Legislative Report 5/24/2021 - 2021 Legislative session adjourns

 The Vermont legislature wrapped up a historic session that took place 100% remotely from January 6 to May 21. While 2020 began normally and then abruptly shifted to remote operation in reaction to the spreading coronavirus, which caused the session to run into September, the 2021 session started smoothly in January and ended on schedule in May. Per tradition, the Budget, a.k.a. H.439 "the Big Bill", was the last bill passed.  This Fiscal Year 2022 budget, a $7.34 billion package of investments that prioritizes the people of Vermont, passed unanimously 148-0.

H.439 strengthens systems and services that increase physical and mental health and well-being. It invests heavily in broadband and connectivity for rural communities. It invests in childcare to increase affordability and accessibility. It makes a massive investment in increasing affordable housing stock for low- and middle-income Vermonters. It prioritizes climate change, clean water, and begins to center racial and social equity in more of our investments. And it begins a process of resolving our public pensions crisis.

This budget incorporates state General Funds, CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal dollars in creating an equitable recovery plan that invests in people - leaving no Vermonter behind - and rebuilds the economy in all 14 counties. Of the $1.2 billion provided to Vermont by ARPA, the legislature has appropriated $581 million and reserved the remaining $600 million for future use. 

Of the many things we learned from this experience, one is that we are not only dependent on each other, but that today's society relies heavily on technology for our mutual resilience. We also learned that lack of access to that technology has left many Vermonters less secure and more dependent than they were when 2020 began. 

Last year we talked about how providing access to high-speed broadband to every Vermonter would cost upwards of $300M, and how it would take a decade or more to accomplish that. Thanks to the American Recovery Plan Act, we have been given an extraordinary opportunity to shorten that time frame by an order of magnitude. By appropriating $150M in this budget to encourage Communication Union Districts and municipalities to work cooperatively with existing Internet Service Providers, we are making the accomplishment of that goal possible in just a few years.  At the same time we will be creating many well-paying jobs and training the workforce to fill them.

With the weather turning nicer and the COVID precautions easing, I hope opportunities for in-person meetings will be increasing.  In the meantime, I welcome your emails (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com) or phone calls (802-233-5238).  

Legislative Report 4/4/2016 - House Passes Budget – Round 1

The past two weeks saw the introduction of all the money bills the House has constitutional responsibility for developing. These include the Budget, the Miscellaneous Tax Bill, the Fee Bill, the Transportation Bill, the Education Funding Bill, and the Capital Construction Bill. Taken together, they constitute the plan for all the state spending in the next fiscal year from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017 (FY17) and the means to implement the laws and policies enacted by the Legislature. Indeed, they reflect in a concrete way the responsibilities of state government to provide for the safety, health, and general welfare of Vermonters. This article will focus on the Budget, the keystone of all of these bills, which encompasses all of state spending included in the others.

The FY17 budget fulfills the intent of last year’s budget bill by reducing state spending growth, eliminating dependence on one-time funds for ongoing programs, engaging in multi-year planning, and improving program accountability. The Appropriations Committee scrutinized programs to determine their impact over many years. They took testimony on program results and performance measurements from every department and agency and codified reporting of performance measures in Agency of Human Services grants. They invited input from every committee, from agencies and departments, and from individual legislators. The result is a budget that grew 2.7% this year, down from the five-year growth rate of 3.9% and last year's growth of 4.2%. So, what were the reasons and justifications for this spending growth?

The increased spending is not the result of adding new programs but of stabilizing existing programs. For example, it includes an increase in support for Vermont State Colleges ($800K), an additional transfer from the General fund to the Education Fund of $2.6M to help with property taxes, adds $1M to child care subsidies, and provides an additional $1.4M long-term to stabilize the Vermont Veteran’s Home. Other factors in spending growth are the increased number of children in the care of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) requiring an additional $1.8M, a net $71M increase in Medicaid caseload, and $13M for caseload increases in Choices for Care, Developmental Services and Public Safety. Finally, the budget makes investments for the future by increasing the Working Lands funding by almost $200K and providing $11.2M for the Weatherization program, both of which are job creation as well as environmental programs.

This budget addresses the problem of expenditures outpacing revenues that Vermont has been experiencing for the last several years since the budget growth is less than the projected revenues for FY17 by about 0.4%. Moreover, the Miscellaneous Tax bill identified new funding sources to help:

• assessment of Rooms & Meals tax on private rentals of property, such as AirBNB;
• an increase in the Bank Franchise tax on average monthly deposits exceeding $750M from 0.000096 to 0.000121; and
• a 0.25% increase in the fuels Gross Receipts excise tax from 0.50% to 0.75%.

