in hospitals which contained a provision to close the “Charleston loophole,” which allowed a firearm to be purchased if a federal background check didn’t complete in 3 days.  Senate bill S.30 required a completed background check, regardless of how long it took, for a sale to be legal, which the governor felt was unacceptable.  A compromise was reached to permit a sale after 7 business days if the background check didn’t complete, and the governor signed the bill.

 

After a summer of negotiations involving legislators, representatives from the teachers’ and state employees’ unions, the State Treasurer and the Commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, a pension bill was passed with the agreement of all parties to the negotiations.  The bill, S.286, passed with unanimous support in the House and Senate. Because the bill didn’t include allowing defined contribution plans (401(k)-type plans) for new employees, a last-minute demand of the governor, he vetoed it. The consensus is that including that option would undercut the sustainability of the pension system and bring us back to square one.  For the first time in Vermont history, the veto was overridden by unanimous roll-call votes in the House and Senate.

 

Two more vetoes, one on a Burlington charter change that required a just cause for evictions and another on the Clean Heat Standard bill, H.715, which my committee worked on, were upheld by a one vote margin.  With 100 votes required to override, both override efforts failed on a 99 – 51 vote, very disappointing on both counts. The governor objected to the Clean Heat Standard bill after it was passed by the House because the costs are unknown, and there would be no chance for the legislature to weigh in after the Public Utility Commission designed the program.  With that objection in mind the Senate amended the bill to require legislative review and approval of the program before it could start. He vetoed the bill anyway.

 

Vetoes aside, the session was very productive because of the huge influx of federal ARPA and infrastructure bill money.  Bolstered by strong state revenues, many programs were enacted using one-time federal money to help low- and middle-income Vermonters, children, students, and workers who have been struggling in the COVID-impacted economy. These appropriations included $95M for broadband; $70M for housing, including $20M for the “missing middle” and manufactured housing; $26M for mental health, developmental disability services, and home health care; $138M for workforce development including nursing education, skilled trades and worker re-training;  $35M for the Vermont state college system; $50M for IT systems modernization; $215M for climate initiatives including weatherization, municipal energy resilience, advanced electrical metering, and EV incentives; $104M for clean water initiatives including municipal water and wastewater systems; and many other services for a total budget of $8.3 billion.  In his closing remarks to the House just prior to our adjournment on Thursday evening of May 12, Governor Scott praised the legislature for its work for the people and the economy of Vermont.

As always, I welcome your emails (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com) or phone calls (802-233-5238).

Gubernatorial Candidate Sue Minter Interviewed

Once again, the Chittenden County Democrats Show was privileged to host one of our Democratic candidates for Governor, Sue Minter.  Sue Minter served as Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation under Governor Peter Shumlin, and was responsible for overseeing the recovery operations following the devastating tropical storm Irene in 2012. In this appearance February 1st, she talked about her background and her candidacy and what she hopes to accomplish as Vermont's next Governor.

Gubernatorial Candidate Matt Dunne Interviewed

Matt Dunne, former State Senator and now candidate for Governor, was the guest of Rep. Mike Yantachka on the Chittenden County Democrats Show, aired monthly on CCTV, Channel 17 in Burlington.  This program was recorded on December 7th.  Dunne spoke about his candidacy and vision for Vermont's future.  He is the first candidate in the 2016 election cycle to appear on the show for a contested statewide office in the Democratic primary election which will be held in August. (The Presidential Primary election is separate and is held on Town Meeting Day, the first Tuesday in March.) Other Democratic candidates will appear on the show in coming months. The interview with Matt Dunne can be seen here.

Legislative Report 01/28/2015 - Setting the Stage for Economic Sustainability

A Governor has the primary leadership role for making policy. Governor Shumlin laid out his policy agenda in two major speeches, in his inaugural speech and, a week later, in his budget address. In the latter he focused on health care, education, and the economy.


