Governor Peter Shumlin praised Chittenden County State's Attorney TJ Donovan's rapid intervention program at a press conference Tuesday. VTD photo/Taylor Dobbs

Praise for Donovan, but no endorsement

At a press conference celebrating TJ Donovan’s recognition for the rapid intervention community court program he pioneered in Chittenden County, Gov. Peter Shumlin refrained from endorsing the attorney general candidate, but he wasn’t shy about giving him praise.

“So one of the reasons that we’re reducing corrections spending in Vermont,” Shumlin said, “is because of the extraordinary success of this program that was hatched and created by the vision and leadership of TJ Donovan, Mary Alice McKenzie and other providers here in Chittenden County.”

The program uses rapid intervention – a pre-charge system through which non-violent offenders are directed to a community-based mental health or substance abuse counseling center – to keep people out of the state corrections system and use rehabilitation to reform the problem behavior.

“Since this program went into place, 624 offenders with 833 charges have been diverted from our corrections system,” Shumlin said.

When asked if his presence at the press conference was a tacit endorsement of Donovan’s campaign for attorney general, Shumlin said, “As you know, I’m staying out of any primaries among Democrats. I can tell you that TJ has been an extraordinary prosecutor for Vermont and has really been an extraordinary leader.”

Though Donovan did not mention his run for attorney general at the press conference, he said in an interview that he would implement the program statewide if he won the race.

Donovan said the Vermont Center for Justice Research, headed by Max Schlueter is analyzing the program’s success on a U.S. Department of Justice grant. Donovan said he expects the report will tell him what he already knows: The program works, and it’s worthy of statewide implementation.

Shumlin, having just come from a bill signing attended by current Attorney General Bill Sorrell, was walking a line with his public appearances Tuesday.

“I should point out that the current attorney general has been at two of the press conferences today, so, you know one of the joys of being governor is that we have a lot of friends … we hope,” Shumlin said.

Whatever his actions said on the day, his words seemed to back Donovan’s hope for the rapid intervention program’s future.

“As governor, I want to see it applied to every courthouse in Vermont,” Shumlin said.

Gov. Peter Shumlin and Michael Obuchowski, commissioner of the Department of Buildings and General Services. VTD file photo/Taylor Dobbs

Name that building

What’s in a name?

As Shakespeare asked the question, a sweet-smelling rose.

As the Vermont Legislature asked it, a job for Michael Obuchowski, Vermont commissioner of Buildings and General Services.

Two jobs actually.

Thanks to Tropical Storm Irene, lawmakers dumped a lot of work on the department responsible for all the state’s buildings: Oversee the construction of a new state hospital in Berlin, the restoration of the state office complex in Waterbury, and the Agency of Natural Resources’ move to new space at National Life in Montpelier, and finish efforts to co-locate a new Department of Health lab with a UVM Colchester research facility.

And while you’re at it, they said, come up with a name for the new lab, and also for the new 25-bed state hospital planned for Berlin near the Central Vermont Medical Center.

That job came as a surprise to Obuchowski, a former House Speaker and powerful longtime representative from Windham County who knows the ins and outs of the Legislature.

“I didn’t know about this responsibility, but I don’t think it would have kept me from taking the job,” he joked Thursday.

According to the capital bill, the commissioner “shall present three potential names” for the new health lab by Jan. 15 of next year, giving preference to “Vermonters who have made significant advancements in the field of public health.”

Obuchowski is tasked with the same responsibility for the new state hospital building, “giving preference to Vermonters integral to the advancement of mental health care in the state.”

The commissioner said he wasn’t aware of any precedent with these naming responsibilities but plans to create a couple of committees staffed with people long conversant with the fields of health and mental health and ask them to oversee the process and suggest names.

Health Commissioner Dr. Harry Chen and Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood will both be asked to be on the respective panels along with other officials and well-known citizens in the two fields, he said.

“You’re going to be doing us a big service by writing about this,” he said, saying he’s eager to hear suggestions of names from the public.

“The more the merrier,” he said. Anyone with suggestions can call his office at 828-3519.

“Where the panels go with this, I don’t know,” he said. But the Legislature will have the final say after he submits the three name finalists.

~ Andrew Nemethy

Blood donor age lowered

An amendment to existing law has lowered the legal age at which a teenager can donate blood without parental permission from 17 to 16.

Rep. Ann Pugh, chair of the House Human Services committee, said the amendment reflected a policy change favored by the Red Cross; 38 other states have already made the change.

