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Topics - Carolyn Branagan
16
« on: April 19, 2012, 09:36:27 AM »
Reports for the week of April 7 are below. Please note that work is slowing in the statehouse as several committees are not meting on a regular basis.
Rep. Linda Myers from Essex reports the House Institutions and Corrections Committee spent considerable time on S. 138, an act relating to calculation of criminal sentences and record keeping for search warrants. Institutions and Corrections deals with corrections policy concerning those incarcerated and part of S. 138 deals with credit for time served in computing consecutive and concurrent sentences. The committee examined three sections of the bill and took testimony. Rep. Myers reported the Committee's findings to the House Judiciary Committee and will report those sections on the floor. The Committee also reviewed the Senate version of the Capital Budget Adjustment Bill, H. 785. The Senate will have the bill on the floor next week and the House will decide whether to concur or call for a committee of conference. The Committee looked at the Senate Judiciary changes to H. 765, the serious functional impairment bill, and continued work on two land swap resolutions for ANR.
Rep. Jim Eckhardt from Chittenden reported the House Health Care Committee continues to work on 6 bills sent over by the Senate. The Committee passed out S.199 also known as the immunization bill. The bill then went to the floor where there were over 5 hours of debate before it passed out of the House with the Philosophical Exemption intact. The vote was 126 to 3. Once the Health Dept. gets accurate information the discussion can begin again. It was obvious that the Health Dept. numbers were not calculated correctly with the information available. This bill will give accurate information to make an informed decision on rates of vaccination starting in 2014.
S.200 is a reporting bill requiring health insurance companies to report more information than they currently provide. The insurance companies already provide this information in different formats to the state. This bill is not a big concern to the insurance companies at this time. However, an amendment to the bill that is in committee asks more information such as how much these health insurance companies give to charity, how much they give to lobbyists, and other things. Attached to this bill is the H-764 which deals with Pharmacy Benefit Managers and their relationships with auditing independent pharmacies. I have spent time visiting with my local independent pharmacies to understand the issue. This is a good piece of legislation for them.
Mark Higley of Lowell reports that the Government Operations Committee, on Tuesday pulled their Burlington amendment, and on a vote of 126 to 13 passed the reapportionment bill H.789. However, when it reached the Senate reapportionment committee, Senators Sears and Ashe, proposed an amendment which passed 6-1. This means a conference committee is probably in the future. The amendment puts the House Map in the 24% deviation range and a written response from the Attorney General's office states this is not acceptable. Jim Condos, Secretary of State and Kathy Scheele, director of elections stated the legislature is coming down to the wire and if the bill doesn't pass this soon and with the Governor's signature, we could possibly have to run under our current districts this year, again in 2013 if the new districts get settled and again in 2014. This bill is scheduled for a vote by the full Senate on Tuesday 4/17/12.
Gov. Ops. Committee has attached the embezzlement bill to S.106 (Misc. changes to municipal government law), and is on the calendar for 2nd reading on Tuesday 4/17/12.
Rep. Vicki Strong from Albany reported the House Judiciary Committee has been finishing up work on the Senate bills.
S.203-An act relating to child support enforcement will be on the floor this week. The intention of this bill is to help individuals with
delinquent child support payments to get help with work skills,education, and employment opportunities and to also work out reasonable
payments according to the individual's ability to pay.
H.777-An act pertaining to malpractice insurance for midwives; After further discussion the committee decided to refer the bill back to the
Healthcare Committee without recommendation, and to let the House debate the policy on the floor about exempting midwives from having to have
malpractice insurance for two more years.
S.226- There was further discussion about combating illegal prescription opiates and increasing treatment resources for addiction, and the bill
proposes to spend over $40 million on the use of methadone and buprenorphine treatments for addiction, in conjunction with counseling
requirements for those who receive the treatments. There are hundreds of people on waiting lists for these treatments. The success rate of the
treatments was questioned and not conclusively answered. Other bills discussed and possibly coming to the floor soon;
S.189-An act relating to expanding confidentiality of cases accepted by the court diversion project, which will be combined with H.669-An act
relating to confidentiality of applications for compensation to the victim's compensation board.
S.138-An act relating to calculation of criminal sentences and record keeping for search warrants.