The increase in the Bank Franchise tax brings Vermont in line with other New England states. The increase in the gross receipts tax is dedicated to the Weatherization program, and at a fuel oil price of $2.00/gallon will cost the average homeowner using 700 gallons of fuel oil per year an extra $3.50/year.

No one likes to pay taxes. But taxes are necessary for government to function and provide those services we expect from government. Cutting services too much just leads to greater costs down the road. The Appropriations Committee took great pains to keep spending as efficient and limited to necessity as possible while fulfilling our obligation to protect our environment, to promote our economic growth, and to provide for the safety, health and general welfare of all Vermonters. These bills now go to the Senate for round two.

I always welcome your thoughts and can be reached by phone (802-233-5238) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).

Legislative Report 5/23/2013 - End of Session

The final weeks of the 2013 session of the Vermont Legislature were, as expected, a constant state of flux.  Bills that had passed the House were taken apart and put back together again by the Senate, sometimes with minor changes and sometimes as complete rewrites.  Bills that had originated in the Senate often suffered the same fate in the House.  Some bounced back and forth between the House and the Senate as amendments were made to amendments. When amendments made by one body were not acceptable to the other, a Committee of Conference consisting of three members of the House and three from the Senate was appointed.  Their task was to resolve the differences in a way that would be acceptable to both chambers.  If they couldn’t come to an agreement, the bill would be dead for the remainder of the session with the possibility of being revived in January.

I did my best to keep track of the bills I considered most important and was glad for the “committee process” that helped me do so.  No legislator can be an expert on everything.  Belonging to one committee allows us to get an in-depth understanding of the issues we deal with in committee.  We then become a resource of information for our colleagues who return the favor when we need to understand the legislation they have worked on.  While dozens of bills were explained, debated and voted on during the final weeks of the session, here are a few that stand out for me.

The Budget.  For the seventh year in a row, the Legislature began the 2014 budget process with a projected gap between estimated revenues and expenditures. Each year, the Legislature has struggled to find the right balance between maintaining necessary services while making investments for the future. As in previous years, the Legislature balanced the state budget and made difficult choices.  The Governor’s budget proposal anticipated raising $34M in new revenues from a variety of non-broad-base sources. The budget originally passed by the House would have raised $23M of new revenue, including $8M to be put in reserve for any federal aid shortfall.  The Senate chose to make further cuts and remove the reserve so that only $10M needed to be raised.  In April we learned that revenues were far above forecast; thus the need for reserves would be filled when the end of the year closeout happened. Given this revised forecast, the House, the Senate and the Governor came together and agreed to build a final version of the $5B budget without raising any new revenue. 

Genetically Engineered Foods. Our food supply has been increasingly infiltrated by genetically engineered (GE) ingredients over the past 25 years. An estimated 80% of all food sold in super markets today contain some GE components.  According to a UVM poll, more than 90% of Vermonters are in favor of labeling foods produced using genetic engineering, and they want this labeling for health, religious, moral, economic opportunity and environmental reasons. On a strong vote, the Vermont House passed H.112 to provide this right to know, moving it on to the Senate for action next year.  Because Vermont faces potential litigation from the biotech industry, the bill was carefully crafted to be legally defensible and have a reasonable possibility of prevailing in court. Should the bill pass the Senate and be signed by the Governor next year, it would go into effect 18 months later as long as two other states passed similar legislation. At that time, Vermont would join 64 countries that already have such labeling requirements in place.

Education Funding.  The Education Committee has made a commitment to review how public education is funded. As a "down payment" on this commitment, the House and Senate passed H.538 that will save $5M in the coming year by restructuring some elements of education policy including excess spending caps, student-teacher ratios, and small schools grants.  We also passed S.130 to provide funding for a dual enrollment program which will enable seniors in high school to take college courses for college and high school credit.  The cost of tuition for the dual enrollment program varies from $99 to $609 for a 3 credit course depending on the college.

This will be the last of my weekly articles, but I expect to write intermittently between now and the end of the year.  I continue to welcome your thoughts and questions and can be reached by phone (425-3960) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).

Interview with Vermont Treasurer Beth Pearce

Click here to view the interview

State Representative Mike Yantachka (D-Charlotte) interviewed Vermont State Treasurer Beth Pearce on the Chittenden County Democrats Show on February 4, 2013.  Video is compliments of CCTV , channel 17, Burlington, VT.

Are You Missing Money?
The State Treasurer’s Office has more than $57 million in unclaimed property.  Could some of this be yours?  Financial property becomes “unclaimed” after a business or non-profit entity loses contact with a customer for a period of years. Unclaimed property may include cash, checks, security deposits, refunds, stocks, bonds, bank accounts and estates. There is no charge to claim funds through the State Treasurer’s Office. Search at     www.MissingMoney.Vermont.gov or call (802) 828-2407

The Word in the House - 02/03/2012

The second session of the biennium of the Vermont Legislature got off to a bright and early start on January 3^rd.  That afternoon most committees were already conducting hearings on bills that were presented on the floor that morning.

