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31
Political Issues/Comments / Weekly statehouse roundup #6
« on: February 20, 2012, 04:55:22 AM »
During the legislative session many groups visit the statehouse to see government in action. During this past week, several groups came to visit including ambulance owners/drivers and high school students from Future Business Leaders of America. On Friday legislators were honored with a visit of more than 50 new Eagle Scouts from the Vermont chapter of Boy Scouts of America.

Meanwhile legislative Committees continue work. Crossover is now just a few weeks away. Here are the weekly reports:

Rep. Vicki Strong from Albany reports  the Judiciary Committee continues to work on H. 751, which if passed, will help determine which court in which 16-17 year olds will be prosecuted. Presently, if youth in this age group are prosecuted as adults they are much less likely to receive services necessary for rehabilitation and are much more likely to reoffend. The bill will allow some minors to go through the family division, still allowing the discretion of the state's attorneys to charge other minors as adults in the criminal division  depending on facts.  On Friday the committee finished discussion and then voted H. 419, an act relating to the dissolution of civil unions. This bill will be on the House floor this week for debate and a vote.  The bill provides an expedited process for dissolving the civil union of a couple upon their marriage to one another and to provide access to a divorce or a dissolution to nonresident couples who established a marriage or civil union in Vermont but live outside of the state. Rep. Strong voted against the bill  because of her lack of  belief in gay marriage  and also belief  that divorce  should not be made easier.  These are her personal convictions and she voted accordingly in the committee.  Other topics in discussion in Judiciary are: remedies for people who fail to pay a fine given in their municipality, ignition interlock devices for people with DUI's, and situations involving power of attorney.
 
Commerce and Economic Development Committee voted out H.512, the Bishca Housekeeping Bill, and H. 565, the bill regulating Licensed Lenders and Mortgage Loan Originators, on Tuesday this week,  writes  Rep. Lynn Dickinson  from St. Albans Town.  Both bills received the full support of the Committee. The two bills passed both later in the week on the Floor of the House.  The Committee heard from an attorney from London on H.533, the act relating to insurance business transfers.  Jon Yorke came to discuss how this process works in the UK and Europe and was very informative. Rep.  Dickinson hopes for a presentation on this bill at a caucus since it is a potentially significant bill that should be  well understood. The Committee continues with more Risk Management from Irene, although there doesn’t seem to be any bill or issue that Commerce can address with this rehashing of the effects of Irene.  Also discussion of H.718 continues, a bill dealing with the department of public service and the Public Service Board.  This bill deals with Commercial Building Energy Standards, Electronic Filing for the Public Service Board applications and a study for the Universal Service Fund for telecom. More than  one and a half hours was spent discussing the electronic filing section, data security and other obscure details of electronic applications vs. paper documentation.  There was a question from a committee member of how this bill affects “commerce” for  businesses in the state and when the committee will examine the real impact on “commerce” from other energy bills being discussed in the Natural Resources Committee.  It was also mentioned that the Health Care bill in the Health Committee has an impact on “commerce” as well. The Committee does  not want jurisdiction on these bills, but would like to see them and hear some testimony on this aspect.  Testimony on H. 730  occurred dealing with Consumer Protection issues.  The week ended with testimony on the VEGI Report, ACCD, Tom Salmon, Doug Hoffer, Paul Cillo and Frank Cioffi. The VEGI  statutes  provide an incentive rebate to businesses that help the state retain or recruit companies.  Paul Cillo and Doug Hoffer are against renewing this tool.
 
Rep. Jim Eckhardt of Chittenden reports the Health Care Committee  continued to close sections of the Big Health Care Bill for the year H-559. Decisions made this week will allow employers with 50 or under to be included in the exchange. Not yet decided is whether or not the ever popular Bronze plan will be included. Also not decided is whether or not to allow plans outside of the exchange. Otherwise,  over thirty of the more than 40 sections of the bill have been closed. Most of these sections had agreement. Rep. Eckhardt voted for the under 50 employees to be in the exchange  and both he and Rep. Patti Komline are in favor of everyone being in not just those that work for employers with under 50 employees. The majority of the committee currently feels that there should be no plans outside the exchange. The Federal Affordable Care Act was looking to set up a robust insurance market inside and outside of the exchange. By having markets inside and outside the exchange, competitiveness would be  fostered and plans inside the exchange could be  kept in check. Plans would be more attractive and reasonably priced. It would appear that the committee wants to funnel everyone (93,000) lives into the exchange and have no markets outside. How do we make certain that plans inside the exchange are the best deal?
All association plans will go away. Vermonters who currently buy insurance through the Vermont Chamber or any other association it will no longer be able. What this will mean to those associations is uncertain but they will no longer sell insurance. There is still no word on what the plans will look like or how much this will cost the taxpayer. Unfortunately the committee chair wants to get this bill out of committee before those questions are answered. That is unacceptable to Rep. Eckhardt. They want the bill voted out by next Wed. or Thursday so much more will follow in the next week report.       
 
 In the Government Operations Committee  Rep. Mark Higley from North Troy reports this week more testimony was taken from the OPR (Office of Professional Regulation) bill. In addition testimony was taken on the following: Land Surveying, Psychology, Clinical Social Workers, Optometry, Nursing and Mixed Martial Arts. There were also two meetings of the Senate Reapportionment committee that some members of the House Gov. Ops. Committee sat in on. Members  of  the House Reapportionment process reported the need to move the House bill H.629 fast because the Boards of Civil Authority in towns that have 2 seats or more have until March 15th to get back to the Legislature with any splits creating single member districts that  have been worked out. While there has always been talk of the Senate not amending the House bill and vice versa, it appears some Senators have no such agreement and are ready to present their amendments on the floor of the Senate. The areas of Shaftsbury and Arlington in the south and Eden in the north are being considered. The House  committee expressed concerns that in trying to solve one problem another is created and the vote was decisive with 138 in favor and only 4 opposed.  Rep. Higley  encourages  voters  to speak to their Senators and ask that H. 629 be  approved, as is, soon!