H.706-An act relating to reducing the sale of stolen property. This bill is trying to address the problem of stolen property being sold to pawn
shops for the purpose of obtaining money to buy illegal drugs. The bill will require pawn shops, and other shops that sell used items, to keep a
record of the items that they buy and sell, and to hold the goods for a period of 5 days. This will help law enforcement to have the information
and time to find stolen goods. I personally feel the sale of stolen goods will then happen more through other means, such as on the internet
or across state lines, and that this bill will add more work and regulation to these businesses.
Let me know if you have questions about any of this. Contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
17
« on: April 19, 2012, 09:27:45 AM »
Regular readers will be interested to learn that the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund for the state of Vermont is in much better shape than a few months ago. For a long time providing unemployment insurance required no additional payment from employers and the employees who were collecting from this fund got increasingly generous benefits. All worked well until the economy crashed. And then when an ocean of red ink faced the legislators, some serious corrections were made in the entire fund.
Basically the fix involved increasing the base wage on which employers pay and reducing the benefits that were paid out. The base wage threshold will shortly rise again to $18,000. Employees who need to collect from the fund now get less in the maximum unemployment check and there is a one week delay before payments start. There were other changes too, but the state still needed to borrow a lot of money from the federal government to keep the Unemployment Trust Fund going through the worst of the recession. The borrowed money of course has to be paid back. Total debt was originally expected to be over $350 million.
I am pleased to report that of all these efforts combined with improvement in the economy have had positive impacts on the fund, which is now in relatively good shape. The balance sheets now show a debt of $77 million, which though substantial is much better than predicted.
A plan is being proposed to pay this off early. Reducing debt is always a good thing because it reduces interest payments and overall expenditure. If this debt is removed the state will save about $3 million in interest payments, but also Vermont employers will save approximately $6 million in payments into the Trust Fund. The repayment would take about $30 million out of the Trust Fund itself and the remainder from the budget stabilization funds. This proposal has yet to make its way though money committees, but the State Treasurer and Commissioner of Labor are in favor of the plan. Much discussion on this proposal will follow.
If you’d like more information on this proposal or any other issue involving state government contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us . I want to hear from you.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
18
« on: April 10, 2012, 04:56:45 PM »
The Vermont House Committee on Agriculture plans to have a public hearing on Thursday, April 12th, from 6:30-8:30 PM in the House Chamber at the State House in Montpelier. The committee wishes to hear comments from the public on H.722, a bill that would require the labeling of food produced with genetic engineering.
There will be a sign up sheet beginning at 6 PM Thursday just outside of the House Chamber for those who wish to testify. Due to the number of people expected, those testifying will have a limited amount of time, not more than 2 minutes and possibly shorter, for their testimony. Anyone may submit written testimony to the committee with extended comments.
For further information you can contact the committee assistant Linda Leehman, (802)828-1628, or contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
19
« on: April 05, 2012, 11:25:03 AM »
The revenue from March looks better than I thought it would. Gains were made in personal income tax and corporate income tax, so it is possible that the state might end up in the black by the end of the fiscal year.
I’ve been worried because even though legislative estimates for fiscal year 2012 revenue were quite conservative, actual revenues were even lower. State revenues still are $6 million below estimates but that’s better than the $14 million below last month!
If you want more detail on this, e-mail me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us or leave a message here on Henry's site. I'll try to find the answer for you.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
20
« on: March 23, 2012, 07:19:18 AM »
Yesterday the Vermont House of Representatives voted on the fiscal 2013 state budget. The budget did not raise any new taxes. It provides facilities for Vermont’s mental patients. The budget takes large steps to repair and replace infrastructure damaged by Irene. Transportation money included in the budget will provide an increase to town highway aid, much needed by our Franklin county communities. It also gets rid of the ‘waterfall’.
This budget provides a way to make positive improvements in our state and pays the bills. I voted yes.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1 Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
21
« on: March 21, 2012, 04:59:07 PM »
I’ve never liked the part of the Vermont state budget bill called ‘the waterfall’. Regular readers will recognize this name for the part of the state budget bill that directs where extra money should go when revenue estimates fall under the actual inflow of money. To my frustration, the extra money often goes to fund some additional project for state government or fund some special one time effort for which the initial revenue estimates did not cover. I’ve always thought if we had extra money, it should be used to reduce expenditures for the following year, or kept as cash on hand to reduce tax. I’ve never been able to convince my colleagues to do either of these things.
However, maybe they were listening after all. I’m very pleased to report that this year there is a plan to eliminate the waterfall forever and save unexpected revenue, reducing expenditures and creating stronger financial footings for the state.