The Red Cross advocated for the change since it will help meet the increasing need for blood for medical purposes — they conduct 75 blood drives at high schools around the state each year and estimate an increase of 1,000 pints of blood annually from the lowered age limit — and introduce the next generation of blood donors to this public service at an earlier age.

Pugh said the side benefit of increased “civic and community involvement” by young people had encouraged the passage of the change, along with testimony from the commissioner of health and the medical community that showed no health risk related to lowering the age limit. Red Cross policy is still to require parental permission for donation by a 16-year-old.

The change became law upon its passage in April.

~ Kate Robinson

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Contact:
Lisa Goodell
Communication Coordinator
Vermont Chamber of Commerce
802-262-0147
lgoodell@vtchamber.com

Learn how the social media site can boost your business

Burlington, Vt. – The Vermont Chamber Business & Industry EXPO 2012 will kick-off on May 23rd with the Senator Leahy Business Breakfast featuring representatives from Facebook. As part of Facebook’s Boost for Small Business series, Brooke Oberwetter and Bess Siegfried will discuss how to use Facebook effectively for business, and how the social media outlet can help small businesses grow and expand their customer base.

One of the premier events of EXPO 2012, the Senator Leahy Business Breakfast will offer opportunities for attendees to ask questions, get advice and hear recommendations from the experts. Plus, receive tips and tricks – including how to tap into the Facebook community and connect with current and prospective customers. Registration information is available online atwww.vtexpo.com.

On May 23 and 24, business leaders from across Vermont, New England, New York and Canada will congregate at northern New England’s largest business-to-business trade show, the Vermont Business & Industry EXPO. This 28th annual exposition of business resources and networking opportunities will take place at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in Burlington, VT.

A full schedule of events, and more information about speakers, seminars and awards, is available online atwww.vtexpo.com.

VTDigger

Media Contact:
Judy Stermer, Vermont Foodbank
802-505-0699
jstermer@vtfoodbank.org

Vermont Foodbank’s Hunger Conference Impact Through Innovation

Comes on Brink of Urgent Need for Support as Demand Grows

Advocates, experts, community leaders gather at conference to tackle growing problem of hunger in Vermont, with help from innovation and diversity expert, Dr. Steve Robbins

Barre, VT—As the Vermont Foodbank prepares for the annual hunger conference, demand is on the rise while resources struggle to keep pace. During the first quarter of the year, the Vermont Foodbank and its network of 280 food shelves, meal sites, senior centers, shelters and afterschool programs, have seen a 15-20% increase in demand for services. At the same time food and fund donations have lagged behind. “We are hearing from our partners around the state that they are struggling to feed families who are in need of food assistance,” said John Sayles, Vermont Foodbank CEO, “The Foodbank too is struggling to meet the needs of our network. We have seen a more than 400,000 pound decrease in federal commodity food as well as significantly slowed financial donations. This, coupled with increased demand has put extraordinary stress on the Foodbank and the work of service providers statewide.”

This year’s conference, held at the Sheraton Conference Center in Burlington on Tuesday, May 8th, will focus on expanding the conversation around hunger eradication. Attendees will have the rare opportunity to hear from Dr. Steve Robbins, nationally acclaimed for his work in the fields of innovation, inclusion, and diversity. Dr. Robbins will lead discussions throughout the day aimed at including diverse perspectives in an effort to find workable solutions to the complex issue of hunger in Vermont. Conference participants will learn not only about the true cost of hunger on individuals and communities, but also about how unconventional partnership are working to address hunger and reduce the impact of food insecurity in Vermont and across the country.

“There has never been a better time to gather Vermonters in an effort to tackle the issue of hunger,” said Sayles. “More than 14% of our population is food insecure—hungry. It is clear that we need a new approach to the issue of hunger. We need new thinkers around the table working with the charitable food community if we are going to end hunger in Vermont.”

According to a recent report by Feeding America, food insecure Vermonters see a $40 million food budget shortfall each year. This means that in order to ensure that Vermonters have enough to eat, more than 15 million meals need to be provided. “The charitable response to hunger cannot make up the meal gap in Vermont,” said Sayles, “We need the help of state government, business leaders, service providers and concerned citizens to reach our goal of ensuring that no one in Vermont goes hungry.”

Anyone interested in joining the conversation and attending the conference is asked to register before May 8. Registration fee includes lunch, keynote by Dr. Steve Robbins, and afternoon workshops. Registration is available online at www.vtfoodbank.org. Day of registration is also available.

