End of  Session Report  May 2008

The 2007-8 Biennium of the Vermont Legislature accomplished a great deal and laid the ground work for taking advantage of the opportunities the future will bring. This is despite many challenges, dominated by an economy that has more than few dark clouds on its horizon.

Despite-or because of that, crafting our budget was full of difficult choices. Throughout that process, we were clear that our values would drive our decisions around the budget. We weren’t going to balance the budget on the backs of those least able to handle more burdens. We were also clear that despite Medicaid shortfalls, unlike the Governor’s proposed budget, we did not shift costs onto health care premiums or onto property taxes.
Legislators focused on what Vermonters are most concerned about: health care costs, fuel/ energy costs, and the strength of our economy. Locally, we made great progress on energy concerns-including a greater show of strength standing up to Entergy Nuclear. The whole state had a focused view on what we in Southern Vermont have known for years. The corporate interests that control this company do not have the best interest of Vermonters in their hearts and minds. Their attempts to dump their costs of doing business on Vermonters while they rake in record profits, proved just that. Trying to create a Limited Liability Corporation, so as to limit their liability for decommissioning costs is a transparent and disrespectful. Vermonters should not have to pay for cleaning up their radioactive mess. We stood up to them this year, and broadened support for helping Vermonters from around the state see that doing business with Entergy Nuclear is not in the best interests of Vermonters. Although, expectedly, the Governor vetoed the legislation that would stop Entergy Nuclear from dumping their business expenses, we will be back next year with a stronger legislature and a new governor who will have the best interests of Vermonters in mind.
In health care, we continued to contain the pace at which health care costs rise by continuing to remove barriers to insurance for Vermonters and by investing in preventive care and information technology that will improve care and lower costs.
The legislature initiated comprehensive measures to encourage more housing at prices Vermonters can afford. We increased investment in workforce training. We finally convinced Governor Douglas to move ahead with bonding for roads so we can begin to catch up in taking care of the state’s transportation infrastructure. We made advances to build on our telecommunications initiatives from last biennium, working towards broadband access throughout the state. And, we took steps to protect the quality of our groundwater and to more effectively improve the water quality of Lake Champlain.
We advanced new ideas for business growth by creating a first in the nation legal structure for digital corporations and by creating a new corporate structure for slow growth mission-driven companies.