Here’s what will happen. In a year when there is more revenue than expected at the end of the fiscal year:
* First, the statutory reserves will be filled. That’s going to take an amount equal to 5% of the previous year’s budget. It’s called the ‘float’, about which I’ve written before. This money is needed keep state accounts level as revenue inflow varies.
*Second- Revenues will be added to the Education Fund to replace the money shorted in last year’s general fund transfer, approximately $280 million. Obviously replacing this large amount will take a while. This revenue will lower property taxes.
*Third- To offset federal budget cuts and soften impact on Vermont’s most needy populations, a fund will be set up and filled with an amount close to the estimate of federal cuts. It would be used to supplement programs like LIHEAP, Medicaid, Global Commitment etc.
*Fourth-A rainy day fund will be created to be used when there is a REAL emergency. Lots of Vermonters were calling for a rainy day fund during the worst of the recession, and this answers those concerns.
I like this plan because it sets money aside for use in hard times, has the potential to lower property tax and maintains the ‘float’ needed to keep state accounts viable, all without raising taxes. This plan can work for a number of years because we are still in difficult financial times and it will be several years before we return to normal times. The uses are wise and will create a more solid financial footing for the state.
Sometimes, I have a really good day here at the statehouse.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
22
« on: March 21, 2012, 04:00:15 PM »
As our Franklin County high school students and their parents get ready to sign up for next year's courses, it is important for them to know that Vermont high school students can take one 3-credit college class free of tuition and more classes at 50% off the regular in-state tuition rate at UVM. This is a great way for local students to be ahead of the game and comfortable in the college setting before they leave high school. It can lighten their load the first year of college, and possibly even put them on a path to graduate early. UVM credits are highly transferable at other institutions in and out of the state. Visit www.experienceuvm.com for more information or contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us.
Representative Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
23
« on: March 15, 2012, 06:28:52 PM »
Legislative breakfast at the new Georgia Firestation on route 7, just north of the Georgia Town Office. Monday March 19 at 7:30 am. Refreshments and legislative updates. I hope to see you there.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
24
« on: March 15, 2012, 06:16:49 PM »
The House Ways and Means Committee members along with the House Appropriations Committee members met at 3:30pm Friday afternoon with the state legislature’s economist Tom Kavet to discuss the latest state revenue report. These revenue reports should always be taken with a grain of salt. It’s true that our financial picture is not great, but it is not all as bad as some are saying. To really get a good read on the economy, we need to see several months of data headed in a particular direction. All we can say about this February data is that the recession is definitely NOT over.
Most important to note is that the formal report by the Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding leaves out quite a major point. The Tax Department made a data entry error of $4.2 million. When we add this back, in the corporate tax bottom line changes from $2.3 million below estimates for the year to nearly $2 million above. I don’t know why Jeb did not make a very big deal about this.
Personal Income tax filings are the majority of the shortfall. This might be because many people who had a refund coming filed for it early, in February. It might also be that a lot of people have stopped looking for work and are not filing for unemployment. Withholdings were down, too, probably because of the lack of snow. Trying to make sense of the data is challenging. Kavet thinks the personal income tax picture will clear itself after April 15.
The sources that are down for February are Personal Income tax, Corporate Income tax, Inheritance/ Estate tax, Property transfer tax and the Lottery transfer. The sources that are above estimates for February are Sales/Use tax, Meals/Rooms tax, Insurance Premium tax, Gasoline tax, Diesel tax, Motor Vehicle Purchase/Use tax and Motor Vehicle fees. Except for Personal Income tax and Corporate Income tax, all the sources are close to target. Note that many of the taxes that are above estimates are the consumption taxes. It is these taxes (rooms and meals, gasoline, liquor and motor vehicle purchase, etc) that took a beating during the worst of the recession.
Other important notes about the February revenue report:
*Figures have been dragging all year, not just in February.
*Unemployment is down--good news
*Consumer confidence appears to be up--good news
*The rising gasoline prices are largely due to what’s happening in Iran, not the US.
*The situation in Europe is better now since the european bank system flooded the EU with cheap money. Financial collapse in Europe would be very bad for the US.
*February is the third month in a row with revenues coming in under projection.
*Tax filings in the next month and a half will be extremely important.