The House Natural Resources and Energy Committee, of which I am a member, began consideration of three bills.  One of the bills, H.475, is a net-metering adjustment bill.  It identifies some technical changes to the 2011 Vermont Energy Bill (Act 47) that was passed last year.  The changes are needed to smooth out some unanticipated implementation wrinkles that surfaced since passage and to allow small solar installations of up to 10 kW in size to be permitted through a simple 10-day registration process, which is currently available for systems up to 5 kW in size.   This bill passed the House last week and has been sent to the Senate.

Another bill, H.468, is a starting point for a wide-ranging discussion on how to achieve more aggressive renewable energy goals of fighting climate change and growing a robust, green economy.  It continues Vermont’s support of renewable energy development by expanding the Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development (SPEED) program and by proposing a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for Vermont.  The RPS sets a goal of having utilities obtain 80% of their electricity generation from renewable resources by 2025.  This bill is likely to evolve significantly during the committee process, with details changed or refined as we hear testimony from various stakeholders.

The third bill, H.485, pertains to solid waste management.  Given that there are only two operating lined landfills in Vermont , and that one of them will reach capacity within 18 months at today’s rates of trash disposal, it is imperative that we divert as much material from these streams as we can.  Vermont’s recycling rate has leveled off at around 32%.  We can do a lot better than that.  H.485 seeks to promote sustainable materials management, lessen Vermont’s reliance on waste disposal, and create a waste management system that promotes energy conservation, reduces greenhouse gases, and limits adverse environmental impact.  It will phase in, between now and 2017, mandatory recycling of common household materials that are now recycled on a volunteer basis, as well as leaf and yard waste, and “source separated” organic material from restaurants, schools, hospitals, etc.  The latter material is better used for composting to return the nutrients to the soil than for landfill material.

Other committees have also been hard at work.   Appropriations worked long hours for several weeks to construct the 2012 Budget Adjustment bill.  These adjustments are necessary to bring the budget into balance based on actual versus projected revenues and expenditures since July.  Most of the changes are in response to the devastation of tropical storm Irene.  21 temporary positions were added to the Agency of Transportation and 17 positions were added to Health Access because of increased caseload.  12 more positions were added to other departments.  Most of these positions will be filled by transfer of employees from other departments.

Preview of 2012 Session

As we enter the holiday season, Vermont’s state legislators are getting ready for the 2012 session that will open on January 3^rd.  While there are a number of issues that will have carried over from this year’s session, the extreme weather events of 2011 will be foremost on the agenda.

House and Senate members were called back to Montpelier on November 10^th to hear reports on the status of the Hurricane Irene recovery effort, the Green Mountain Care health system planning, the economy and fiscal situation, and the Comprehensive Energy Plan.  The good news is that the repair of the damage done to state roads will cost a lot less than was originally expected, about $185M instead of $550M.  Also, for the first three quarters of the year state tax revenues were up.  Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders led the effort to restore disaster relief funding in the U.S. Senate, and Congressman Peter Welch organized a bi-partisan coalition in the House to do the same.  The result is that federal funding will reduce Vermont’s share of the restoration to about $40M.  However, the effect on municipal revenues as a result of tax abatements due to property losses compounded by the additional costs to local roads is considerable, and the loss of state tax revenues post-Irene has not yet been determined.  These are factors that we hope will be known by January.  In all probability we will have to budget for both spending cuts and revenue increases.

The 2011 session resulted in a number of significant pieces of legislation that have implications for 2012.  The Green Mountain Care Board has been meeting and is in the process of analyzing and mapping out a strategy that will be presented to the legislature in January.  The Energy Bill of 2011 required two reports, a state energy plan and a biomass evaluation report, to be completed and presented to the legislature by the end of the year.  The Department of Public Service has held hearings throughout the state on its draft Comprehensive Energy Plan.  It is now reviewing more than 2000 public comments that it received and will have the final report ready by January.  The non-governmental Biomass Energy Research Group has been analyzing the capacity of Vermont and nearby states for sustainable harvesting of low-grade biomass to be used as a source of renewable energy generation.  There have been three new biomass electric generation plants proposed for southern Vermont which will require legislative approval before they can be built.  Two plants, one in Ryegate and the McNeil plant in Burlington, have been operational for decades in northern Vermont.

I very much want to know what concerns and thoughts my constituents have, so I will be holding a general information session at the Town Office on Thursday, December 8, at 7:30 PM.  I invite you to attend and let me know what’s on your mind that the legislature needs to address.

If you can’t make the meetings, you can always reach me by phone (425-3960) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).