Last week the Institutions and Corrections Committee continued work on Capital Budget Adjustment issues wrote Rep. Linda Myers  from Essex.  The committee discussed the over $2 million in reallocations from previous capital bills that are slated as part of Governor Shumlin’s $18 million plan for funding for the Waterbury Complex and the Vermont State Hospital. In addition, the committee heard testimony concerning a possible five-year plan for the capital budget and had a lengthy discussion of state building space needs and received a post-Irene update in regards to where state workers were before Irene and where they are now. On the corrections front, mental health needs of the corrections population were discussed as well as the issues dealing with public inebriates. There was a joint meeting with the House Education Committee to hear a request for a change in the board of the Community High School of Vermont,  which provides high school education for correctional facility inmates. Other discussions occurred on  progress on H. 24, an act relating to the maintenance and conveyance of Maidstone Lake Road, and the testimony from the sponsors of H. 607, which deals with out-of-state placement of those in corrections, and H. 701, which deals with invasive and non-native plants on state building property.

Rep. Anne  Donahue reports  that the House Human Services Committee worked this past week primarily in two areas of policy and took input on committee bills.  The policy  issues  were  regarding  the various Agency of Human Services budget cuts, and a section of the Health Care bill that addresses a project to coordinate care for elders and those with disabilities who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Next week, the committee hopes to address permitting 16-year-olds to donate blood, as most other states do. The committee is beginning to  tackle an incomplete part of work that has been ongoing for several years:  protecting decision-making rights of individuals for end-of-life care. Vermont has had no law on who can make decisions on what a patient who is no longer competent would have wanted, when there is no advance directive or guardian. The Department of Health has drafted regulations based on instruction in last year’s bill. The committee will address what aspects should be directly in statute.
 
The House Natural Resources and Energy Committee had a busy week reports Rep. Mike Hebert  from Vernon.   The committee considered several bill redrafts. No bills moved  along, and this may not be such a bad thing.  H.468 the RPS bill is being completely rewritten and a new draft  is  expected on Tuesday. Chair Klein informed the committee Friday that he decided the bill was too "complex and hard to understand" and could not easily be explained. He “leaked” this information earlier in the week but did not tell the committee until Friday.  This news explained why Rep. Hebert  received a huge number of calls and email about the bill and had no idea what people were talking about. The “rewrite” (new draft) will include the following items: 
•         The definition of new renewable will be generation coming on line after 2013;
•         by 2025 all utilities will be required to have 30% of their power purchased from “new generation”.  This may seem like a modest goal, but when you add in the 50% they will be purchasing from existing generation that makes the total of required renewable energy to be 80%; 
•         There will be a new more aggressive standard offer (fee & tariff) program, 25Mw/yr x 10 yrs. with a reserved technology component. 
•         Hydro Quebec will have a “tight collar” (cap) which will not allow it to be used to meet the entire 30% requirement.
There will be a caucus report  on H.468 Tuesday night, after the new draft has been reviewed.
H.485 continues to be redrafted on almost a daily basis. As testimony  continues more items are dropped from the bill. However an interesting point come up in testimony, the question was of enforcement was raised as the person could not find it in the bill.  Michael O’Grady said it was in the bill but that it was hidden in the language which referred to VSA 10 sec. 102 which gives ANR the enforcement a penalty power. Makes one wonder what else may be hidden in the bill?  'Oops! I guess I just can’t contain my skepticism', writes Rep. Hebert.  Also Leg. Council gave a briefing on the Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power merger.  The briefing was at a 30,000 foot view,  but  one thing that was very clear is that this is an extremely complex issue with a multitude of proposals. One of which made the headlines: Vt. purchasing controlling interest in VELCO.  Leadership needs to assign a sub committee to keep an eye on this.  Maybe a lawyer in the caucus? Or two?  If Vermont  can’t trust a company from out of state to delivery energy how can Vermont  trust a company from another sovereign nation to deliver?   
 



32
Political Issues/Comments / lunch today
« on: February 07, 2012, 06:37:01 AM »
I've been invited to lunch today with the Governor today. Don't know what he wants to talk about, but I'll let you know what happens.


33
Political Issues/Comments / statehouse weekly roundup #5
« on: February 07, 2012, 06:33:13 AM »
During legislative week  #5  two very important bills came before the Vermont House of  Representatives and were approved.  The first was the redistricting bill, done every ten years following the census. The bill alters several districts geographically, others were changed from two member districts to single member districts and a couple of  legislative districts went from being single member to two member districts in order to get needed population numbers.The other bill was the Mental Health bill, which proposed a different solution from that championed by Gov. Shumlin to solve Vermont's housing and treatment troubles for mental health patients. Here's the run down:

Rep Linda Myers  from Essex reports the House Institutions and Corrections Committee spent a marathon day Tuesday finishing up the Corrections and Institutions Committee portion of the H630, the Mental Health Bill. On Wednesday the chair and vice chair appeared before the House Human Services and Appropriations committees to explain Corrections &Institutions' portion of the bill. H630 went to the floor on Thursday and Friday. After the floor on Thursday, the committee spent time discussing committee priorities for the remainder of the session and took a quick look at H607, H626, H701, and H726, bills which were recently assigned to Corrections and Institutions. On Friday the committee took a first look at mental health issues in corrections, a section of H630 which was pulled from the bill to be offered as a separate bill.

Rep. Jim Eckhardt from Chittenden reports the Health Care Committee continues its work on H-559 (this year’s health care bill). The committee discussed the transfer of Bishca responsibilities over to the Green Mountain Care Board. This bill is full of housekeeping items meant to get the exchange up and running. The Green Mountain Care Board wanted to reach out to all supplemental plans such as Aflac, dental, vision, long term insurance, etc. Being that the GMCB is complaining that they are drastically overworked right now Rep. Eckhardt was able to pull all supplemental plans out of the Bill, saving supplemental providers a ton of paperwork and the bureaucracy that comes with a government power grab. This was a huge accomplishment. Some are starting to see that the GMCB has way to much going on right now. The Board  may attempt to put control of these plans back in next year’s big health bill. If he can get  re-elected and re-assigned  to the Health Care Committee, Rep. Eckhardt promises again to take all supplemental plans out again. Businesses  were invited to come to Montpelier to testify on the  new  health care  initiative and testify they did. They were all small businesses and most were very concerned for their survival should they see an 18.5% increase in their Health Insurance costs once the exchanges pass. There is still no word on what is going to be covered and how much this is going to cost. Rep. Eckhardt is pushing hard for those facts. He  has bipartisan support for his bill asking for this information but the committee refuses to take it off the wall for discussion. BCBS states that “recent cost estimates requested by the legislature however state the single payer system might cost Vermont taxpayers more than $9 billion or about $13,000 to $14,000 per resident”. Rep. Eckhardt asked BCBS for confirmation on those numbers and should have  them sometime early next week. Stay tuned as the Chair of Health Care Committee has indicated that he wants  this bill out of committee next Friday. 