In my opinion, spending decisions still need to be made very carefully. We should not try to guess when Vermonters will start spending again. We should let them take the lead, and create a budget that reflects what state revenue actually is, not what we wish it would be.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
25
« on: March 13, 2012, 04:50:58 PM »
There will be a hearing tomorrow on the Death With Dignity proposal currently being considered by the Vermont Senate. Members of the public are invited to the State House tomorrow, Wednesday, March 14th, for the committee hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee on S. 103. The hearing is scheduled to begin 15 minutes after the Senate floor action is adjourned, probably about 10am. The bill, S.103, would legalize doctor-prescribed suicide. It is important to be present and to express your opinion on this change to Vermont law. The hearing location has been changed to room 11, a larger room so that more members of the public can attend. The hearing is expected to last until noon. As soon as the hearing is over, there will be a press conference held in the Cedar Creek Room sponsored by the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare. The public is welcome to attend.
If you are unable to come to the hearing, but want to tell your Senator or Representative how you feel, you can call the State House at 802-828-2228 or toll free at 800-322-5616. Ask for a message to be delivered to your Senators or Representatives. The Senators for Fairfax are Senator Randy Brock and Senator Sara Kittell. The Representatives for Fairfax are Rep. Carolyn Branagan and Rep. Gary Gilbert. When you call the statehouse to leave a message be sure to give your name and town and ask that the message be delivered. It’s nice to thank the person manning the phone in the Sergeant-at-arms office, as there will certainly be lots of calls coming in tomorrow!
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
26
« on: February 27, 2012, 01:32:26 PM »
We were almost 18 hours into the debate when the Vermont House of Representatives voted Friday night to approve the latest addition of Health Care reform. The bill sets up the 'exchange', a structure mandated by the Obama health care plan. The exchange offers various insurance plan options for sale. Vermont along with all other states has to set up a system of exchanges to be in compliance with the federal law. If we don't the feds will come in and do it for us. The debate was over how the exchange would be operated. Not surprisingly there were no answers to how much the exchange would cost or what health care services it would cover. I voted no.
It was pretty frustrating to sit there. Every pro-business, pro- taxpayer amendment we proposed was swamped by their 'no' votes. Federal law allows insurance plan options to be offered outside the exchange, but there have to be some inside the exchange. The majority voted to allow none of these 'outside exchange' plans in Vermont even though it will almost certainly cost more to omit them. That means 95% of the businesses in our state will have no options other than to purchase a plan inside the exchange. That's almost all of our small businesses, those who have fewer than 50 employees.
The message going out was clear: small businesses don't matter as much as larger ones and they certainly can't be trusted to make decisions on health insurance for their employees. This bill will certainly be the death of the remaining private insurance market in our state and then all businesses regardless of size will have no other choice but to purchase plans inside the exchange. There were simply not enough fiscal conservatives to stop this. I voted no.
Especially troubling to me was the argument that federal money would come in and help lower premiums. I'm sorry, but in this economic environment I can't trust that the Feds will be able to do that. Again, I voted no.
There was no estimate on how much this system would cost. And there was no idea from what source the funding would come. The whole plan was irresponsible. I voted no.
I want to hear from my constituents. Feel free to contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
27
« on: February 27, 2012, 01:29:00 PM »
Weekly Statehouse roundup #9
It was a busy week on the floor of the House. Most floor time was spent debating and voting H.559, also known as round two of Governor Shumlin's health care proposal. That debate has been well covered by the press. Here are other highlights of the week's activities as submitted by House Republicans:
Rep. Linda Myers from Essex reports the House Institutions and Corrections Committee members spent committee time last week working on the Capital Budget Adjustment bill. The Committee is hoping to complete most of the money and language sections of the bill before Town Meeting break. The Committee anticipates getting the report from Freeman French Freeman on the consultants’ recommendations for the Waterbury Complex. That report is due March 9 while the legislature is on break and the Committee wants to be ready to start making decisions on Waterbury right after the break. The speaker would like the bill out by the middle of March, so Committee members will be plugging away as soon as the Town Meeting break is over. A joint hearing with the Senate Institutions Committee was held to hear from residents of Waterbury who told of their efforts to bring the town back from Tropical Storm Irene and hopes for state help with town needs. The Committee testimony on several sections of the bill including: administrative districts; judiciary building renovations; the historic property stabilization and rehabilitation special fund as well as funding for Indian burial sites; state energy use; property transactions; and funding for ANR pollution mitigation projects. In other action, the Committee worked on language for H. 577, an act relating to public water systems. The bill was scheduled to be on the floor on Friday, but the lateness of the work on the health care bill prompted leadership to postpone action until Tuesday. The Committee continued work on a bill on the mental health needs of the corrections population and heard from the state treasurer on the state’s bonding ability and how the Legislature’s actions on capital spending could affect the state’s bond ratings.