Gov. Shumlin addresses the General Assembly

Because Vermont's economy has been growing at a roughly 3% rate while expenses have grown by about 5%, the projected gap between revenues and spending for next fiscal year is $94M. Governor Shumlin's first priority was to propose a way to balance the budget. To do this he is looking for a combination of efficiency improvements through restructuring of departments and programs and cuts to some services while simultaneously investing in programs that deliver more economic value than they cost. But efficiency improvements and program cuts won't bridge the gap without additional revenues. So, he is proposing to close an income tax loophole that allows Vermonters to deduct from the current year’s income the state taxes they paid the previous year. Reforming this loophole will cost taxpayers who use it an average of $175 and raise an expected $15.5 million.

Since the Governor stepped back from his "single payer" health care initiative, he still recognizes the need to pursue health care reform. Vermont needs to continue to move from the current quantity based, fee for service system to one that pays providers for the quality outcomes they produce. To build on the early success this effort has shown in bending the cost curve while ensuring high quality health care for Vermonters, the Governor’s budget more than doubles payments to Medicaid providers with a new $4.5 million appropriation. Since the Medicaid cost shift drives up private insurance premiums by $150 million every year, the Governor is proposing to invest $25 million beginning in 2016 when new insurance rates begin for increased payments to health care providers. This will mean $50 million in cost shift reduction per year and enable a reduction in insurance premiums by up to 5 percent from what they would have been for all Vermonters. To pay for these health investments, the Governor is proposing a 0.7% payroll tax on Vermont businesses. Every dollar raised will draw down $1.10 in federal funds, more than doubling the money raised through the payroll tax. This tax would amount to 7 cents for every $10 of payroll expense. For a small business that pays employees $10/hour, it would mean an extra $2.80 per 40 hour week per employee, but would reap big benefits for both employers and employees.

With student enrollments down 20 percent since 1998, a 10 to 1 average student to staff ratio, and property taxes rising fast, the Governor outlined a number of proposals to help address the education spending problem in Vermont while improving education quality. These include placing a moratorium on any new legislation that adds costs to districts, phasing out expensive incentives including the small schools grant and the phantom student provision, targeting construction aid for districts that are actively trying to right-size through a merger, and prohibiting strikes and board-imposed contracts while requiring arbitration when contract negotiations reach impasse. Some of these ideas are already being discussed in the House Education Committee which has had more than 500 suggestions submitted by legislators, organizations and citizens.

Building on expanded dual enrollment and early college programs, the Governor hopes to implement a new program to create a pathway for Vermont Technical College (VTC) students to earn a free Associates Degree in Engineering Technology as a pipeline for Vermont employers looking for skilled employees. Through a partnership of the state, VTC, and private employers, high school seniors who sign up for an Engineering Technology degree at VTC will get their first year of higher education free while finishing high school, then will be guaranteed a summer internship at the partnering employer to gain critical job skills. When they return to VTC for their second year, the employer will pay for their first semester’s tuition (about $5,000). The Vermont Strong Scholars program will then pay back their loans for their final semester if they stay and work in Vermont after graduation.

Now it is up the the legislature to take those ideas, meld them with their own, and change Vermont's laws to accomplish the desired results. I continue to welcome your thoughts and questions and can be reached by phone (802-233-5238) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).

Legislative Report 1/15/2015 - Peculiar Beginnings

The 2015 legislative session began with a lot of drama. Since none of the gubernatorial candidates got at least 50% of the total votes cast, the Vermont Constitution required the legislature to elect the governor by Australian ballot from the top three vote recipients, namely Peter Shumlin, Scott Milne and Dan Feliciano. TV ads ran for weeks before the session urging legislators to vote for Scott Milne, and I received about 20 emails and phone calls urging me to do so.

However, since Peter Shumlin received the most votes of the three, as well as a solid majority of the votes in my district, I cast my vote for him. I explained my decision at length here.
 

Governor Shumlin's announcement in December that the financial analysis of the planned “single-payer” health care system determined that it would not be economically feasible at this time caught its supporters both in and outside the legislature by surprise. This disappointment led to a very disruptive demonstration by an advocacy group during the inauguration ceremony on the second day of the session. As a supporter who voted for the universal health care plan, I have always felt that the analysis had to be well-founded and feasible before we could proceed with it. While I am disappointed that the analysis did not support the state's ability to implement the plan as envisioned within the time frame we hoped, I was also disappointed at the lack of respect shown by the demonstrators for the very people they want to support their cause.
 