The Commerce and Economic Development Committee dealt with bills relating to owner-financed real estate sales, and a bill relating to regulating licensed lenders and mortgage loan originators last  week,  writes Rep. Lynn Dickinson from St. Albans  Town.  The State Treasurer came to  visit  the committee along  with Jo Bradley to discuss VEDA and private activity bonds.  The committee received the latest version of Sec. 42 from the Bishca Housekeeping Bill; this section dealt with the issue of hospitals selling their assets to for profit companies.  It will change the section to a study committee proposal.  One continuing concern for the committee is how to address a piece of legislation that affects the sale of property on private roads (and also Class 4 roads).  Currently, if the owners do not have a written maintenance agreement  because no  statute creating a default for owners’ maintenance of private roads exists, then Fannie Mae will not purchase the mortgage. This is a thorny issue which passed two years ago only to die in the Senate.  Gov. Shumlin killed the bill in the Senate the last time and he feels our court case from 1983 should be accepted by Fannie Mae.  They do not , of course, , so people find themselves unable to sell their property. The bank won’t lend to buyers if the mortgage can’t be sold on the secondary market.  The Committee continues work on the Consumer Protection bill  dealing  with structured settlements.  On Friday, the committee  heard from several legislators who have proposed a variety of bills that have been sitting on the wall.  These new  bills were all interesting and generated a good discussion from the Committee members. 

Government Operations Committee member  Rep. Mark Higley of Lowell  reports the committee has been working very hard on the redistricting bill, also known as  the reapportionment. A concerted effort by many to contact the Speaker's office about their displeasure with last  week's  proposal to pit 3 incumbent Republicans against each other in a 2 seat district in Rutland county, had positive results. On Tuesday, there were two options on the table that all committee members agreed were better than what was offered the previous Friday. The proposal that resulted in a one seat district comprised of Shrewsbury, Mt Holly and Ludlow with incumbents French (D) and Devereux (R) was presented as an amendment and passed on the floor. The reapportionment bill H.629 passed on a roll call vote of 138 in favor 4 opposed.  Later in the week the committee started work on the OPR (Office of Professional Regulation) bill.

Rep. Peter Fagan from Rutland reports the Fish Wild Life and Water  Resources Committee worked on the fee bill most  of the week.  On Friday  the committee received an update about Vermont Yankee. Dr Irwin from the Vermont Department of Health reported that in a comparison of fish from Lake Carmi in Franklin county and fish from the Connecticut river found radiation found in both to be "very similar" to each other. Cesium, potassium and strontium-90 are in the same ranges for fish from both sources. This is important because it substantiates radioactivity from Connecticut River fish is NOT from Vermont Yankee but from "other human activity or natural in nature"! 

The other activity includes the nuclear weapons testing programs, Chernobyl, and WW II weapons usage.

 Rep. Vicki Strong from Albany reports the House Judiciary Committee started off the week discussing details regarding mental health patients who are currently in temporary situations because of lack of beds. Two topics being examined by the committee need  to be brought to the attention of  the  caucus:  1. The dissolution of civil unions between same-sex couples who got their civil union in Vermont but live outside of the state and want to dissolve the union;  2. Safe storage of guns in the home. The  committee will welcome input on these bills!  Work started on a bill that pertains to which court  will serve 16-17 year old delinquents. It appears the answer will be from criminal court to family court for most cases. Work  will continue  into next  week on this bill.   
     
Lastly, Rep. Carolyn Branagan from Georgia reports the Ways and Means Committee spent much time taking testimony on the annual Executive Fee Bill. The Fee Bill this year is very large, with dozens of fee change requests and an increase in requested revenue of over $11 million. Of course the look of the Fee Bill may change , but as of this writing the Committee has taken no action at all on the requests. There is little  indication so far if the fee change requests will be approved by the Committee or denied. The Miscellaneous Tax Bill also received committee attention this week. Auditor Tom Salmon gave an interesting report on his findings in the town of  Milton TIF district. The audit done by his office shows Milton owes over $3 million but the town disagrees.

 

 

34
Political Issues/Comments / Weekly Round up #4
« on: February 02, 2012, 05:39:49 PM »

Week number 4 was  last  week and it flew by with several important issues coming before legislators. Here are some of the highlights:

Government Operations, Mark Higley of Lowell reports the Reapportionment bill was passed out of committee late Friday on a 9-3-0 vote. The three no votes were from the 3 Republicans. Prior to this vote there was consideration for a plan presented by Rep. Hubert of Milton that would have Burlington sharing a seat with Winooski for its 10th seat. This plan would have eliminated the need to collapse a District elsewhere in the state and lose a Representative there. This proposal was defeated. Then, Rep. Higley presented a proposal to collapse a District in Bennington County which was defeated. Finally a proposal from Rep. Jewett (D) collapsing a District in Rutland County (pitting 3 incumbent Republicans to vie for 2 seats) was presented and considered. Earlier, Representatives from Districts affected by the 3 proposals were asked for their input and for any compromise plans. The only group that came back with an alternate proposal was the Rutland group with the help of Rep. Devereux (pitting 2 incumbent Democrats to vie for 1 seat). This was the proposal that was receiving the bipartisan support after a suggestion from Rep. Townshend (D) to (combine 2 one seat Districts pitting 1(R) and 2 (D) incumbents to vie for 2 seats). That evening the committee worked well into the evening and was told a bill had to be passed before leaving. Consensus was building for the bipartisan plan when the Democratic leadership started pulling their members from the committee for private meetings. Shortly after, the chair announced we are done for the evening and will meet back in the morning. Friday we had Rutland County and other Representatives affected by the bipartisan proposal sit in and discuss other tweaks to the districts. While no one was completely satisfied with the new changes, they seemed more palatable to those affected, so a third proposal was considered. After the chair stated all three proposals will be voted on, only two were. The 2nd one (Rep. Jewett's), passed on a 6-5-0 vote. This third proposal was never voted on. For a very accurate version of the events in committee, Nancy Remsen's article in the Burlington Free Press on 1/28/2012 says it all!