When: 7:30 to 8:00AM—REGISTRATION

8:00 to 8:30AM—WELCOME

9:00 to 10:30AM—KEYKNOTE PRESENTATION

FOR PRESS: Q & A with Dr. Steve Robbins, John Sayles, and more than 200 service providers from around the state

10:30AM to 11:00AM—BREAK

9:00AM to 10:30PM—KEYNOTE SPEAKER

12:15PM to 1:30PM—BREAK and LUNCHEON

A detailed description of speakers and workshops is available online atwww.vtfoodbank.org

Where: Sheraton Conference Center

870 Williston Road

Burlington, VT 05403

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The tax would charge $0.0025 per kilowatt hour produced by Vermont Yankee. The tax would raise about $12.5 million annually.

Louisiana-based Entergy, the plant’s owner, pays $5 million currently in the generating tax. The company also pays about $6 million annually into the state Clean Energy Development Fund, which helps pay for renewable energy projects. The funding for the CEDF is required by two agreements with the state. Those agreements expired this year.

Entergy is seeking a new operating license from the Vermont Public Service Board. The Department of Public Service has asked that the board require Entergy to continue making those payments, but Entergy says it will put the money in escrow until it gets assurance that it can continue operating and that the state does not impose a tax to replace those monies.

Under the administration’s proposal, the tax would generate $9.5 million fiscal year 2013. The law would not go into effect until July, so the state would not receive the full $12.5 million it would in 2014. In 2013, $2.9 million would go to the general fund and $2.1 million to the education fund. Three million dollars would go to the CEDF, and $1.5 million to Vermont Technical College and the Community College of Vermont. Another $3 million would be up for grabs in 2014, and could potentially go to the clean energy fund.

The Vermont Energy Partnership, a coalition of businesses that supports Vermont Yankee’s continued operation, says the tax is a punitive measure aimed at an adversary in federal court.

“The Administration continues its efforts to shut Vermont Yankee down, only this time it is by taxing VY out of business,” a release from the partnership said. “To target one company with a 140 percent increase is punitive and the Vermont Senate should reject it.”

Both the Vermont Attorney General’s office and legislative council told the finance committee the tax could have some risk of a legal challenge by Entergy.

Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled in favor of Entergy in a lawsuit it filed against the state. The judge deemed two Vermont laws requiring legislative approval for the plant’s continued operation unconstitutional.

“We don’t feel it’s punitive,” she said. “We feel like it’s their fair share.”

Gov. Peter Shumlin said in his weekly press conference Wednesday that he thinks the proposal is sound tax policy and not an intervention into the Public Service Board process.

“It is the job of the Legislature and it is the constitutional obligation of the Legislature to set tax policy for all taxpayers in the state of Vermont, and what the finance committee did was continue as they have in the past to make a tax judgment about what they thought an appropriate tax would be for a generating facility that they thought was going to be shut down on schedule in March 2012 and obviously that’s not going to happen so what they’ve done is their constitutional duty,” Shumlin said.

Correction: The original version of this story said the tax rate for Vermont Yankee would be 0.0025 cents per kilowatt hour. It is actually $0.0025 or a quarter of a cent per kilowatt hour.

VTDigger

Contact
Steven Monde
(802) 828-5518

Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that Tammy Thomas, age 21, of Granville, New York, was arraigned on April 10, 2012, in Vermont Superior Court for Windsor County on four felony counts of Medicaid Fraud and one felony count of False Pretenses. The court imposed conditions of release governing Ms. Thomas’s conduct while the case is pending.

According to papers filed in court, Ms. Thomas is accused of submitting claims for payments in excess of $3,100 for providing care under Vermont Medicaid’s Children’s Personal Care Services program when, in fact, she provided no such care. Court papers also state that Ms. Thomas allegedly caused another person’s signature to be signed on these claims, thereby falsely authorizing payment to herself. Ms. Thomas pleaded not guilty to the charges. The Medicaid Fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of up to ten years imprisonment, and/or fines equal to twice the amount of payments wrongfully obtained. The False Pretense charge carries a maximum penalty of up to ten years imprisonment, and/or a fine of up to $2,000.

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Contact
Shawn Shouldice
Phone: 802-498-0059

Montpelier (April 10, 2012 ) – The Shumlin administration and the Legislature should specify how $9.6 million in small business tax revenue will be spent even though the program for which it is collected will no longer exist, said the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) today.

“Small businesses opposed vigorously the passage of Catamount Health Plan from the beginning because the numbers didn’t work,” said Shawn Shouldice, who serves as NFIB’s Vermont State Director. “Now the program is going under because it is unsustainable just like we predicted but policymakers in Montpelier intend to leave in place the tax on small businesses.”

