As I write this the 2012 Vermont legislative session has adjourned for the year, and I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks of catching up on home-work. The last week of the session saw several late evenings spent on the floor with a lot of political maneuvering as amendments to bills were debated, adopted along party lines, or defeated on procedural grounds which are too complicated and diverse to explain. At the end there was both satisfaction for victories as well as disappointment in defeats for everyone in one degree or another.
One of the enjoyable experiences of being in the legislature is the devotional exercise that takes place at the beginning of each floor session immediately after the Speaker gavels the House to order. Sometimes it is offered by visiting clergy, sometimes by a poet or other guest, and sometimes by one of the members of the House. Sometimes the devotion is sung as it was on Saturday by Representative Kevin “Coach” Christie of Hartford. This man has a booming bass voice with a fantastic range. His inspirational rendition of “The Impossible Dream” from The Man of La Mancha brought the House to its feet when he finished.
Earlier in the week Francis Brooks, the Sergeant at Arms of the Statehouse, offered this story.
“One day a young girl was complaining to her mother about how she was having such a hard time. She was very discouraged and didn’t know what to do, so she asked her mother for advice. Her mother in answer put three pots of water on the stove to boil. In one pot she put some carrots; in the second she put some eggs; in the third she put coffee grounds. After a while she asked her daughter to tell her what she saw. Her daughter said ‘Carrots, eggs and coffee. But what does this have to do with my problems?’
“Her mother told her to feel the carrots. They were soft. Then she told her daughter to break the egg. It had become hard. Finally she told her to smell and taste the coffee which had become aromatic and flavorful. Her mother said, ‘All three encountered the same adversity, the boiling water. The carrots went in hard and tough, but the boiling water made them softer, weaker. The eggs went in fragile, but became hard inside. Both were changed by the boiling water. But the coffee, the coffee changed the water. So, which are you, a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? When you encounter a problem, will you let it change you, or will you change your environment?’ ”
This story aptly illustrates a very traditional Vermont value: volunteerism. Last year, between the Spring floods and tropical storm Irene, Vermont suffered some of the worst destruction it has ever seen. But instead of being beaten down or mired in controversy, Vermonters all over the state came together to rebuild our infrastructure and come to the aid of our neighbors. Likewise, facing enormous costs of relocating, rebuilding and assisting those who lost so much, Republican, Progressive, Democratic and independent legislators took to heart the state motto of Freedom and Unity, changed their environment, and passed legislation to quickly get Vermont back on its feet.
So, whether you serve on a local board or in an elective office or with a community organization, or if you picked up trash on Greenup Day, or otherwise volunteer in our community, I’d like to take this opportunity to salute you and thank you for changing your environment.
The Word in the House 5/9/2012 - Devotions
Legislative Report 5/2/2012 - The Decision Making Process
The closing days of the legislative session tend to generate a lot of floor debate in both the House and the Senate as we have seen in the news lately. Perhaps by the time this article is published, we will have completed our work in Montpelier and will have adjourned. Chances are, though, that a few more days will be needed to wrap up the session.
One of the reasons why the proceedings seem to invite more debate is that the bills dealing with some of the stickier, more controversial issues are left until the end. This stands to reason since those bills are the ones on which the committees take the most testimony and which engender the most discussion in the committees. All members of a committee have the opportunity to express their opinion on every aspect of a bill, and the initial version of a bill is rarely the version that is voted out of committee. Because each representative serves on only one committee, we depend on the committee reports to inform our own decisions on how to vote on bills.
Since hundreds of bills are introduced during the two-year period, some bills never get voted out of committee. However, some get added to another bill dealing with a similar issue. This happened with a bill I introduced concerning record keeping on the part of second-hand coin and jewelry dealers. I introduced a bill last year to address the problem of burglaries and car break-ins so that police would have an easier time tracking down stolen property that was pawned off at these legitimate dealers. While my bill was not acted on, a similar bill dealing with scrap metal dealers was approved. With the help of Senators Richard Sears and Bill Cariss, elements of my bill were added to the scrap metal bill in the Senate.
One of the lessons I learned working in the legislature is that the most controversial issues may seem cut and dry, black and white, to proponents and opponents. But once they are examined in detail with testimony from each side, with analyses from experts, and with serious discussion in committee, it becomes obvious that there are many shades of gray. This is true of the immunization issue, the choices in dying issue, the CVPS/GMP merger, the pros and cons of different types of renewable energy, and many others. Legislators hear from many interest groups as well as individuals urging us to vote one way or the other. It is our job to weigh these interests based on as many facts as we can gather. Political philosophies are certainly a factor, as are the interests of the communities we represent. Sometimes we will come down on one side of the question; sometimes we will try to craft a compromise if it seems both sides have merit; and sometimes we will agree not to take any action if there is too much uncertainty.
There is much left to consider and vote on this week, and it will not be unusual for our floor sessions to run late. But democracy requires that every issue be open to debate and every legislator that wants to be heard is allowed to be heard. When we are finished, we hopefully will have done well for the people of Vermont.
The Word in the House 4/23/2012 - The End Game
As the session heads into the last week, it really requires a scorecard to figure out what is happening to some legislation. Bills passed by the House and sent to the Senate have seen changes to essential elements. The same has happened to some bills sent to the House by the Senate. Bills that were passed with different provisions by each body are now in conference committees consisting of three House members and three Senate members to see if the differences can be ironed out to the satisfaction of both. As we begin the last weeks of the session, some bills may even die for lack of action. Here are some of the bills that have passed both the House and Senate in recent weeks.