The Health Care Committee has been continuing to take testimony on H-559 (this year’s big Health Care Bill) reports Rep. Jim Eckhardt of Chittenden. More issues from last year’s Act 48 are surfacing. Some of the big things that folks should be aware of is the inclusion of Dentists and Vision folks into the BISHCA rate review process. This process will eventually be turned over to the Green Mountain Care Board. This is a new power grab when the GMCB has already admitted that they are over worked. At the current time it is just dental and vision however there is talk in committee about expanding that list. Also, there is the addition of a new Health Care Plan. They want to add the Basic Health Care Plan. This plan would expand Medicaid coverage to 200% of the federal poverty level. It is currently at 185% of fpl, again a grab at a bigger piece of the pie without knowing anything about the plans or costs. The administration is asking for permission to seek a dual eligibility waiver that will allow DVHA (Dept. of Vermont Health Access) to capture the Medicare money from the federal government. At the current time the doctor bills Medicare and gets paid by Medicare (federal). The Medicare rates are considerably higher than Medicaid rates. The administration wants to step into that process and have the doctors bill DVHA. DVHA will then turn around and bill Medicare. DVHA will then pay the doctors. The concern is that DVHA will receive Medicare funds and distribute Medicaid funds to the doctors for the service they provided. At the current time doctors cannot survive at all on Medicaid as the reimbursements are way too low to even break even. This is the reason doctors have stopped seeing Medicaid patients. Obviously we have voiced our opposition to this plan. Next week we will start to discuss who’s in and who’s out of the exchange. Stay tuned as this can only get more interesting as time goes on.

The Judiciary Committee began the week discussing H.419, a bill relating to an uncontested dissolution of a civil union between two parties that are not Vermont residents, reported Rep. Vicki Strong from Albany. Currently in order to get dissolution of a civil union at least one of the parties needs to live in Vermont for 6 months prior to the dissolution. Committee discussion involved how to change that statute so the parties did not have to live here for the 6 months prior to the dissolution.
Concerning the State Hospital discussion, Judge Amy Davenport came into the committee to share with us some of the difficulties of having mental health patients in scattered facilities around the state. The transporting of the patients is difficult and takes a lot of time. She expressed the need to have a courtroom facility at wherever the State Hospital will eventually be located for the benefit of the patients. Opiate Addiction continues to be of great concern. Chadd Lackey, from the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, a student of the connection between prescription drug abuse and heroine addiction spoke to the committee. We were very grateful to have had the information in the presentation given here in our State House. The committee continues work on other bills too such as mortgage foreclosures, harassment and bullying in educational settings, and others.

Rep. Anne Donahue reports that after a harrowing week of increasing pressure, the Human Services Committee voted 9-1 to a mental health services plan that includes construction of a 25-bed hospital adjoining the Central Vermont Medical Center, 4-year initial contracts to provide state funding for renovations at the Brattleboro Retreat and Rutland Regional and payment for inpatient care for a total of 20 individuals in the state's care and custody. It also supports a huge infusion of resources in community residential and other services in order to support the goal reflected by this reduction of the number of inpatient beds that existed at the Vermont State Hospital: to meet needs in people's home communities. A critical piece is a clinical oversight system that will help ensure that individuals are "in the right place, at the right time," and are neither stuck in a level of care beyond what they need, or are unable to access what they do need.

Work continues in the House Institutions and Corrections Committee reports Rep. Linda Myers from Essex. Vermont State Hospital bill received discussion and the committee attended a public hearing Tuesday afternoon on the “Mental Health System of Care”. Forty-three people spoke during the two-hour session presenting comments from people from all walks of life. In the committee room it was more, more, more discussion on the State Hospital including phone conversations with Rob Simpson, CEO of the Brattleboro Retreat, and Tom Huebner, president of the Rutland Regional Medical Center. For most of Thursday and Friday the committee waited to get the bill from the Human Services Committee. When the committee stopped work late Friday it was expecting a bill Tuesday. The plan is to spend the day Tuesday going through it. Then it will go on the floor Thursday and Friday.
 

35
Political Issues/Comments / Earned Income Tax Credit
« on: February 02, 2012, 05:34:30 PM »
Income tax time is nearly here. Keep in mind that Vermonters with incomes under $50,000 can qualify for as much as $5,800 as a credit or refund on income tax. It's called the Earned Income Tax Credit, and is available at the federal and state level. To find out if you qualify call the Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-829-1040 or go to www.irs.gov. You can also call 2-1-1 from anywhere in Vermont to make a free appointment with a certified tax preparer.
If you qualify for the EITC you may also be able to receive the 3SquaresVT, a great program which helps with food costs. Some households can get free school meals too. For more information or to see if you qualify, call 1-800-479-6151. Or if you prefer, you can contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us

Representative Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives

36
Political Issues/Comments / school taxes
« on: February 02, 2012, 05:33:03 PM »
Earlier this week the Ways and Means Committee voted to set the statewide property tax rates. The base rate for Homestead property was set at $.88 cents per $100 of appraised value and the uniform Non-resident rate is $1.37. These rates are both one penny above last year’s rates. Keep in mind that these rates are the statewide rates, and the local rates that voters approve will be added. The local rates are based on the Common Level of Appraisal in individual municipalities and the local school budgets. The local school budget is still entirely established by local voters.

The Homestead and Non-resident property tax rates had to go up for a couple of reasons.  First, growth in the Grand List statewide is slowing due to the economic environment.  Second, the amount of money transferred from the General Fund into the Education Fund is short about $27 million for reasons I have written about. Last week the House tried to solve that problem by allocating unused money at the end of the fiscal year to fill in the shortfall. However we heard that Governor doesn’t like the plan, and it probably won’t survive action in the Senate.  Work continues.

School Board members will be interested to know that the Committee also voted the per pupil base amount for FY 2013 to be $8,723. If you’d like more information contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us

Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives

37
Political Issues/Comments / weekly round up #3
« on: January 23, 2012, 09:58:50 PM »
Another busy week in the statehouse! Hearings on various topics were held for the public  in the evenings. A peaceful demonstration was held on the statehouse steps by Vermonters in favor of  single payer health care. Members enjoyed visits from several groups of students visiting  the statehouse to learn how government  works.  It was delightful  to see the Middlebury College group accompanied by their  instructor, former Governor Jim Douglas. 