Catamount Health Plan provides a rich set of health care benefits for certain Vermont citizens and is financed in part with a tax on employers – the Employer Assessment, which raises over nine million dollars.

“First, it’s objectionable on its face that small business owners will continue to be taxed even though the program that the Employer Assessment funds will disappear,” she said. “But there is an accountability issue here that is disappointing. No one in the administration or in the Legislature will tell us why the tax will remain or how the money will be spent under new scheme.”

Shouldice said that the administration and lawmakers owe it to small business owners to justify the tax or scrap it altogether

“Right now it’s a tax in search of a program,” said Shouldice.

Shouldice pointed to comments made by Anya Rader, Chairwoman of the Green Mountain Care Board, who recently said that Vermont is testing the limits of the federal law in terms of how far they can go.

“Having federal dollars to do it makes it absolutely worth trying. But what if they don’t,” asked Shouldice. “It looks like they will continue to burden small businesses to make their new scheme work for the short-term since the Supreme Court decision isn’t due until June, well after the Vermont legislature adjourns,””.

She said that Vermonters who rely on Catamount deserve to know what’s coming as well.

“If you’re a Vermonter on Catamount now, watch out there’s a new ‘deal’ coming soon – a system with lesser benefits, higher cost and your local neighborhood small business will be funding it.”

VTDigger

Contact
Sen. Bill Doyle
Phone: 802-371-7898
Fax: 802-828-2424

Town Meeting Day Survey Results

Montpelier, Vermont – Senator Bill Doyle today released the results of his 42nd annual Town Meeting Day Survey. The results include 148 towns and cities in all of Vermont counties. The number of returns were 12,300. The results are below.

Doyle_2012_press_release_on_Town_Meeting_Survey.DOC[1]

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GMP CEO Mary Powell testifies at a technical hearing on the merger of Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service. VTD/Alan Panebaker

Technical hearings begin in GMP-CVPS merger proceeding

The Vermont Public Service Board held its first technical hearings Wednesday on a proposed merger of the state’s two largest utilities.

The PSB, the Department of Public Service and intervenors questioned the heads of Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service on the gritty details of the monumental merger the utilities propose. The two utilities, which make up the lion’s share of the state utility market, would be owned by Canadian utility Gaz Metro, which already owns Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas Systems.

Attorneys for the DPS and for other utilities pressed Green Mountain Power CEO Mary Powell and CVPS CEO Larry Reilly on the governance of the state’s transmission system. The combined utility would control more than three-quarters of Vermont Electric Power Co., the utility that manages the state’s electric transmission system, and parties have questioned the utilities on the makeup of VELCO’s board.

GMP and CVPS offered a plan that would put one-third of the share of VELCO into a low-income trust, but the state wants a public role in the oversight of the company. Smaller utilities, including Stowe Electric Department and Washington Electric Cooperative, also want a seat at the table.

Powell and Reilly were questioned on how the utilities will account for the $144 million in savings they say will be returned to ratepayers in the first 10 years of the merger.

The AARP, which is pushing for CVPS to return $21 million to ratepayers as a result of a bailout in the early 2000s, said testimony Wednesday revealed that Gaz Metro, Green Mountain Power’s parent company, was always prepared to pay that money.

The utilities initially said the $21 million in “windfall” money was included in the $144 million in savings the company initially proposed. They later offered to invest the money in an efficiency program. The AARP wants CVPS to pay current ratepayers back in cash, split up based on the amount of electricity they use.

“We heard rumors that if we insisted on the $21 million paid to ratepayers we’re doing a disservice to the people of Vermont and that we’re going to skunk the deal,” said Jim Dumont, an attorney representing AARP. “Now we heard on record that’s not true.”

Michael Dworkin, former chair of the Public Service Board, and other witnesses representing the Department of Public Service will testify next week.

DPS Commissioner Elizabeth Miller said, “It’s been a long process, but we are looking forward to going through the technical hearing and ensuring the merger, if approved, provides a real and significant value to Vermonters.”

Dorothy Schnure, a spokeswoman for Green Mountain Power, said the hearings give the parties an opportunity to dive into the details which have already been laid out in hundreds of pages of written testimony.

Hearings continue Thursday, and the board has reserved 11 more days for additional live testimony.

~ Alan Panebaker

VPR seeks state funds to eliminate southern dead zone

VPR can be heard in four states and Canada, but its reach is still shaky in some parts of Vermont, VPR president Robin Turnau told the Senate Institutions Committee yesterday.

The radio station is asking the state for $150,000 to expand its access throughout all of Vermont. Windham County, including the Brattleboro region, is the last radio dead zone for VPR, as 16,000 of its residents don’t receive a signal.