Legislative Report - 4/17/11

In the last report, I wrote about the Health Care bill, H.202, and mentioned a forum that was held in Shelburne on April 5^th.  That forum was attended by around 100 people, including many Charlotters.  It was reported in the Burlington Free Press as well as in the Shelburne News, both of which can be found online.  I thought it would be a good idea to review some of the other important legislation that was passed by the House in the last few weeks. 

The Appropriations bill (H.441) establishes the $4.7 billion balanced budget that Vermont will follow for FY12.  The Appropriations Committee reviewed reams of documents designed to help them understand what the requested money is for, how each agency is meeting its outcomes and goals in the present year and for next year, and how they plan to meet those outcomes with less money and still carry out their mission. This year, after several years of budget reductions, the loss of Federal stimulus money, and continued caution regarding the pace of Vermont's own economic recovery, agencies had to state that in many cases, the level of service they provide to Vermonters would be reduced.  If revenues improve, some of the cuts may be restored in next year’s budget adjustment bill. 

The Transportation bill (H.443) has at its core the generation and distribution of nearly $553 million of transportation funds. The towns are supported strongly within this budget, and it includes a municipal sidewalk grant program.  The policy section of the bill also includes clearing the budget book of some expired bridge and road projects based on input from Towns, Regional Planning Commissions and VTrans.  No bonding was included in the 2012 fiscal plan. However, authorization to bond was approved if a federal grant is awarded for the Western Rail Corridor improvements.

The Hospice and Palliative Care bill (H.201) also passed.  It encourages, but does not mandate, health insurers to provide coverage for a terminal care program and an “enhanced hospice access” benefit where members may access hospice care without being required to first discontinue curative therapies.  A national insurance company has found that such coverage saves them money. Vermont will apply for a waiver so that such coverage could be available to recipients of our State health care programs and allow individuals who have been admitted to hospice to apply for the Choices for Care program as well, which helps pay for in-home services.

A bill (H.42) prohibiting the use of credit reports and credit history in most employment decisions was passed last week.  It strikes a balance between reducing arbitrary barriers to employment for Vermont workers and addressing the screening needs of employers in certain circumstances.

A provision of the Vermont Energy Bill of 2011 (H.56) that financed the Clean Energy Development Fund through a 55-cent monthly electric fee was deleted at the last minute before the bill was passed.  Instead, an alternative suggested by the Shumlin administration that would free up some CEDF money that is currently committed to commercial solar tax credits was approved. It would allow those companies qualified to take the tax credits the option of accepting an up-front grant worth 50% of their projected tax credits.  The amount of funds that would be freed up is expected to equal roughly the amount that would have been raised through the 55-cent monthly fee.  A little more than $2 million, this amount is enough to keep vital, job-supporting CEDF grants going for another year.

I will not be holding any more “Representative Meetups” this legislative session, however, I welcome your input by phone (425-3960) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).  I expect the session to end the first or second week of May.  My website will remain active.

Issues 2010

In these challenging economic times the most pressing problem for Vermont government is how to balance the state budget.  The 2009 budget was starkly reduced because of reduced revenues and passed only because the legislature overrode Governor Douglas' veto.  Revenues have once again fallen behind original projections and required the legislature and the Governor to try to find the proper balance between cuts and tax increases.  There is probably no one that has an definitive solution to the problem of balancing state revenues with expenditures.  This problem will continue to be an issue for the 2010 election and the elected officials who will have to deal with it in January, 2011.

As pressing as the budget problem is, there are other issues that are just as important and which are directly affected by it.  It is the responsibility of each legislator, whether in the House or the Senate, to weigh the pros and cons of each and every reduction in services as well as every tax increase that will be necessary to keep Vermont's government vital and viable.  In addition, there are policy decisions to be made that will affect the future direction of Vermont and our ability to maintain a healthy economy, a healthy environment and a healthy population.  Each of the issues below require attention and should be factors in your decision on whom to send to Montpelier in 2010.

• Taxes and Expenditures - To many the word "government" has become a bad word ever since President Ronald Reagan defined government as "the problem, not the solution." In fact government is ... more>>
• The Economy - The economic downturn of 2009 has not left Vermont unscathed, although our situation is certainly not as dire those of other parts of our country. Vermont has been ... more>>
• Energy - One thing is certain when it comes to developing an energy policy: we must reduce our dependency on oil and other fossil fuels. The reasons for doing so are ... more>>
• Health Care - After months of debate, compromise, misrepresentation, theatrics, and solid Republican obstructionism, it is not surprising that the resulting Healthcare reform legislation passed by the U.S. Senate does not satisfy anyone. Voices on the right object to any kind ...  more>>
• Agriculture - Agriculture is a significant part of Vermont's economy, culture and tradition, and dairy farming, which comprises 85% of Vermont agriculture, is probably the most iconic form. As such ... more>>