From the Commerce and Economic Development Committee Rep. Lynn Dickinson from St. Albans  Town reports  that week number 3  began with a field  trip to the Mad River Food Hub Grand Opening.  It was a very impressive example of a public/private partnership in the Food to Plate effort.  This is a food hub that is private-for profit(as compared to the Hardwick food hub which is a non- profit) and is located in the industrial park in Waitsfield.  The committee continued to hear from Bishca personnel about the Bishca Housekeeping Bill, H.512.  The majority of H.512 is routine technical corrections, with the exception of the one section dealing with Health Care.  This is the section that changes the percentage of sale of hospital assets to a for profit company as a threshold to include oversight by the Attorney General's  office. Formerly 40% of the hospital assets triggered Attorney General oversight, and is now being changed to 40% of the affected assets.  This change is in response to the proposed sale of the dialysis units that Fletcher Allen ran with several community hospitals around the state.  More testimony is  expected next week from the hospitals and the AG’s office on this one section.  The Committee  had a visit from the Captive Insurance representatives.  The captive insurance industry is the showcase of Vermont's economic development efforts. Vermont is the gold standard with this industry because  of the  fine  job  Vermont does  in regulation and support from our state government.  Testimony  was  taken on  H. 552, a  bill  which will create a system for workers compensation to be paid on a electronic payroll card.  This is similar to the electronic payroll card system created with legislation a few years ago.  Testimony was given by Lawrence Miller, Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and Susan Donegan, Deputy Commissioner of Insurance from Bishca, on the Insurance Transfer Act, which would allow insurance companies to sell some of their commercial insurance lines to other insurance companies.  Lastly,  the  committee heard about consumer protection from the Attorney General’s office, and lessons learned for Risk Management from Irene.  The committee ended on Friday with a recap of the Food to Plate provisions in last year’s Jobs Bill, Act 52.

Rep. Linda Myers of Essex reports that the House Institutions and Corrections Committee concentrated on many of the same topics for the second week in a  row. Discussions about the Vermont State Hospital, the Waterbury Complex, and the Capital Bill Budget Adjustment all  occurred. Regarding  the Vermont State Hospital, testimony  was  heard  from  Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood, Susan Gretkowski, chair of the Berlin Board of Selectpersons, Bill Duchac, manager of insurance for the Department of Buildings and General Services, Tim Brunett of FEMA, and Stephanie Barrett of Joint Fiscal Office  on the financial impact concerning construction and operating costs of the Vermont State Hospital. In addition, the committee spent several hours in committee discussions about the governor’s Vermont State Hospital proposals.Jesse Beck of Freeman French and Freeman, the consultants who will work on coming up with three proposals for the Waterbury Complex. The Capital Bill Budget Adjustment plan from the governor was discussed by the committee, Buildings and General Services Commissioner Michael Obuchowski and Wanda Minoli, principal assistant to the commissioner. Next week  the committee will take part in a public hearing on Governor Shumlin’s Plan for Mental Health which will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 24 from 4;30 to 6:30 p.m. in Room 11. Two House and two Senate committees will hear comments from mental health advocates, stakeholders, and citizens.

Rep. Jim Eckhardt from Chittenden reports that the Health Care Committee has been very busy working on H.559, this year’s Health Care Bill.  Rep. Eckhardt continues to push for the financing plan to be released and have made some headway as the Joint Fiscal Office has agreed to work out the financing numbers for the Health Care Exchange. This is big news if  the work ends  up being done in a bipartisan fashion. Other than that next week we start working section by section through the bill and marking it up.
 
Senator Joe  Benning from the  Caledonia/Orange Senate  District  reports the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee passed out H.258, which is labeled as an attempt to allow public participation in environmental enforcement actions. At first blush one would think this is a bill to establish citizen lawsuits. However, it is not. It only allows citizens a chance to comment on actions in which an enforcement proceeding has already been started. They are not granted party status. It also attempts to align state public participation requirements with those required by the feds.In addition Senator Benning reports that the Senate Institutions Committee spent most  of the week discussing the Vermont State Hospital. The easy part is that the decision has  been made not to go back to the Waterbury complex. The more problematic part is that the Governor's plan spreads out facilities across the state (a good thing) but depends heavily on a network of wrap-around support systems that have not yet been fully established (a bad thing). Eventually the kinks will get ironed out. The objective is to make sure we take care of the most vulnerable patients in a cost-effective manor, while hopefully leveraging as many federal dollars as we can in the process.

In the House Government Operations Committee Rep. Mark Higley of Lowell reports that the committee worked all week on the redistricting map. After much time and effort the committee worked its way around Vermont and came up with 151 districts. The committee attempted to collapse a district in parts of Vermont with districts in the negative numbers to get back to 150. These attempts proved difficult to say the least and if possible, would require much shuffling and splitting of towns. Many other road blocks too numerous to mention, were encountered.

Rep. Vicki Strong from Albany reported  from the House Judiciary Committee that  testimony was  heard concerning H.413, An Act Creating a civil action against those who abuse, neglect, or exploit a vulnerable adult.  This bill relates to adults in nursing homes, or other care home facilities, who have been harmed by either another resident in the home or an employee of the home.  The committee heard that  overall Vermont has outstanding quality care in its 42 nursing  homes in Vermont. The committee heard an updated report concerning ignition interlock devices and how well they are working as a deterrent to keeping drunk drivers from being able to start their cars.  The Dept. of Motor Vehicles is pleased with the program and with the results that they are seeing so far.  The Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Patrick Flood, came into committee to discuss the current plan for supplying our state with much needed facilities and beds since Hurricane Irene closed the Waterbury Hospital on Aug. 29th .  He explained the forensic evaluations procedures used for deciding what kind of care a patient needs and where they would be best housed while they need in-patient care.   Right now some patients are being housed in the Windsor Correctional Facility due to shortage of beds in the Brattleboro Retreat and other facilities. The committee  finished up the week with an exciting time of going through H.403- Foreclosures of Mortgages.  Due to the increase in mortgage foreclosures during this recession, we are updating language and the concepts in the bill in order to facilitate the process of foreclosures for businesses and residential properties.
 
From the House Agriculture Committee Rep. Norm McAllister from Highgate reports  most of the this past week was spent reviewing and taking testimony on H.496,An Act Relating to Working Landscape. On Wednesday night there was a hearing in the statehouse for members of the public to voice opinions about the bill. The hearing was  very well attended. The committee spoke briefly about a bill that would ban the use  of  formaldehyde on farms in Vermont because of  illness to neighbors in close proximity .  The product is used to help maintain hoof health in dairy cattle.

Rep. Bob Bouchard from Colchester told about work done in the General Housing and Military Affairs Committee.  Testimony was taken on H. 239, An Act Relating to Public  Sector Fair Share Agency Fees. This is the bill that would mandate the  payment of fees,  not dues, by persons who do not belong to a union, but receive pay and benefits  bargained by the union. These fees are estimated at 80-85% of the full dues.
More testimony and discussion occurred on H. 216, An Act Relating to Preserve Federally Assisted Affordable Housing. If passed, this bill would allow fair housing organizations to have the first chance to buy these properties so they can be kept  affordable. The bill is currently being rewritten with proposed changes, and will be  reviewed next week. Additionally H. 59, An Act  Relating to Unfair Housing Practices was approved by the committee, 8 votes yes, 0 votes no and 0 votes absent.

