VOTE! YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

 Today is ELECTION DAY!

More than 260,000 votes have already been cast in Vermont, 71% of all the votes cast in 2016.

This is one of the most important elections in our lifetime.  The fate of democracy is literally on the line at the national level.  Four more years of a Trump presidency will lead to the most autocratic administration the United States has ever seen.  

While Governor Scott has handled the Coronavirus pandemic well, his failure to work with the legislature to make Vermont more affordable for working families, to protect Vermonters from the effects of toxic spills, and to take effective steps to curb emissions contributing to global warming has resulted in a failure of leadership.  Electing Lt. Governor David Zuckerman to replace Phil Scott and Molly Gray to serve as Lt. Governor will give Vermont the leadership we need to move forward for a more resilient, affordable, and growing economy. 

If you haven't sent in your ballot, DO SO TODAY  at your polling station.

In Charlotte, the polls are open from 7 AM to 7 PM at the Town Office on Ferry Road.

Legislative Report 10/29/2016 - Looking Ahead

As we approach the election, I want to thank my Charlotte and Hinesburg constituents for your confidence in me and the work I have been doing for the last six years in the Legislature.  I want you to know that I do not take your support for granted and will continue to keep you apprised of what is transpiring in the Vermont House on a regular basis during the session through my weekly columns in our local newspapers. Two-way communication is essential, so I welcome your input as well.

The campaign rhetoric at the national level is very disconcerting to me and, I’m sure, to you as well. The strength of our great nation – and it continues to be Great – is our ability to engage in civil discourse despite our disagreements and work collectively for solutions to the problems affecting our society, economy and environment.  Here in Vermont we still seem to be able to accomplish that feat.  While everyone may not be perfectly satisfied with an outcome, all voices will be heard and acknowledged, and compromises will be reached.  A good example of that is the energy project siting bill that we passed last session, which includes taking wind turbine generated noise into consideration for future projects.  On the most controversial issues, such as marijuana legalization, gun regulation, and vaccine requirements, the legislature holds extensive public hearings and takes this input into consideration as legislation is developed.

There are always controversial issues that confront the Legislature, and the upcoming session will be no different.  Marijuana legalization will again be considered.  We now have more data coming from Colorado and other states that have already legalized marijuana.  According to a report cited by Health Commissioner Dr. Harry Chen, teen use of marijuana in Vermont is already twice as high as tobacco use.  Frequent marijuana use by teens and young adults harms brain development and has a strong correlation with poor academic performance. With public input and recommendations from the Health Department, we will hopefully be able to come up with reasonable regulations as well as increase efforts to discourage its use among teens. 

I also expect a strong push to pass legislation requiring background checks for all firearm purchases, which I support.  With or without the support of the new Governor, this legislation will be introduced for consideration in 2017. While Vermont may not see the same amount of gun violence as other states, our lax gun regulations make it easy for criminals to buy guns here and take them back to Massachusetts, Connecticut, or New York.  According to New York’s Attorney General, 1% (489) of the 52,000 traceable guns involved in crimes in New York alone came from Vermont (ref. https://targettrafficking.ag.ny.gov/tool/).  I-91 on the other side of Vermont is known by law enforcement as the “Iron Highway” because of the exchange of drugs for guns by out-of-state criminals along this corridor. Background checks will also provide additional protection for victims of domestic violence.

While refugee resettlement is not an area over which the State of Vermont has jurisdiction, it did become an item of discussion late in the 2016 session. The Vermont Refugee Resettlement Center in Colchester coordinates the resettlement program for all of Vermont. Rutland Mayor Chris Louras announced in April that Rutland was willing to accept 100 Syrian refugee families for resettlement in Vermont.  Because his announcement caught City Council members as well as the general public by surprise, a negative reaction resulted in dividing residents of Rutland.  The greater Burlington area, including Charlotte, has been host to refugees from many trouble spots across the world, including Bosnia, the Congo, Somalia and Bhutan. I recently had the occasion to speak with Mr. Puspa Luitel, a Charlotte resident and member of our Planning Commission, about his experience.  As a result of that conversation I have arranged with the Resettlement Center to sponsor a public forum on November 15^th at the Charlotte Senior Center from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. It will feature some of Vermont's newest residents, including Mr. Luitel, who will share their experiences both before and after their arrival.  I hope you will consider attending what should be a very informative event. 

As always I want to hear from you.  I can be reached on my cell phone at 233-5238 or via email at 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.