Rep. Anne Donahue reported the Human Services Committee focused on two priorities this week: recommendations to Appropriations on the budget, and the revisions to the Vermont Prescription Drug Monitoring System. Both are due out next week. Final budget testimony was in regards to the casework supports for Reach Up participants who are working on a college degree, and the shortfall in the Legal Aid budget due to having to do involuntary mental health patient court hearings in many parts of the state instead of just in Waterbury. The prescription monitoring system for addictive drugs has many issues of concern among those testifying: should doctors and pharmacists be required to check the system each time they write or fill a prescription [even if they know a patient well]? Should ID be required to pick up such prescriptions? Should pharmacies be required to download into the data base every day? Time and cost compete with how much these measures might help block diversion of drugs. The biggest issue is about access to the database. It was created to have the Health Department gather the data, without patient consent, in order to allow doctors to block abusers. Now the state police are seeking full access to the patient data, even if they do not have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.
Rep. Vicki Strong from Albany reports the Judiciary Committee met only two days during the week due to the busy floor schedule. Time was spent hearing testimony on H. 535- An act relating to social disparities in the Vermont criminal justice system. There are already many policies in place in the judicial system that addresses the goal of having no racial bias. Another bill, H.691, was introduced to the committee which forbids collusion among businesses. Testimony was also heard concerning the creation of new facilities that can be used to house mental health patients. The bill, H.759-An act relating to permitting the use of secure residential recovery facilities for continued involuntary treatment was discussed, and the committee voted to move the bill forward. .
Time was given to several other bills; H.523- An act relating to revising the state highway condemnation law; a committee bill that updates the use of ignition interlock devices; a part of a bill from military affairs that updates National Guard issues, and finally, H.600-An act relating to mandatory mediation in foreclosure proceedings.
Rep. Lynn Dickinson from St. Albans Town reports the House Commerce Committee started the week with the Ag Committee giving an update on the Working Landscape Bill. The Committee continued work on the Public Service Bill H.718. Later, Rep. Ernie Shand reported this bill to the floor. The Department of Labor bill, a committee bill, deals mostly with workers compensation. This bill includes the independent contractor piece that Rep. Heidi Shuermann from Stowe and Rep. Chip Conquest from Grafton have been working since last year with Commissioner of Labor Anne Noonan and a working group with business and labor representatives. A public hearing on Tourism was held in room 11, and continued hearings and discussion on the Act relating to Insurance Business Transfers, H.533 are expected. Work continued on a consumer protection bill. The bill grows larger every day as more pieces are added. There are bipartisan concerns about (H.730).
Rep. Carolyn Branagan from Georgia reports Ways and Means Committee testimony continued on fee requests by the administration. The Committee has divided the fees roughly in half. House bill H.761, about half of fees requested by the administration, was presented on the House floor early in the week. It was approved following an 11-0-0 Committee vote. This portion of requested fee changes included the Department of Motor Vehicles fees strongly supported by the House Transportation Committee . Remaining fees are all from the Department of Environmental Conservation, are much more controversial and will receive additional committee testimony this week. Stay tuned!