Rep. Carolyn Branagan reported on a bill passed unanimously out of the Ways and Means Committee. The bill was designed to help solve the problem of the shortfall in the General Fund transfer into the Education Fund. The bill was written by Rep. Oliver Olsen from Jamaica.  The problem started when school districts were supposed to reduced their spending by $23million last year as part of the challenges for change. Some were able to reduce their spending, but most schools in the state did not. The new administration decided not to insist on making the spending reductions mandatory, but instead chose to reduce the General Fund transfer by the same amount and to make that reduction permanent by reducing the General Fund transfer base. So the General Fund transfer last year was reduced  by $23million and the General Fund transfer base was reset with the statutory transfer for FY2013 less than what it would have been otherwise. The $23million reduction was made in lieu of the cuts in education spending that school districts were supposed to make as part of the challenges for change legislation. In years when there is a 'waterfall' at the end of the fiscal year, normally the legislature makes a wish list of needs to fund with extra money. Waterfall money is money above the estimated revenue and above the amount needed to replenish statutory reserves. The plan unanimously approved by the House last week sends half of all waterfall money into the Education Fund and the same amount will be used to increase the size of the base transfer for future years. The remaining half of the waterfall money can be used as the legislature designates. This continues whenever there is a waterfall until the transfer is back up where it should be.  The change brings us back to original Act 60 calculations and restores the commitment made to Vermont property taxpayers. The expectation is that the Education Fund Transfer will be completely restored using this method.  Let's see what the Senate  does with the idea.



38
Political Issues/Comments / General Fund transfer
« on: January 23, 2012, 08:29:51 PM »
Last week I was pleased to co-sponsor a bill to help solve the problem of the shortfall in the General Fund transfer into the Education Fund.The bill was written by Rep. Oliver Olsen from Jamaica.

The problem started when school districts were supposed to reduced their spending by $23million last year as part of the challenges for change. Some were able to reduce their spending, but most schools in the state did not. The new administration decided not to insist on making the spending reductions mandatory, but instead chose to reduce the General Fund transfer by the same amount and to make that reduction permanent by reducing the General Fund transfer base. So the General Fund transfer last year was reduced  by $23million and the General Fund transfer base was reset with the statutory transfer for FY2013 less than what it would have been otherwise. The $23million reduction was made in lieu of the cuts in education spending that school districts were to make as part of the challenges for change legislation.

 The question of how to get the Education fund transfer back where it should be has been discussed in both houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Finally we have a way to correct the shortfall.

In years when there is a 'waterfall' at the end of the fiscal year, normally the legislature makes a wish list of needs to fund with extra money. Waterfall money is money above the estimated revenue and above the amount needed to replenish statutory reserves. The plan unanimously approved by the House last week sends half of all waterfall money into the Education Fund and the same amount will be used to increase the size of the base transfer for future years. The remaining half of the waterfall money can be used as the legislature designates. This continues whenever there is a waterfall until the transfer is back up where it should be.

The change brings us back to original Act 60 calculations and restores the commitment made to Vermont property taxpayers. The expectation is that the Education Fund Transfer will be completely restored using this method.  Let's see what the Senate  does with the idea.

Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives

39
Political Issues/Comments / latest revenues
« on: January 22, 2012, 02:31:26 PM »
Legislators at  the statehouse heard last week from economists who tried to explain the slowing of state revenue growth. We are about half way through fiscal year 2012. Revenues have slowed, mainly because of payouts from Corporate income tax withholdings, but also because gasoline prices are higher, winter tourism has been disappointing and overall economic growth has slowed. The General Fund revenue forecast for FY12 has been lowered by $1.8 million and Transportation Fund and Education Fund revenues have been lowered too. The forecast overall for FY 2013 is  down by nearly $14 million,  meaning less money to spend this year and even less for next year.

The good news (I guess) is Vermonters still know how to work.  In 2000 the Vermont  manufacturing sector employed 46,300 workers and produced $2.27 billion in output. In 2010 that sector employed 30,800 workers and produced $2.82 billion in output, a  compounding rate of 6.5% . The productivity gain is astounding.

Vermont's unemployment rate is 5.3%, 5th lowest in the nation. The greatest job losses  are in construction and manufacturing. There has been job growth in health care and social assistance, but much of that job growth is paid by government sources. The  economy is still far from stable.

I'll continue to communicate on these areas of concern. Contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us

Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia

Vermont House  of Representatives

40
Political Issues/Comments / Weekly Statehouse Roundup, week #1
« on: January 08, 2012, 08:47:41 PM »
 
The second year session of the 2011-12 biennium started off extremely well, with all legislative committees starting work, putting in many hours and receiving much new testimony.

 During this opening week the House Commerce Committee reviewed  bills passed in the 2011 session and got a brief rundown of  issues and bills to be worked on this session, according to Rep. Lynn Dickinson from St. Albans Town.  Anne Noonan, Commissioner of Labor, and her staff from the Department of Labor shared information with the Committee on a number of topics. Unemployment Insurance and Workers Comp bills from last year were reviewed and updates on issues facing the legislature this session were heard.  Commissioner Noonan shared good  news that Unemployment Insurance will require people with call back dates for seasonal work to do a work search after 10 weeks of unemployment insurance and use the “re-employment” help from the regional offices to continue to qualify for UI payments. Also, the Committee was pleased to hear the Unemployment Fund is becoming healthier faster than anticipated. The Committee brainstormed what works and what needs improvement regarding the Workers Compensation program. Regrettably, neither of two bills in the past two years have solved the many issues with Worker's Compensation. The Commissioner feels the program still is not user friendly for anyone. Act 52 (the Jobs Bill) from 2011 was reviewed with the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. John Hollar and others presented the Vermont Insurance Business Transfer Act, a  proposed bill designed to create jobs supporting the commercial insurance industry. The Committee reviewed Act 53, the telecom bill designed to loosen up the permit process in order to allow federal ARRA money to expand our broadband system in a timely manner.

