Vermont State Police removed 29 demonstrators from the House chamber Thursday night.
More than 100 protesters demanding action on universal health care and for government to prioritize the interests of the working poor packed the Statehouse earlier for the governor’s inaugural address Thursday.
After Gov. Peter Shumlin’s inaugural address, a group of them sat on the floor of the House chamber, vowing not to leave until House Speaker Shap Smith committed to holding public hearings on the governor’s single payer health care plan.
Smith says a hearing is under consideration, but he previously said he has no appetite for a public financing debate this session. Smith has made it clear that his priority is property tax reform, not single payer.
The protesters were ushered out by state police just after 8 p.m. after being given a dispersal order. Most of the protesters offered little resistance, but at least one woman went limp and had to be dragged out. They were issued citations to appear in Vermont Superior Court, Washington County Criminal Division, to answer charges of unlawful trespass, according to the state police. Nine of the demonstrators were also cited for resisting arrest, police said.
During the inaugural ceremony, the activists said health care is a human right and needs to be administered as a public good so that people don’t have to live in poor health because they lack the means to pay for it.
“We’re here to support Act 48. Health care is a human right, we want universal single payer health care,” said Courtney LeFebvre, 24, a member of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 208 from St. Albans.
“Shumlin’s backing down, and we’re not going to take that. We’re here to fight and we’re here to stay,” she said.
“I’m here to support single payer health care financed equitably with no premiums and no deductibles, no copays, paid for by corporations and the rich,” said Chad McGinnis, 32, of Burlington, also with United Electrical.
“All of our members have faced increasingly difficult battles of the past decade to maintain quality health care. Private insurance is not run for the benefit of insured, but for the profit of insurance companies, who are profiting from our sickness,” McGinnis said.
The Workers Center released an open letter to the Legislature asking that they recommit to Act 48, Vermont’s universal health care law, and develop plans for moving forward with equitable public financing. The letter has more than 50 signatories from across the U.S., including Amnesty International.
Wearing yellow stickers that read “The time is now” they chanted and sang songs, decrying Shumlin’s decision to not to pursue a publicly financed health care program.
Many packed into the lobby outside the House chamber, where the governor gave his address, serenading him as he entered.
“Our health, our lives, our bodies aren’t for sale. The governor his promises we know each one has failed,” the sang.
Department of Public Service Commissioner Keith Flynn said early in the day that the protesters were welcome as long as they were peaceful and did not disrupt the proceedings. Their actions were peaceful, but at times disruptive.
Small groups were able to enter the chamber, once to unfurl a banner reading “Put the People First” with the slogan translated into Spanish, and another cadre seated themselves in the aisle, at one point shouting their demand for action toward universal health care.
“We want lawmakers to keep moving forward and at least have a discussion,” said Chris Kerr, 60, of East Montpelier. “They need to make the case compellingly to the average person why we can’t do this before they just give up.”
The group chanted, sang and shared stories about how the lack of access to health care services have impacted them and loved ones. People spoke about the prohibitive costs of health insurance, resulting medical debt or having to go without care.
At one point earlier in the proceedings, protesters pressed up the stairs to enter the balcony, which had been reserved for guests of the governor. They were shushed by lawmakers and the governor’s guests, but continued to sing.
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras and Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon tried to restrain a protester, who pushed past them onto the balcony and continued to sing loudly.
Louras could be heard across the balcony telling the young man: “What you are doing is wrong.”
Rev. Robert Potter, who was giving a benediction, good-naturedly played off the protesters and continued undeterred, drawing intermittent applause from lawmakers and the governor’s guests that drowned out the protest songs.
James Haslam, director of the Workers Center, said that protesters who attempted to enter the balcony were under the impression the proceedings were over and their action was not part of the planned demonstration.
Haslam says activists want a public airing of the Shumlin administration’s economic modeling for a single payer financing plan, and an evaluation of the plans by economic experts and the Legislature.
“A lot of people wanted to make sure that this is not business as usual in this legislative session,” Haslam said. “This is too important to be put on the shelf and not be taken up and say single payer is dead. As we see, there’s a lot of people who feel very passionate about this issue.
“This is something we were told was going to happen and it’s something the governor got elected on three times and then all of a sudden they started looking through it and the story today saying single payer is dead has angered a lot of people,” Haslam said.
Many lawmakers were outraged by the breach of decorum. Demonstrators went too far, they said, and several legislative proponents of single payer said the actions at the inaugural would set the single payer movement back for years.
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, who presided over the inaugural, said he understood the protesters’ anger, but he was perplexed by their attempt to shout out the benediction.
In an exchange with Haslam, Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, said she was fine with the unfurling of the banners, but she found the disruption of Potter’s benediction “entirely inappropriate.”
“Everyone was OK with it until that point when they stood up there and started shouting over him,” White said.
Haslam said the appearance of protesters in the balcony was unplanned. White countered that all it would take to call the demonstrators off was five words from a leader, pointing to him.
Sen. Dick McCormack, D-Windsor, was also indignant. “Governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed,” McCormack said. “The people who were elected were attempting to carry out an orderly process of deliberation with the authority of the people who elected us.
“These people appointed themselves as spokespeople for the people and they attempted to disrupt the orderly procedure by drowning it out,” he continued. “The word for that is fascist. I am embarrassed and humiliated to be on the same side of the issue with them.”
Haslam says he wants to see full participation in the legislative process so that decisions are made “for the benefit of people and not just the large corporations.” He pointed to the lowest voter turnout in history of the state in the last General Election as evidence that people have lost trust in state government. “We want to make sure democracy works for everyone,” Haslam said. “Some people in this building are not used to this sort of thing, but a lot of people who don’t spend a lot of time in this building don’t have a lot of faith in it.”
A spokesman for Shumlin declined to comment on the protest.
VTDigger reporter Morgan True was asked to leave as protesters were being removed because he did not have an official media identification. Press credentials for the inaugural have not been previously required.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with quotes from lawmakers and Haslam at 8:22 a.m. Jan. 8. Anne Galloway contributed to this report.