Turnau said many residents of the region would benefit from access to VPR, including state-specific programs like “Vermont Edition.”

“Windham County residents have been asking for years, decades really, for us to serve that area with a strong signal. And they really want to be able to participate in the statewide conversations that VPR convenes,” Turnau said.

The project will cost $300,000, the other half of which will come from VPR. The money will go towards purchasing an antenna and transmitter, which will broadcast from an existing tower. The signal will reach 32,000 Vermonters.

However, the station may have trouble finding funding, warned Sen. Dick Mazza ,D-Grand Isle, because the state budget was “hit for $18 million” to pay for damages from Tropical Storm Irene.

VPR also missed inclusion in the governor’s budget in January because the station still needed to get a broadcast license and assess the technological requirements of expanding its signal.

VPR, unlike public radio stations elsewhere, does not receive funding from the state. The last time it received a grant was in 1999 and then again in 2000, when it expanded its coverage to St. Johnsbury and Bennington County.

~ Erin Hale

Accessibility in emergencies focus for FEMA, Red Cross

Representatives from FEMA and the Red Cross spoke at the Vermont Disability Awareness Day press conference about recent efforts to improve the state’s emergency response mechanisms to meet the needs of Vermonters with disabilities.

Larry Crist, a member of the Vermont and New Hampshire Valley Red Cross, said upgrade efforts have focused on improving accessibility in shelters and expanding the state’s cache of emergency functional needs equipment. The Red Cross has worked on this project with Disability Rights Vermont.

“A shelter needs to be functional for everyone who uses it and that goes for the full range of an individual with no apparent disability, to an individual with a challenging disability,” Crist said.

Crist described the different experience of two towns during Irene, both with populations with functional needs. One contacted the Red Cross prior to the storm, while the other did not.

“Fortunately because of functional needs equipment we had purchased we were able to get 25 medical cots to the town, the town found volunteers within town, and later that night that building did, in fact, flood. We had 50 people housed, 22 required use of medical cots,” Crist said.

“The next day another town contacted us – [they said,] ‘We have 30 some odd individuals with fairly significant functional needs; can you open a shelter?’– but it was too late. The town was cut off.”

The goal during emergencies, according to Crist, is to ensure that shelters are as accessible to individuals as their homes.

Crist said that nine regional sites have been identified as full-access shelters, which can include municipal buildings or schools, which are usually already up to code. Funding has also already come from Citizen Corps and Americorps, as well as the Center for Disease Control.

The Red Cross and Disability Rights Vermont are also in the process of writing a training manual for volunteers in how to best assist disabled Vermonters during emergency situations.

“In Katrina and what we identified more so with Tropical Storm Irene, that the Red Cross has lots of wonderful volunteers who show up and operate our shelters, these are your neighbors, many from the next town over. But many of those folks have not had a great deal of contact in working in shelters with individuals who have certain support needs,” Crist said.

~ Erin Hale

VTDigger

Contact
Martha Trombley Oakes
Phone:802.728.1732
Email: MTrombleyOakes@vtc.vsc.edu

Randolph, VT, March 20, 2012 — Jeremy Spencer, who earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Vermont Tech in 2006, has been hired as a Google field engineer responsible for testing robotic, self-driving automobiles.

For Spencer, an officer in the Vermont National Guard, the road to Google was more of a rollercoaster ride than a Sunday drive. While a student at Vermont Tech, Spencer was called to serve in Iraq in 2004. He returned to Vermont Tech the following year, only to be called up again, this time to help with Hurricane Katrina relief. After finally earning his associate’s degree, Spencer enrolled in the industrial engineering program at East Carolina University — he graduated in 2008, and was again called to duty in 2010, this time in Afghanistan.

“In 2011, I decided to take some time to travel, so I headed across country to California,” said the Fayston, Vermont native. “A friend of a friend introduced me to a program manager at Google who was hiring test drivers for cars using artificial intelligence software.” Spencer so impressed the program manager that he was hired on the spot.

Now, Spencer spends his days in the passenger seat of a Toyota Prius that drives itself. According to a New York Times article about the project, “robot drivers react faster than humans, have 360-degree perception and do not get distracted, sleepy or intoxicated ….”

“Driving is far more complex than most of people realize,” says Spencer. “When we are driving down the road, we make hundreds of unconscious decisions. My job is to act as the rationale, average driver, giving feedback about the car’s behavior, how it takes turns, how it accelerates and brakes. The engineers and programmers are geniuses at taking the feedback and writing it into programs that guide the cars.”

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