Rep. Mike  Hebert from Vernon  reported that the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee has begun working on several bills. H.468 introduces Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and makes significant changes in the Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development (SPEED) and an includes expansion of 'standard offer'. Passage of this bill could result in a $350 million increase in the cost of electricity to rate payers over the next 20 years. H.475 makes changes to the Net Metering program.  Caps are removed and credits which had been used to reduce costs of energy usage charges will now apply to all charges on electric bills. The costs associated with delivery of electricity would shift to non net metering customers. H.479, a  new  bill, would tax the storage of spent nuclear fuel storage in a  new way. Currently the monies raised would be distributed as follows: 17% to the general fund; 11% to the education fund; 3% to the town of Vernon and the balance to the Clean Energy Development Fund. The Committee will begin reviewing this bill early next week.
 
House Institutions and  Corrections Committee received a lot of information this  week about the Vermont State Hospital and Gov. Shumlin's plans for its replacement, wrote Rep. Linda Myers from Essex. Jeb Spaulding, Secretary of  Administration, and Patrick Flood, the new commissioner of Mental Health both testified to the Committee. Andy Pollito, Commissioner of Corrections, reported on prisons. The Committee took an all-day field trip to Chittenden County to look at three businesses with relatively new buildings to see how their layouts are working for their employees. Stops included NRG in Hinesburg, 7th Generation in Burlington and Green Mountain Power in Colchester. These buildings showcased innovative design and construction, and the Committee will re-examine how state buildings are configured during discussions of  the Waterbury complex. A review of  status of FY2012 Capital Bill projects began with a  review from Mike Obuchowski, Commissioner of Buildings and General Services. Rob Evans, who is  the the Agency of  Natural Resources river corridor and flood plain manager, reported on planned flood mitigation in light of "Irene."

Rep. Bob Bouchard from Colchester reported the House General Housing and Military Affairs Committee started the week learning about housing losses due to Hurricane Irene with the bulk of discussion centering on mobile home loss. Later in the week the Committee learned about H.78 pertaining to laid off workers wages. The concern is that some companies have shut down without paying their employees in full, triggering a lot of questions, basically going back to the drawing board. H. 57 is designed to have the seller of a home pay for an energy audit at the time of sale. The bill received much resistance last year and was sent to a study committee during the off season.  The recommendation now is to have the seller submit a report informing the purchaser about the house including windows insulation.

Rep. Norm McAllister, from the town of Franklin, reported the House Committee on Agriculture heard from the Secretary of Agriculture as he brought the committee up to date on the $20 million in agricultural loss due to Hurricane Irene. The Secretary shared concerns about feed in storage and possible problems yet to come. Darby Bradley spoke to the committee on changes to easements on conserved land and related proposals.  The Attorney General reported on the status of the Dean Food Settlement and the pending litigation.  The mobile poultry slaughter unit may be sold. 

This week’s House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on Hurricane Irene damages that effected landowners and towns incurring record cleanup costs. Testimony was taken on the effectiveness of ignition devices on cars where the intent is to prevent drivers under the influence of alcohol from starting the car. Committee reporter Rep. Vicki Strong from Derby pointed out  that the Committee discussed priorities for the year and expects to have a productive year.

Rep. Anne Donahue from Northfield summarized the week's work done by the House Human Services Committee.  The Budget Adjustment bill will come to the House  floor shortly, so the Committee reviewed the administration requests for amending the Drug Monitoring system. This system was designed for doctors to intervene with possible patient addictions, and open it  the Monitoring system for police to scan for possible criminal offenses. Also reviewed by the Committee were initial assorted topics on Vermont's mental health system and whether the plan proposed by the administration meets the needs of Vermonters in crisis. The committee will be devoting the majority  of time over the next few weeks  to an assignment to deliver a bill to the Senate by the end of the month. Other Committees including Appropriations, Corrections and Institutions will have very major roles in the new bill along with the Health Care Committee. The bill will suggest all aspects of new spending related to expanded services to attempt to partially compensate for the loss of the Vermont State Hospital.  This new bill will stand alone, not be in the Budget Adjustment bill. 

Rep. Oliver Olsen from Jamaica reported on one of the topics studied this week by the House Ways and Means Committee. He writes that a draft report on Vermont's education finance system was presented by Dr. Lawrence Picus. The report was commissioned by the Legislature last year, and was intended to look at how well Vermont's education finance system was working against the goals that were established within Act 60/68, as well as some comparisons with other states. Unfortunately, the scope of the report was tailored to look at how the current system is working against narrow objectives within Act 60/68.  So, although some of the headlines have proclaimed that the current funding system is working well, the qualifier is that the system is working within the parameters that the Legislature established within Act 60/68. Dr. Picus was careful to qualify this statement throughout his presentation. In other words, we should not interpret this to mean that the funding system is working well, compared to alternatives that might exist.   The Picus report did provide concrete data that clearly shows that we could be doing a much better job educating our students with the significant tax dollars we collect. Rep. Olsen relates these key findings:

From 1999/2000 to 2000/2011, Vermont ranked #1 in the country for the growth in K-12 per-pupil spending - 149% cumulative growth (pg. 98);   
For the same time period, Vermont ranked #49 in the country for the change in student enrollment - while many states experienced growth, Vermont experienced a 18% reduction in student enrollment (pg. 101);
New Hampshire spends 20% less per pupil than Vermont (pg. 98), yet its students consistently score better than Vermont students on math and reading exams (pg. 29);   
Despite the extraordinary growth in per-pupil expenditures, Vermont's results have been relatively flat, or exhibit only modest increases, over
the past five years across all subjects (pg. 29);
Vermont students are losing ground compared to other New England states - both New Hampshire and Rhode Island have seen greater improvement in student test scores in the past five years (pg. 30). 


from,
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives

41
Political Issues/Comments / state revenue fiscal update
« on: December 20, 2011, 09:26:42 AM »
The  three largest funds in state government are the General Fund, Transportation Fund and Education Fund. These three funds give us a good glimpse at how businesses are functioning, whether more or less Vermonters are employed, how well our infrastructure can be maintained and how well our children's education is funded. So far  this year all three funds are above target.

 The General Fund revenue is up $2.19 million above the estimate for this month, up 2.87%. We're still less than half way through the fiscal year, but for the year as a whole, the General Fund is 2.63% above the target. All four of the biggest sources for the General fund are above the estimates held for this time in the current fiscal year and are ahead of last year. The four taxes I study for the General Fund are Personal Income tax, Sales & Use tax, Rooms and Meals, and Corporate Income tax. 

