Gov. Peter Shumlin’s victory lap that began at the close of the legislative session seemed to drag on like the last stage of a marathon. The “signature” tour lasted about four weeks, and the first-time governor took ample opportunity to engage in retail politics and to celebrate a legislative session that was, in Democratic circles and the press, trumpeted as a great success.
Republicans griped that one-party rule is detrimental to democracy in Vermont, but even Shumlin’s critics acknowledge (and take a certain ironic pleasure in pointing out) that he got what he wanted this session – thanks to his old friends in the Democratic majority in the House and Senate, and the leaders of the General Assembly, Speaker Shap Smith and President Pro Tem John Campbell.
At times the governor’s staff stacked multiple signatory events into a single day along with speeches at rotary clubs, annual meetings for firefighters, business groups and country store owners, not to mention meet-and-greets at parades (four during the Memorial Day weekend). Add to that the flood damage tours of afflicted areas of the state, and it’s not surprising that Shumlin is, as one staffer put it, “exhausted.” On some days, the governor has had as many as six public events on his to-do list; as of Friday, he hadn’t had a break in two weeks.
Fatigue seems to have set in at last week’s bill-signing triple header, which included significant revisions to public records bill, legislation changing palliative care protocols and a measure that gives nurse practitioners more authority. Shumlin, who arrived at his ceremonial office 30 minutes late, asked his staff to remind him which bills he was signing.
By the end of last week, the governor had inked the last bill on his slate – the medical marijuana dispensaries legislation that will enable Vermonters with certain illnesses legal access to the illicit drug through special dispensaries. With that, Shumlin had signed 67 pieces of legislation, according to the Vermont Legislature website, and vetoed one bill – S. 77, which would have required testing of newly drilled wells for heavy metals and other pollutants. (Shumlin’s decision blindsided proponents, and in a Vermont Public Radio interview last week, the governor said he would consider a modified version of the bill next year.)
So is all the hoopla – the speeches, the photos, the rallies – this year overkill? Not at all, according to several officials from the Douglas administration.
While the number of public signings (19) seems like a lot, Shumlin’s schedule isn’t all that different from Gov. Jim Douglas’ last year, according to Neale Lunderville, former secretary of the Agency of Administration. In fact, Douglas signed 99 bills in 2010 (the fanfare quotient was similar to Shumlin’s) and he rejected seven – either vetoing the legislation or allowing the bills to become law without his signature, according to information from the Vermont Legislature website. (About one out of five bills introduced by legislators in 2010 became law.)
Like his predecessor, Shumlin responded to requests for public signings from dozens advocates and constituents who wanted to have their moment in the sun for legislation they worked hard to persuade lawmakers to write, tweak, rewrite and pass.
“Based on what I’ve seen he’s had no more or less than (Gov.) Douglas had,” Lunderville said. “It’s the prerogative of the governor. A lot of people want bill signings — (during Douglas’ tenure) nearly every bill had a request for a bill signing.”
And request they do. Shumlin traveled all over the state with his pen, inking as many new laws in public as possible, though he by no means responded to all of the requests, according to Susan Allen, special assistant to the governor.
Advocates, Allen said, “like a public signing.”
“They like to get the pens,” Allen said. “It means a lot to people who worked hard.” (Shumlin often presented the ballpoints to a particular advocate in the crowd – Deb Richter was the prize winner after the health care reform bill signing; Maria Archangelo, executive editor of the Stowe Reporter and president of the Vermont Press Association, received the signatory pen for her championing of the public records bill.)
Public signings make for irresistible politicking – who wouldn’t want to tell a story about laws that have a direct, and potentially positive, impact on Vermonters’ lives? The staged events drew as few as five people, and as many as 200, notably the health care reform law. (There were no requests, however, from constituents for public signings of the budget and miscellaneous tax bills – the two pieces of legislation that will have the biggest impact on the largest swath of Vermonters.)
While Shumlin hasn’t yet earned the moniker Governor Scissorhands (Peter Freyne’s nickname for Douglas), he may well be on his way. When Lunderville heard that Shumlin had as many six public events a day – signings, ribbon cuttings, speeches, meet and greets and the like – he drew an audible breath via cell phone, but he didn’t miss a beat. “If I were advising the governor,” Lunderville said, “I’d tell him to do just that.”
Lunderville said Douglas benefited greatly from eight years of mingling with people across the state.
“I’m in a believer in the Jim Douglas school of governing,” Lunderville said. “That’s how he learned what people’s wants, wishes and hopes were. He was in communities listening to them and bringing (their ideas) back to Montpelier. He always came back with ideas and perspectives that folks in Montpelier didn’t get all the time.”
Shumlin’s relentless schedule is beginning to wear the new governor down, one staffer said. At the end of the week, Shumlin will be taking a second long weekend off this year — this time in Cape Breton where he owns a home. The first was a now infamous jaunt to Dominica during a large snowstorm in February.
So how can the governor pay attention to the business of operating that $4.7 billion enterprise also known as the starship Vermont when he is running around the state meeting and greeting the regular folk 24/7? Officials say the grand tour was temporary, and it hasn’t had a deleterious effect on Shumlin’s ability to govern – in fact, he’s ready to dive into a strategic planning process with his Cabinet on Wednesday that could significantly alter reporting requirements for state government agencies. Shumlin’s “dashboard” budget transparency concept would highlight the results of state government services. That same day, his staff have penciled in the governor’s first press conference in three weeks.
A Finnish holiday
Susan Bartlett, a special assistant to the governor, and Robin Lunge, the newly named director of health care reform, are in Finland this week to talk policy shop with their European counterparts. Bartlett will address the correlation between poor early learning skills and prison time; Lunge will discuss the merits of health care reform efforts in Vermont. The all-expenses paid junket is sponsored by the Finnish government, according to Bartlett.
Slota to leave the Shumlin administration
Bianca Slota, the governor’s press secretary, is leaving the administration by the end of July to attend law school at the University of Connecticut. Slota, a former reporter for WCAX, will not be replaced.