Legislative Update From Gary Gilbert

The legislature was in session on Wednesday attempting to override the Governor’s veto of two bills: H 520, the energy and affordability act and S 164,campaign reform. On Thursday, the Free Press reported that it meant “two political victories for Republican Gov. Jim Douglas…” The session was actually worse than that. There were four political victories for the Governor and no victories for financially strapped Vermonters. It clearly demonstrated that the governor is not committed to solving problems in a collaborative way. An examination of the votes reveals a good deal about the political machinations of this administration.

Vote one was on the energy bill. The Gov. had stated in his veto message that “H 520 as it initially passed the house was a good bill – a positive step forward for Vermont’s energy future.. ” and a bill he would have signed except for what he saw as “an unnecessary and shortsighted tax….” Last week, he was offered a compromise with the tax section removed. He rejected this compromise even though his objections had been addressed. The override vote, of the entire bill, failed. This was not leadership.

The second vote was to override a limit on campaign spending to allow less well-financed candidates to have their voices heard. It had by-partisan support upon passage. Now it was made a partisan issue by the Governor’s veto. This override also failed.

The third vote was on a concurrent resolution congratulating the town of Springfield, Vermont on winning the right to host the world premier of the “Simpsons Movie.” This vote was an embarrassment. But important for what it tell of this administration. The Gov. had taken an active role in urging Vermonters to cast a ballot on behalf of Springfield. He was in the papers and on the radio. WDEV even rebroadcast his interview on Wednesday morning. It was on this program that the Gov. stated he believed that Vermonters were more concerned with the Simpson event that they were about events in the golden dome in Montpelier. What does this tell you about what is important to Gov. Douglas.

The fourth vote was taken after the film and many of the print journalists had left to meet deadlines. The Senate Finance, and Senate Natural Resources and Energy committees had created S 209. This was the original H 520 that the Gov said was a good bill. It did not contain the tax he objected to. It did not contain expansion of conservation programs that would have allowed Efficiency Vermont to make recommendations for all fuel users in responses to his criticism even though it was not listed as an issue in his veto message. It removed section 41 that potential could cause some conflicts with land development regulations. This was not a new bill. It was a bill that every member of the House had already read. It was the same bill that had passed the House with a 138-8 support earlier this year. This bill, which gave in to each objection that the administration raised, passed the Senate with by-partisan support. Yet this time the House, on a partisan vote failed to get enough votes to even discuss it. If the Governor has been as serious about energy saving and had worked as hard as he did for a Simpson movie, if he had shown leadership instead of playing power politics, Wednesday could have been a win-win situation. Instead the real score was Governor 4, Vermont 0.

Representative Gary Gilbert
Georgia/Fairfax
7.12.07