In the Transportation Fund revenue exceeds targets by $2.58 million, up 17.16%.  For the year Transportation Fund receipts were ahead by $1.54 million or 1.74% over estimates. And better yet, the year to date Transportation Funds exceed last year's revenue by 1.40% for the year. The components of the Transportation fund are the Gasoline Tax, Diesel Tax, Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax and several kinds of Motor Vehicle Fees,  and are all above target. Good news. These receipts are the most positive I have seen for the Transportation Fund for a long time. 

Within the Transportation Fund, some of the revenue collected is set aside  for infrastructure bond payment. This bond was set up a couple of years ago and all money collected must go to pay for the bond. The Bond is designed to fix our roads, bridges and culverts and money from it cannot be taken for any other project. The plan is working very well, even better than I though it would. So well that soon you may hear of  plans to use some of it to pay for Irene damage. Stay tuned.

The Education Fund also exceeds targets, but remember that the Education Fund is quiet this time of year. The largest source of revenue for the Education Fund is the property tax, and for the most part by this time of year property taxes have all been collected. The smaller sources of revenue continue to flow into the Education Fund year  round. I watch these sources because they make up about 12 percent of the total Education Fund. So the “non-Property Tax” Education Fund revenues receipts were above target this month by $0.84 million.

So far so good. Are things getting better or are our estimates becoming more realistic? Keep in mind the revenues are still below where we were in 2008.

There is still a lot of uncertainty from continuing global economic instability and of course we don't have a good signal yet on the federal budget cuts. I'm continuing to advise my colleagues to remain cautious.

 
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

 

 

42
Political Issues/Comments / GAPs program
« on: November 09, 2011, 09:58:28 AM »
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture is accepting applications for the Good Agricultural Practices Capital Improvement Grant Program. The Vermont Legislature created this matching grant program to help with capital investments made by Vermont agricultural producers who want to get certification for the Good Agricultural Practices  program.
The GAP Capital Improvement Grant Program goals promote food safety, increase sales of Vermont fruits and vegetables and create/maintain jobs by enhancing market access. Both GAPs-certified producers and those who want GAPs certification are eligible to apply.
A total of $50,000 was disbursed in the first round earlier this year, and an additional $50,000 is available in this second grant round. There is a maximum cap among all GAPs Capital Improvements Program grants of $10,000 per farm, and farms must contribute a minimum of 50% of the total project costs. Grants will be disbursed through a competitive process. Applications are due no later than December 16, 2011 at 5 p.m.
Please contact Chelsea Bardot Lewis, Agricultural Development Coordinator, at 802-828-3360 or chelsea.lewis@state.vt.us for the full application packet or more information.
As always, you can contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us

Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives


43
Political Issues/Comments / Tuesday's Joint Fiscal meeting
« on: November 09, 2011, 09:42:46 AM »
On Tuesday this week the Joint Fiscal committee met at the statehouse to hear reports on the status of money issues from the Legislative Joint Fiscal Office and from the Administration.
 
State revenues continue to come in slightly above target.

The Governor has asked state officials and agencies to keep their budgets 4% lower than last year. Budget proposals from the administration are expected to be presented to the legislature by December 12. Of course, work is already well underway.

The committee heard there is a possibility the statewide Education Property Tax for next year may increase 2 cents. Reasons for this include an expected spending increase by  schools statewide of 1.7% , the declining statewide grand list, a $6.1 million increase in the General Fund transfer, and the statutory increase in the base education payment to $8891 per pupil. I'll be sure to send along more information on education taxes later, but for now, know that I plan to argue against this 2 cent increase and am hopeful I can get the Ways and Means committee to lower it somewhat. Stay tuned.

Much of the information received by the Joint Fiscal Committee concerned recovery  from Irene. An information packed report from Neale Lunderville reviewed the numbers of state/local roads and bridges that remain closed. He also reported on the terrific work  done by state transportation workers in the last 2 months to get many structures repaired and usable. Commissioner  Lunderville gave several reasons why the state needs to have the federal repair cap of $100 million lifted. The congressional delegation is working to get this achieved. Total transportation repairs may cost as much as $250 million. Much work has been done by Assistant Commissioner Jen Hallenbeck to help Vermonters whose homes were damaged by the storm to find safe adequate housing.  Work on determining impact of changes in the rivers has begun by the Agency of  Natural Resources. The bottom line for total cost of Irene repair is still too early to pin down.  However, the Commissioner of Finance and Management Jim Reardon, well known in state government for his steady hand, is keeping an eye on all storm related money, assuring allocations are correct and that records of  storm related expenditures are audit ready. This guy always impresses me. 

Please feel free to contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us. I want to hear from you.

Last, I very much appreciate the expressions of concern and good wishes for my husband following his accident in the woods last month. Chris is back on his feet and has returned to work.  Thank you all. Franklin County really is the best place on earth.

Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives 

44
Political Issues/Comments / Update hearing
« on: October 31, 2011, 11:33:01 AM »
On Thursday, November 10, 2011, Vermont Legislators will hear an update  on a number of items affecting our state in 2011 - 2012. The public is invited! The calendar starts at 10:15 am with welcoming remarks
10:30- Overview of Flood Relief Efforts
 1:00 pm,- Revenue and Budget Process 
2:15 pm- Health Care 
3:00pm- Energy plan
Contact me for more information.
cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1,Georgia/Fairfax
Vermont House of Representatives

45
Political Issues/Comments / abatement
« on: October 18, 2011, 07:30:36 AM »
At the governor's press conference yesterday he outlined a plan to help communities with costs of abatement for  properties damaged in last spring's flooding and from hurricane Irene. The plan was developed by several members of the Ways and Means Committee working with the administration to help communities with taxes due to the State Education fund. It spreads cost for education tax abatement through all property taxpayers in the state. Current law requires local communities to pick up all their own costs.

The criteria is simple: loss has to be at least 50% of the value of the primary structure on the property and loss of use must be at least 90 days. The loss has to have occurred from a federally  declared disaster. School and municipal taxes have to be abated equally.

Total cost of  this help is estimated at $4 million and will come from the Education Fund,  leaving the statutory reserve at the required level. Towns are still required to make all regularly scheduled education payments for this year. The Tax Department will send instructions to towns.

I expect this proposal to quickly receive legislative support and be signed into law shortly after the legislature reconvenes in January. For more information contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us

 Folks at the Fairfax town office have told me there was very little damage in town from either of these storms, but other communities in the state really got hit. This legislation will help them a great deal.

Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia

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