28
« on: February 25, 2012, 08:01:43 AM »
Teens who will be 18 by election day Nov 6 can vote in the presidential primary on Town Meeting Day, March 6. They can also vote in the August 28 state primaries. This is allowed by the state constitutional amendment approved by 81% of Vermont voters two years ago, making us the 19th state to allow these young voters to participate in the primaries. They will not be able to vote in any other elections between now and when they turn18, but the change makes it possible for them to participate in the entire presidential election process, starting with the primary election. Last day for these kids (and everyone else) to register to vote at Town Meeting is February 29. For more information contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
29
« on: February 23, 2012, 12:38:05 PM »
Local control has been strength in our Vermont communities for a very long time. Earlier this week I supported an amendment written by Rep. Susan Davis from the central Vermont community of Washington. Her amendment was a guarantee that local communities would take the lead in efforts regarding consolidation of school districts, interstate school contracts and supervisory union activities. The desire of the state legislature or the local supervisory unions could not trump local voters under her amendment. Regretfully the amendment failed. Clearly, local voters know better than anyone else what is best for their own schools and for their own children. Sadly, some serving in the statehouse are forgetting this.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
30
« on: February 20, 2012, 04:57:00 AM »
Week #7 at the statehouse was full of hearings and happenings. Republicans were pleased to see Rep. Lynn Dickinson from St. Albans Town elected to the Board of Trustees for the Vermont State Colleges. Here are other reports:
Rep. Vicki Strong from Albany reports the House Judiciary Committee looked at several bills, at least one of which will be one coming to the floor in the upcoming week. Rep. Gary Reis, from St. Johnsbury will report H. 634 , pertaining to municipalities being able to collect money on fines from people who remain outstanding unpaid fines for municipal ordinances. There is a big backlog of unpaid municipal fines in many communities. The unpaid fine would be turned over to collection agencies for collection and it would be moved from a criminal jurisdiction to a judicial bureau. Also the committee discussed a bill that would help to provide appropriate facilities for mental health patients needing close supervision in a locked building while they are in treatment. The State is looking into providing these types of facilities. Concern is growing over many of these patients who continue to be housed in prison on an emergency basis since Hurricane Irene. Much testimony was taken on H.535, a bill authorizing appropriations for a study on racial disparities in our criminal system. We heard from the State Police, City Police, several Justice Centers and individuals who wanted to share their personal stories. According to recent data released last week, our State Police are doing an excellent job with following policies set in regard to racial bias. The Committee will be discussing results of all of the testimony to determine how to deal with this bill. Given difficult economic struggles in the current economy, Rep. Strong doesn't see the need for another study paid for by the state. She believed testimony indicated a study was not necessary at this time. Continued work is being done on revising legislation for ignition interlock devices, and on mediation in foreclosure proceedings.
Rep. Mark Higley of Lowell reports the House Government Operations Committee took more testimony on the Office of Professional Regulation bill. Dentists, Psychology, Radiologic Technology and Naturopathic Physicians were all discussed. There was discussion of a proposal prepared by CPA Raymond Cota to help stem the tide of embezzlement here in Vermont. Some of Auditor Tom Salmon's information was included in the proposal. The Committee talked with Representative Mike Marcotte regarding H.587, the incompatibility of Treasures and Delinquent Tax Collectors positions. A closer look at possible checks and balances is being considered instead of dis-allowing the Treasurer to also be the Delinquent Tax Collector. Much more discussion is needed!
The House Institutions and Corrections Committee report was submitted by Rep. Linda Myers of Essex. She reports a hodge-podge of testimony in Committee room as members continued work on the Waterbury Complex, Capital Budget Adjustment issues, mental health needs of the corrections population, and overall capital planning. The Committee took responsibility for H. 577, an act relating to public water systems, and took testimony from Rep. Peter Fagan, the bill’s sponsor, and Larry Fitch of ANR. The bill will possible appear on the floor next week. As for the bill on mental health needs of the corrections population, a committee bill is nearly complete. It may also appear next week. In regards to the Capital Budget Adjustment bill, testimony continues on various sections of the bill in anticipation of receipt of the Freeman French Freeman report on the Waterbury Complex. The Committee looks forward to their recommendations on placement of state employees in various areas of central Vermont including Waterbury, Barre and Montpelier. The FFF report is expected March 9 and the Committee will get a first-hand look at the information it offers after the Town Meeting break. The Speaker has requested the CBA bill no later than a week and a half after the break. It will be interesting to see if that can be done. Rep. Myers offers kudos to the University of Vermont. The UVM acting president and other university staff visited the committee to reiterate the university’s decision to forego its $1.8 million capital construction funding in the FY 2013 Capital Bill and instead want that money to be used for Tropical Storm Irene relief. The Committee thanked the University for its generosity and for the school’s opening its doors to state employees displaced by the storm.