Health care is like a maze, and if you're familiar with mazes, there can be dead ends sometimes. The trick is not to give up, but to backtrack and see what other paths might be available. I think that although the analysis took longer than expected, the Green Mountain Care Board took the necessary time to make sure they had the best data available. Governor Shumlin has shown courage, in my opinion, to swallow his pride and admit that his premier program is not realistic in today's economic climate with the data available. This does not mean that we are giving up on providing coverage to all Vermonters. We just have to figure out how to do it better. And that means doing better than our experience with Vermont Health Connect.

The new biennium is also a time when committee assignments are made. This year Speaker Shap Smith really shuffled the deck. A large percentage of returning members found themselves on new committees. While I was retained on the Natural Resources & Energy Committee where I've served for the last four years, our 11 member committee has 7 new members including 4 freshman legislators. Since a large part of Governor Shumlin's inaugural speech focused on renewable energy policy, we will be looking forward to some interesting and productive work again, which will be the focus of future articles. Our first couple of weeks will involve bringing new members up to speed on terminology, scope, process, and relevant government agencies and non-government organizations.

Besides his focus on energy, green jobs and climate change in his inaugural speech, Governor Shumlin also announced major goals to improve the water quality of Lake Champlain including assistance for farmers and municipalities to prevent runoff from fields and roadways. What he did not talk about was property taxes and health care. However, I expect him to include these issues when he delivers his budget address on January 15^th.
 

I look forward to providing you with my perspective from the statehouse. I welcome your thoughts and questions and can be reached by phone (802-233-5238) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).

My Vote for Governor

Today was the start of the 2015 session of the Vermont Legislature.  Tomorrow, Thursday, the House and Senate together is tasked with electing the governor since no candidate received at least 50% of the vote.  I have received about a dozen emails and phone calls asking me to vote for Scott Milne.  I responded to all in essentially the same way as follows.

I realize that there is a lot of discontent on many fronts among Vermonters.  Property taxes have been increasing at an unsustainable rate.  There has been a lot of concern about the plan for universal health care.  The problems with the VT Health Connect website and support have been frustrating for many folks.  While the economy has been improving, most people have not yet gotten back to where they were in 2008 before the bank failures drove us into the recession. 

 

However, the economy is coming back.  We have grown a strong renewable energy industry in Vermont that has created more than 15,000 good paying jobs. We have expanded opportunities for our high school students to obtain college credit for courses they take in their senior year, thereby reducing college expenses for them.  We have a 95% high school graduation rate.  We have pioneered model legislation to prevent patent trolling that has been adopted by 17 other states since our action.  We are making progress in treating people who are suffering from addiction by timely intervention when they are apprehended for related crimes.  We have built out broadband access to the internet and wireless phone capability across 94% of Vermont.  We raised the minimum wage for hardworking Vermonters. These and many others are not accomplishments to be overlooked.

 

So, I will vote for Gov. Shumlin because, despite the close election, 1) he got the most votes statewide, 2) he got 52% of the votes in Charlotte versus 41% for Milne, and 3) in my opinion he has done a good job overall for Vermont during his tenure. 

 

Democracy means that the top vote getter wins.  Speculation as to what might have happened if a circumstance was different, e.g. Feliciano didn't run or the single payer numbers were released earlier, is just that: speculation.  There have been differences of opinion between Gov. Shumlin and the legislature (including me) on some policy issues, and there still are.  However, I have not heard anything substantial from Scott Milne to persuade me that he would do a better job than Peter Shumlin.

 

I will assure you that I and my colleagues have already committed to revising the education funding mechanism to reduce the burden on property taxes.  We will get this done during this session.  Also, although the plan for a single payer health care system envisioned by Act 48 has been put on hold by Gov. Shumlin, the legislature will continue to look at alternative steps we can take to insure that all Vermonters have access to health insurance.  This includes controlling costs, promoting preventative care, and eliminating the cost-shift that we are already paying for in our insurance premiums.  I'm looking forward to the hard work on these and other issues in the months ahead.