Two Sides of Legislative Session

[Chris Santee]

CREATING OPPORTUNITY
By Gov. Peter Shumlin

This legislative session has created greater economic security, more opportunity, and a better quality of life for all Vermonters. We came together to make progress for those who elected us to serve. And together we made this biennium one of the most productive and successful in recent memory.

All over Vermont we are seeing the results of the work we’ve done together.

Vermont now has the second lowest unemployment rate in America, and we’ve created nearly 11,000 jobs since 2011.

Vermont is now home to one of the top ten most promising tech hubs in America, and our focus on making Vermont a leader in charting a cleaner, greener energy future is paying off. We lead the nation in per capita solar job creation. In 2013 alone, nearly 1,000 solar jobs were created, and in the past three years we have added four times the amount of solar onto the grid.

We’ve rebuilt for the future after Irene, ensuring Vermont is better prepared to withstand the storms that are headed our way. And we have invested in many of our downtowns, strengthening jobs, housing, and community all over the state.  From Kaman Composites in Bennington to WCW in Manchester to GE in Rutland to Mylan in St. Albans, companies in Vermont are thriving, adding jobs, and making Vermonters proud.

But while all of this is good news we know that the job is not done. There are too many Vermonters working harder than ever in this economic recovery, but still struggling to make ends meet and get ahead.

These are the Vermonters who will benefit from the work we have done together these past two years.

JOBS AND ECONMIC OPPORTUNITY
This biennium we continued our focus on creating jobs and expanding economic opportunity for Vermonters. We created the Vermont Enterprise Incentive Fund so that we can act quickly to attract and retain jobs and compete with other states. We boosted VEDA’s Vermont Entrepreneurial Lending Program and doubled the capacity of the Small Business Offering Exemption to support small business investment. We doubled the Downtown Tax Credit Program to continue the growth and revitalization of Vermont’s downtowns and villages.

Building on the success we’ve had growing jobs through investments in renewable energy, we expanded net metering to allow more Vermont homeowners and businesses to cut their energy bills, reduce reliance on dirty fuels and create green jobs for Vermonters.

In addition, we made the biggest investment in state history in Vermont’s roads and bridges, growing jobs by repairing a record 100 bridges and over 370 miles of roads.

EDUCATION
As I said two years ago at the start of my second term, Vermont's future prosperity will be bright if we can take the great education system we have in Vermont and make it the best. During this legislative biennium we have improved education from the earliest years through professional training. 

This year we expanded access to universal pre-kindergarten education to all three and four year-olds so every child in Vermont will have an opportunity to arrive at kindergarten ready to learn. Combined with a $37 million federal grant to support early childhood education programs, Vermonters born today will have a brighter future ahead than at any time in the history of our state.

We also expanded opportunities for Vermont students to prepare for the higher skill, higher wage jobs that 21st century employers offer, by providing personalized learning plans, internships and workforce training.

To ensure more working families are able to send their children to college, we’ve done something truly extraordinary that few states can match: Thanks to expanded dual enrollment, early college programs and the Vermont Strong Scholars Program you passed this session, Vermont students who go to college in Vermont and agree to work in the state after they graduate can now receive up to two years of free college education. As students and parents nationwide struggle with ever-rising student loan debt, we in Vermont are figuring out innovative ways to make college more affordable for middle class families.

We all know that kids cannot learn when they are hungry. I am proud to say that last year Vermont became the first state in the nation to provide free lunch for all low-income students.

HELPING VERMONTERS
The combination of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression and misguided federal cuts to important programs has dealt a blow to Vermont’s middle class. This biennium, we took a number of steps to turn the tide and help get working Vermonters back on their feet.

Recognizing that everyone who puts in a full day’s work deserves to make a wage that will give them and their family a fighting chance, we’re raising the minimum wage higher in each of the next four years, joining a growing number of states nationwide that are moving on their own in the face of congressional inaction.

And we’re taking steps to help the most vulnerable Vermonters by increasing the Vermont Rental Subsidy Program and Family Supportive Housing for families who need assistance to stay in permanent housing, by investing $300,000 to help support Vermont emergency shelters and increase seasonal capacity, and by increasing support for child care.