Conserved land is an important asset for Vermont. The Conservation Easement bill, S.179, strengthens the ability to protect conserved land from being developed. When a property owner conveys a perpetual easement for conservation purposes to a town, a conservation group or another entity, that easement persists even if the property changes ownership. If the terms of the easement are violated, S.179 allows the holder of the easement to take the violator to court with or without the participation of the owner. Another provision of the bill creates a working group to study the issues around amending a perpetual conservation easement when situations or conditions affecting the easement change over time. S.179 was passed by the House with amendments and has been sent back to the Senate for its agreement.
Another Senate bill, S.106, increases civil penalties that towns can charge for violations of municipal ordinances and by-laws. It also repeals an 1876 law making towns responsible for damage done by dogs to livestock. The House amended the bill by adding a section on embezzlement which asks the State Auditor to design a checklist that will act as a tool to help establish the internal controls for counties, municipalities, and supervisory unions. This provision also requires Town Treasurers to file quarterly financial reports with their selectboard or city council. The State Auditor will be required to post on the official website a summary of all financial fraud against any agency of the state. If the Senate does not approve these amendments, the bill will go to a conference committee.
A bill that saw some floor debate last week was S.237 relating to the establishment of a Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). This is an interesting proposal that has the potential to give policy makers additional information beyond the Gross State Product, which is a measure of goods and services produced statewide. The GPI adjusts the Gross State Product by quantifying the positive and negative economic, environmental, and social impact of economic activity on the well-being and long-term prosperity of our state's citizens. S.237 gives approval for the state’s Joint Fiscal Office to cooperate with the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at UVM to establish and test a GPI measurement system. All work will be done by the Gund Institute which will report back to the legislature with its results. No state monies are involved.
There are several key bills that still need to be finalized by the House and Senate before we can adjourn. These include the Transportation bill, the Capital Adjustment bill (regarding buildings and services), and the Budget. We hope to adjourn sometime during the first week of May.
Legislative Report 4/18/2012 - Immunizations Revisited
One of the
most controversial bills to come out of the legislature this session has been the
Immunization bill, S.199. The question
it addresses is under what circumstances, if any, should a child be allowed to
attend a public school or a day care facility without having received the
age-appropriate vaccinations required by the Vermont Department of Health.
The Word in the House 4/9/2012 - Working Landscapes
The defining characteristic of Vermont is its rural nature and the connection Vermonters have to their environment. The Working Lands Enterprise Investment Bill, H.496, passed by the House recently, recognizes this relationship and provides support to stimulate a concerted economic development effort on behalf of Vermont’s agriculture and forest products sectors. It will assist entrepreneurism, business development, and job creation in these sectors.
Vermont is currently in the midst of an agricultural renaissance and is at the forefront of the local foods movement. Much of this activity takes place in our own communities of Charlotte, Hinesburg, and surrounding towns. The conversion of agricultural and forest products into value-added products within Vermont’s borders represents further economic and employment opportunities. About 7,000 jobs exist in the forest products sector and about 57,000 are related to the food system.
H.496 makes an investment in Vermont’s working landscape by creating the Working Lands Enterprise Fund and a Working Lands Enterprise Board. The fund, initially appropriated at $2.1 million, will be used for direct investment in working lands enterprises. Approximately $550,000 will provide grants to entrepreneurs, including grants to leverage private capital, to jump-start new businesses, to help beginning farmers access land, and to support diversification projects to add value to farm and forest commodities. Another $350,000 is allocated for “wrap-around” services to growth companies, including technical assistance, business planning, and financing required by companies ready to transition to the next stage of growth. $800,000 is included for state infrastructure investments, including investment in private and non-profit sectors for creative diversification projects and value-added manufacturing, processing, storage and distribution. Finally, about $382,000 is allocated for administration by the Agency of Agriculture.
The Working Lands Enterprise board would oversee and administer the fund and coordinate the enterprise development efforts throughout the state. In addition to promoting the activities described above, it would also establish and evaluate criteria and benchmarks for investments and solicit appropriate perspectives and information from experts. The board will replace the Agriculture Innovation Center which had similar but more limited responsibilities.
The investment in Vermont’s working landscape will ensure that Vermont will retain its rural and natural character and will continue to represent the vision that people associate with our state, contributing to the tourism sector of our economy in the process.
On the redistricting front, there were changes to both the House and Senate redistricting plans that affect Charlotte and Hinesburg. After much deliberation and review of the deviations from the ideal district sizes, the House Government Operations committee presented their final version of the redistricting plan. One of the changes was the expansion of the section of Hinesburg attached to the Charlotte house district. In this final version the southwestern portion of Hinesburg bordered by Drinkwater Rd, Baldwin Rd, and the Monkton town line with 33 residents will remain in the Charlotte district. The rest of Hinesburg will comprise the other district.
The Senate finally voted its reapportionment plan out of its Government Operations committee. In order to balance the population changes, Chittenden County had to cede part of its population to Addison County. The new plan joins Huntington and Buels Gore to the Addison County senatorial district instead of Charlotte, which will remain in the Chittenden County senatorial district.
Legislative Report 4/5/2012 - An Energy Roadmap
Last year
the legislature enacted an energy bill that continued a policy of supporting the
renewable energy industry in Vermont.
This year our House Natural Resources & Energy committee spent a
good deal of time working on another energy bill (H.468) that creates a roadmap
for the next 20 years to extend Vermont's leadership in energy policy in order
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote job growth in the renewable
energy industry. It sets a goal of
achieving 75% of Vermont's total electric energy from renewable sources by 2032
and includes a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) of 35% new renewables by
2032, including 10% from small-scale, distributed projects.