Our two year effort to reorganize the state’s corrections system and to invest the savings in more substance abuse treatment and better support as inmates finish their sentences will pay off in safer communities and lower corrections costs over the next decade.
Beyond these individual accomplishments, the legislature has conducted itself with respect for the diversity of perspectives represented here. Eighty percent of the committee votes to recommend legislation to the full House were unanimous. Only about 5% were what could be characterized as partisan votes. Public perception may not be consistent with those figures, given the press focuses where there is controversy. We completed our work in a timely fashion, adjourning two weeks earlier than originally planned in order to return to our families, jobs and communities.
.With the passage of S.094 RELATING TO ESTABLISHING AN EXPANDED EFFICIENCY UTILITY AND OTHER MATTERS RELATING TO ENERGY CONSERVATION AND DECREASING THE GENERATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES, Vermont has become a national leader. Other states have been watching how and what we do here. We have addressed the immediate need of the high costs of heating as well as conservation, efficiency, reducing our carbon footprint and making ready the way for creating renewable energy sources in the future. This legislation is already far ahead of our federal administration NOT having an energy policy that does more than look at oil drilling and pandering to oil conglomerates.
Beneath the headlines grabbed by more contentious and contemporary concerns, is the bulk of what the Vermont legislature does-work on the nuts and bolts, bread and butter type issues.
From my perspective on the House Human Services Committee, we accomplished a lot. Protecting and serving our vulnerable neighbors, whether they’re young, aging, disabled or disadvantaged, is difficult in the best of times. In these economically austere times, that task becomes even more vital and difficult.
In trying to help families out of poverty, the rules have been skewed against struggling families. After GW Bush was selected president, his administration said to states, we’re going to change how we provide Temporary Assistance to Needy families (TANF). They’d give states more flexibility in administering their programs, but less money. In 2004, they came back to the states and said that thing about flexibility-forget it. The part about less money stays, though. States had to redraw their plans to comply with these new rules. We worked hard to come up with a plan. And, it’s helping families break the cycle of poverty.
For children, the dangers of lead in their environment can produce irreversible brain damage. We managed to pass bills to address lead in housing and consumer products. Fighting a Federal administration that is failing to protect its own children, Vermont stepped up and passed legislation that would be unnecessary- except for the Bush administration. The US is currently one of the few industrialized nations accepting products from China that contain lead and other toxic chemicals like Phthalates. Mexico, Canada, the European Union and others have all banned these products.
In HHS committee, we took testimony and as in all cases, we try to hear all sides of an issue. In this case, we heard much testimony supporting a ban on these toxic imports. We also arranged to hear phone testimony from Dr. Gilbert Ross, of the American Council on Science and Health. He testified there are no studies on humans showing a link between these toxins and human illness. As we were listening, I got my laptop and goggled. Dr. Ross. I found out that this witness WAS a doctor, but the emphasis should be on, “was”. Dr, Ross lost his license in NY to practice medicine because of admitting to $8M in Medicaid fraud. Among his other proclamations are there are no adverse health effects from arsenic in wood, second hand tobacco smoke and that the toxic chemical dump at Love Canal was merely a media manipulation. After confronting this, the committee agreed this was not a credible witness and we passed the bill out of committee unanimously.
While the economy has limited how we can help, we soldier on in serving Vermonters. Policy can make a difference and not always cost a lot, as in the case of protecting children from abuse and neglect. The new, “differential” policy provides for services to be more expeditious and, in a wider array.
In the realm of Juvenile Judicial Proceedings, it’s been 40 years since statutes have been updated. This year, in collaboration with the House Judiciary Committee, House Human Services helped look at how juveniles are treated in our court system. E.g. previously, children in the court system for something someone else did (being abused or neglected) were thrown into the same lot as those who were there for something they did (juvenile delinquents). Along with scores of other changes to reflect the world being different now than in 1967, we did the work of the people of Vermont to reflect the values of looking beyond ourselves, and coming together for a greater good.
Personally, I learned that my long time philosophy of nurturing relationships to build bridges is also the most effective way of being effective in the legislature. Conversely, I have found that once bridges are burned, they are almost impossible to repair. Good will and mutual respect are the coin of the realm in the legislature and I can assure you that I have built bridges to be effective for the common good rather than burn bridges to make personal points.
I have worked hard and worked smart, with an open mind and open heart all the while aware of the trust the good people of this district of pout in me. I want the people of Dummerston, Putney and Westminster to always feel they have a representative who is accessible and doesn’t the office of representative for granted. I have already learned from the experience of others in the legislature that it’s clear when someone is ready to leave the statehouse, as their demeanor bespeaks taking the office for granted. I hope I never get to that point, for if I ever do, I’ll know it’s time to go.
I’m just starting and excited to move forward in continuing to serve you along with the other amazing legislators from our county. As the Chair of the Windham County Legislative Caucus these past two years, I was privileged to spend some wonderful time working with the other county legislators. I appreciate their generosity to me in helping me get my feet under me-as there is no learning curve in the statehouse. We’re expected to shoulder a full load right from the start and I feel like I’ve handled my share.
As we move ahead and I look towards serving you in the future, I hope to meet and serve even more of you. I hope to build your trust that whatever the concern- from agriculture to energy and housing and human services - you know you have someone in Montpelier who will work hard and can effectively advocate for you.
While I know we can always work to improve our citizen legislature, there’s a sense I feel in the Vermont House that we are engaged in a system that has worked for hundreds of years. One that works better than most. In the House, I am always aware of a sense of history and standing on the shoulders of those giants that came before me. Recently while hosting a group of students from Putney Central School at the statehouse, they arrived for their visit with a palpable excitement. They left just as excited, and I hope at some point they come to experience what I have. That serving our fellow Vermonters is as enjoyable as it is an honor, and for this opportunity I am eternally grateful.