TACKLING OPIATE ADDICTION IN VERMONT
In my State of the State speech at the beginning of this legislative session, I said we can no longer afford to avert our eyes to the rising tide of heroin and other opiate addiction here in Vermont.  We know this is a crisis every state faces, though few have wanted to talk about it openly. I know the conversation here has been difficult but important, and I am so proud of the progress we have made.  Thanks to the legislature's hard work this session, Vermont is now leading the nation by finding innovative ways to address the addiction crisis.

Right now, we are eliminating waiting lists at drug treatment centers, primarily in Chittenden County, the Northeast Kingdom and central Vermont, ensuring treatment services are immediately available to every Vermonter in need.

We’re implementing statewide evidence-based assessments and pre-trial services to move addicted Vermonters who have committed certain crimes to support their habits into treatment when appropriate.  Judges will now also have the option of tougher sentencing of individuals transporting drugs into Vermont and for those who use dangerous weapons to break into homes and steal property to support a drug habit.

These changes, along with others that enable us to treat drug addiction as a health care issue, rather than strictly a criminal issue, are critical in preserving the high quality of life that Vermonters enjoy, visitors seek, and companies prize when making decisions about where to grow.

I was also proud that the Legislature worked with me to add protections for Vermonters who are victims of domestic abuse, ensuring weapons relinquished by those subject to a relief from abuse order are stored safely and effectively. In addition, we updated the law to prohibit rapists from obtaining visitation or custody rights to children conceived as a result of sexual assault.

We took on tough issues, passing legislation allowing those with painful terminal illness to end their suffering on their own terms and making Vermont the first state in the nation to require the labeling of food produced from genetic engineering.

With the leadership of House Speaker Shap Smith and Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, we pulled together on behalf of working Vermonters, employers, women, children, the environment, and strong communities. When we disagreed, we found compromise and set Vermont on a path for continued success.

This session we proved that democracy is alive and well in Vermont. There is still work to be done, and the road ahead will bring with it a new set of challenges. But thanks to our tradition of working together and focusing on the people who elected us to serve, we’ll meet those challenges head on.   

[Chris Santee]

VTGOP STATEMENT ON THE END OF THE 2013/2014 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

It's Time for a Change

Montpelier, Vt. --  With the 2013-2014 legislative session now concluded, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the work that done and its impact on the working families of our state. 

The key question is this:  Are  Vermonters better now than we were when this 2-year legislative session began in January 2013.

Of the roughly 8,000 Vermonters who have dropped out of the workforce since Governor Shumlin took office, nearly 1,800 have either retired and not been replaced, left the state to look for work, or quit looking for work altogether -- just since January 2013 when this legislative session began. 

The total number of employed Vermonters has increased an alarmingly low one-half of one percent (0.50%) since this legislature convened. 

Since this Legislature was elected, and the governor re-elected, IBM has laid off more than 500 workers in Chittenden County, Plasan Carbon Composites moved 143 jobs from Bennington County to Michigan, Kennametal announced it would close it's Lyndonville plant and eliminate 80 jobs in Caledonia County and Energizer closed its operation in Franklin County.  This is in addition to the many other job losses seen in dozens of other small businesses who were forced to scale back in an environment of higher costs and lower revenue. 

Undeterred by the economic insecurity facing too many of Vermont's working families,  Governor Shumlin and the Democrat super majority in the Legislature proposed -- and passed -- millions of dollars in more taxes and fees.  They also passed legislation that would increase the cost of healthcare and energy. 

More specifically, Governor Shumlin and the Democrat-controlled Legislature imposed:
A state budget that increased by 5%, more than twice the rate, or more, of growth many Vermonters are seeing in their paychecks.
A new 5% statewide property tax increase (for a total 14% increase in residential property tax rates over the past four years)
A doubling of your health care claims tax
A gas tax increase of 5.9 cents per gallon
A diesel fuel tax increase of 3-cents in July 2013
Another diesel fuel tax increase of 1-cent that will go into effect in July 2014

Keep in mind that while they were passing these cost increases, they were also seriously contemplating:
A bottled water tax;
A "developed property" fee;
A 10-cent per package tax increase on "flushable products;"
A 16-cent per bottle soda tax increase; and
A new plastic shopping bag tax.

In the end, Governor Shumlin and the Democrat-controlled Legislature pushed through over $5-million dollars of new taxes on Vermonters this year alone -- and they still didn't address the state's structural budget deficits.   