Rep. Jim Eckhardt from Chittenden reports the House Health Care Committee had an extremely trying week. The Committee Chair announced the Health Care Bill H-559 had to be out Wednesday or Thursday. On Wednesday night Rep. Komline from Dorset and Rep Eckhardt were prepared to work into the night hours to get the bill out. However, instead of closing sections of the bill, the committee seemed to be wasting time. Six hours was spent discussing parts of the bill without closing even one of the remaining five remaining sections. At 5:30 pm the Chair called it quits and stated that the Committee would need to close sections first thing in the morning and that the following day would be a very long one. Rep. Komline and Rep. Eckhardt stated that the Committee should and work the issues through. That did not happen. There were two issues that the Republican team really cared about in the bill. One concerned plans inside and outside the Health Care Exchange to generate competition and give Vermonters the choices intended by the Federal Law (PPACA). Instead it appeared the Administration wanted to herd people into the exchange and not have an option outside the exchange. They stated that they wanted a robust exchange and did not want people taking away from the exchange by going outside of the exchange “we need as many people in the exchange as possible”. The second issue was the proposal by the administration to have a Basic Health Care Plan outside the exchange that would increase Medicaid from 133% of Federal Poverty Level to 200% of FPL. This plan by the administration fly’s right in the face of the inside/ outside discussion. If they wanted everyone inside the exchange than why did the Committee design a new plan outside the exchange? Apparently options in the New Health Care Plan were needed that would not be available inside the exchange. The committee then took a strange twist Wednesday by attacking the brokers that sell insurance. It was stated that brokers (people who sell insurance) in Vermont add about 5% to the cost of insurance in Vermont. It was brought up that once the exchanges start we will be contracting with navigators to provide that function and that just the administration of the exchange was going to cost us approx $10 million. The majority on the Committee would hear nothing of it and in true partisan politics, drafted language to go after the brokers. They gave the brokers a 12 hour window to come in and testify. On Thursday at 4:15 pm the bill was passed out of the house on a partisan vote of 8 in favor 2 against and 1 absent. This bill passed without knowing what the plans are, how much the plans are going to cost or how they will be paid for. It continues to set the Doctors on a path of having to quit their practices and either join hospitals/FQHC or leave the state. It also now funnels all people who work for an employer with under 50 employees into the exchange (herding). Rep. Eckhardt is hopeful the Senate can take some of these question marks and turn them into knowns.
Rep. Mike Hebert from Vernon reports the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee continued to take testimony on H.468 and H.485, the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and Solid Waste bills. Rep. Mike Hebert met with representatives of the Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD), Bob Spencer Exec. Dir. and Betty Frye from the Board of Directors. They discussed the concerns of small haulers and businesses centered around H.485. He also spoke with the Chair of NR&E and learned a rewrite of the bill is in the works. This coming week the concentration will be on H.485 with goal to bring the bill to a committee vote on Thursday or Friday. At this time H.468 has been put on hold.
The Fish, Wildlife and Water Resource Committee did a lot of work this week on the yet un-numbered Lakes Bill, a committee bill. Rep. Peter Fagan reports the bill would create a Water Resource Preservation Program to improve the water quality of the state, address flood damage issues including prevention and provide reasonable assurance regarding Total Maximum Daily Load implementation. A fee would be established by the Natural Resources Board by rule on all developed property and property used for farming.Property exempt from taxation shall NOT be exempted from paying this fee. A penny or more would be added onto the education property tax to fund the program and all property including non-profits, schools, churches, municipal and state roads and infrastructure would be assessed the tax. Then a tax based upon every property’s impervious surface area would be added. The Committee is not attempting to fix this. The bill would also take 50% of all unclaimed bottle deposits on a monthly basis through a very cumbersome bottle deposit transaction account apparatus that is not completely developed. A great deal of the bill addresses agricultural water quality issues. It was stated in the committee that" if you own a horse, you are a small farm operation and all small farm operations shall have a full blown nutrient management plan!" There was great discussion around defining the small farm operation and the responsibility they should take by statute to clean the state's waters. Competing environmental interest groups offered different ideas on the same topics. This issue is an agricultural issue and should be in the Agriculture Committee but there does not seem to be interest in the Committee to send it there. A study is to be developed to work on the funding mechanism. Regarding H644 the state's fishing access areas is a conundrum. Fishermen and hunters want the parking areas, while recreational users want parking access also.
H560 plus another related bill, Certification and training for anyone operating machinery in streams and conducting stream alterations, seem to be a priority due to Irene and the damage caused by all the operators who were in streams or rivers after the flood. There has not been much work done on this bill, but the gist is that everyone on a machine working in a stream will need training and a certification in addition to the stream alteration permit or in the case of a flood, an emergency stream alteration permit. This would be a paper permit issued to the machine operator. A fisheries biologist would approve the emergency permit after a member of the legislative local body approves the permit request and then the secretary of ANR would approve. Rep. Fagan reports that then the emergency permit would finally be forwarded to the operator who, if he screws up, will be punished with fines.
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