The budget passed the by the Legislature and signed by the Governor creates a deficit of about $70-million next year.  That deficit is expected to grow to about $75-million by fiscal year 2017.  This is neither sustainable nor bearable to struggling working-class Vermonters.

Further clouding the horizon, and slowing job creation, are the Democrat's looming -- yet still secret -- government-run health care tax plans.   

Potential tax increases to pay for the program -- which could put bureaucrats and politicians in charge of your health care decisions -- include:

Quadrupling of the state sales tax from 6% to 23% or higher; or

More than doubling of income tax rates on all Vermonters; or

Increasing the payroll tax -- ultimately paid by workers -- of two to three times the current rate; or

A combination of these or other taxes to raise approximately $2-billion and thereby doubling the size of the state's budget and very likely exponentially increasing the size of state government itself.

These facts reveal a very different picture than what Governor Shumlin and legislative leaders would have you believe. 

At the conclusion of the legislative session, House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morrisville) said, "We have done incredible work."  Governor Shumlin described the session as "..one of the most productive, successful sessions in recent memory." 

The laid off worker for whom the unemployment rate is 100 percent; the struggling small business owner and the thousands of working families who will need to balance their household budgets with stagnant income, higher taxes, and little hope for change from Montpelier will surely disagree with those descriptions.

For middle class Vermonters, enough is enough -- it's time for a change. 

Over the course of this campaign season, Vermont's Republicans will offer a new vision for our state and give Vermonters a clear choice.  Republican candidates will offer proposals to grow the economy and make Vermont more affordable.

With real commitments -- and real, detailed proposals -- to support the creation of more good Vermont jobs, we will work to increase the economic security of every Vermonter. 

The Republican healthcare plan, for example, will deliver on the promise of accessible, affordable, high quality health care that increases choices for patients and keeps government bureaucrats out of your personal healthcare decisions.  Further, we will have the courage to tackle Vermont's unsustainable property taxes and propose real reforms that preserve the quality of education in our state while reconnecting town voters with their local school budgets. 

But we won't stop there.  We will be focused.  We will be disciplined.  We will be positive.  And, most importantly for voters, we will be specific -- because voters have a right to know exactly what reforms we will work to achieve in Montpelier.

Addressing the economic concerns of Vermonters -- and our states crisis of affordability -- will require new leadership in Montpelier that is both transparent and accountable to the people of our state. 

Vermont Republicans will offer that leadership.  We hope you'll think about what's really happening in Vermont -- look past the political smoke and mirrors -- and give the ideas we will offer over this campaign serious consideration.   We believe Vermont deserve better.

[mirjo]

Just out of curiosity on the job losses/plant closings these are directly attributed to the Vt tax climate of the Shumlin administration?

I can say with certainty, IBM cutting jobs has nothing to do with this state or its governing body. It's been axing people for years from Essex. Selling the Essex plant or shutting it down is internal to IBM and its product (& poor management) It seems improbable to be both innovative and on the cutting edge and losing over $1B annually. Something thing isn't connecting.

Since that company is clearly not cutting jobs/closing because of the policy here, why is it assumed others are? Was it stated publicly that was the reason? If that's the case, that's fine, but as I said. IBM cannot be lumped in to that, which is the reason why I call it all into question.

This is the kind of political hyperbole that I hate and does nothing for honest discussion/evaluation. Businesses closing & moving is not a new thing! It's an old thing, as old as the industrial revolution itself. We've had a number of businesses close with significant job loss over the years--some under republican administrations. What about Digital, Champion Jog Bra, GE, Fonda Container, Union Carbide (former Everyready site) and so on. They were here, many people worked at those places, they closed other business have come in, life has gone on. Administration after administration. Democrats, republicans, a mix of the two. We have not suffered anything so traumatic that we haven't been able to recover--which is why I just don't get the constant political wrangling. Jobs come & go. It's a fact of life, it will remain so until the end of days.  A number of small businesses have occupied the streets of this state. Over time they have closed & others have opened. I'd call it the circle of life more than anything.

As far as political opinion goes I am all for different sides as long as everyone is bringing facts to the discussion. It doesn't do us any good as a country to argue  differing points of view if we aren't presenting them truthfully.