Contact:
Paul Burns
Executive Director
VPIRG/VPIREF
141 Main Street, Suite 6
Montpelier, VT 05602
802-223-5221 x.12

Montpelier, VT – Gov. Peter Shumlin made Vermont the first state in the nation to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas when he signed H.464 into law today.

Shumlin praised environmental advocates and legislative sponsors for their leadership on the bill. He also noted that the new law could be a model for other states to follow.

“Fracking for gas is not the solution to our energy needs, it’s part of the problem,” said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. “I’m proud that Vermont has a governor who understands the difference between a problem and a solution and is willing to stand up for clean renewable energy over fossil fuels.”

Fracking is a highly controversial method of extracting natural gas from dense rock formations deep in the ground by injecting huge quantities of water, sand and chemicals under high pressure. Citizens in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York have raised concerns about fracking endangering water supplies, air quality and public health.

Yesterday, at a rally and concert in Albany, NY, hundreds of activists joined celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo, Melissa Leo and Natalie Merchant to encourage New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ban fracking in that state. VPIRG’s Paul Burns was also invited to speak about Vermont’s role in becoming the first state not only to ban fracking, but also the disposal of dangerous fracking waste.

“It was an honor to be asked to speak for Vermont at an event like that,” said Burns. “The way the crowd erupted in applause when they heard that the bill would be signed into law today was amazing. It gave me a good sense of just how important our leadership role can be.”

Gov. Shumlin highlighted the work on Sen. Ginny Lyons and Representatives Tony Klein, David Deen, Kate Webb and Jim McCullough in shepherding the bill through.

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VTD Photo/Alan Panebaker

Vermont’s two largest utilities plan to use a streamlined rate-setting procedure to “blend” their electricity rates.

Gaz Metro is in the process of obtaining state approval for the purchase of Central Vermont Public Service. The Montreal-based company plans to merge its Vermont subsidiary, Green Mountain Power, with CVPS. If the deal goes through as expected, 80 percent of Vermonters will receive electricity from the new company.

Once the utilities have merged, Gaz Metro will use a process called “Alternative Regulation” to request approval of its new blended rate for the combined utilities. This protocol limits public involvement but saves money by sidestepping a lengthy process with the Public Service Board.

AARP-Vermont is worried that the alternative rate-setting process will limit public scrutiny of Gaz Metro’s plan to recoup $21 million through higher rates.

In 2001 the board allowed Green Mountain Power and CVPS to increase rates to cover losses associated with a power purchasing deal with Hydro-Quebec. In exchange, the board required the utilities to agree to a “windfall” sharing mechanism should either be sold. In a 2012 memorandum of understanding with the Vermont Department of Public Service, Gaz Metro agreed to return $21 million owed to CVPS ratepayers through investments in weatherization and efficiencies; it plans to recoup the money, plus 7 percent interest, through rate increases.

According to one Public Service Board decision, the contract with Hydro-Quebec could have cost somewhere around $130 million in extra costs between 1999 and 2016.

AARP challenged the original agreement between state regulators and the utilities. The advocacy group for seniors wanted that money to go to customers in the form of a refund or check.

“If the MOU is approved, there will be no opportunity later in a rate proceeding for AARP or ratepayers to object, to submit testimony, to submit argument, or to request an investigation as to whether the $20.9 million spent on weatherization, efficiency, economic development, etc., should be in the rate base,” AARP’s filing states.

The two utilities have used the Alternative Regulation process for years. Green Mountain Power started in 2006 and CVPS in 2008. Unlike traditional “cost-of-service regulation” rate setting, which can take a number of months, the alternative process requires filings every three months. Increases or decreases in electricity costs pass through to ratepayers. Under some forms of alternative regulation, utilities can earn a larger profit if they meet performance or efficiency goals.

Only CVPS, Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas Systems, also a Gaz Metro subsidiary, use the process. They are all investor-owned rather than publicly owned. They also periodically use a full cost-of-service rate review process that allows more public input.

For example, the Vermont Public Service Board approved a 7.46 percent rate increase for CVPS in early 2011, and another 4.8 percent rate increase in late 2011. On Tuesday, CVPS announced it was asking for a 2.2 percent surcharge that would go into effect in July that would cover expenses from Tropical Storm Irene.

In 2011, Green Mountain Power asked for a 3.2 percent rate increase.

With the more streamlined process, there is generally not a public hearing. The Department of Public Service and board decide whether to approve the new rates.

Washington County Electric Co-op General Manager Avram Patt. VTD Photo/Josh Larkin

The alternative rate-setting structure is typical not controversial.

Smaller, municipal or cooperative utilities generally do not use it because they have not found a way to make it work with their nonprofit structure.

Avram Patt, general manager of Washington Electric Cooperative, said two years ago the community-owned electric company raised rates for the first time in 11 years, so there has not been a need for such frequent updating.

Rate-setting in the context of the merger controversy

During the last legislative session, lawmakers floated proposals to prohibit utilities from recovering money in rates for investments that do not benefit the electric system as a whole. This would include investments in thermal efficiency where a homeowner heats with fuel oil or some other non-electric source. The proposed provisions never became law.

In the 2001 “bailout” agreement, the board limited the amount of money Green Mountain Power would have to share as a result of a profitable merger at $8 million and $16 million for CVPS. In 2007, when Green Mountain Power was sold to Gaz Metro, the board approved an efficiency program where the utilities would invest that money and ratepayers would benefit.

Now the Department of Public Service and the utilities propose doing something similar, where the utilities will invest ratepayer money in a fund that will go toward weatherization and efficiency. That money will have to yield $25 million in energy savings for customers. Shareholders will get that $21 million investment back in rates, with 7 percent interest.

That windfall requirement, which made headlines during the Legislature this session, could be approved as part of the overall docket rather than go through the more strenuous rate setting process that it would otherwise require, according to a final reply brief filed by AARP earlier this month.

The utilities and the Department of Public Service agreed that investing the money in efficiency would yield more benefits than refund checks, but AARP says even if that is the case, there should be a more transparent process demonstrating how the investment benefits ratepayers.

In a filing with the Public Service Board, AARP attorneys said they were worried that without the public process of traditional ratemaking, that money could be improperly spent without any recourse.

“All or parts of the $20.9 million may turn out to have been imprudently spent, or may turn out to be not used and useful, and therefore not just and reasonable to recover in rates, but ratepayers will be forced to shoulder this load regardless,” the group’s most recent filing states.

Jim Dumont, an attorney representing AARP in the docket, said it would be premature for the board to approve the expenditures before they occur.

He is also concerned the process will go forward without enough substantive input from the public.

“All of this elephant will pass through snake and come out the other end just the way they want it,” Dumont said.

Sarah Hofmann, deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Service, said interested parties can ask for an investigation into the rationale for rate increases approved under alternative regulations.

In that situation, the board would open a new case, which could take up to seven months.

The advantage of the faster alternative regulation plan process as opposed to traditional rate cases, Hofmann said, is “it’s done in real time rather than case time” and rates reflect more accurately the true price of electricity. It also saves litigation costs and allows utilities more access to credit also.

Hofmann said the memorandum of understanding the department signed with the utilities offers additional safeguards for intervenors and the public.

Under that MOU, the utilities must submit a report by July 1 that outlines how they will verify savings that result from the merger. Parties in the docket will be able to comment on the rate adjustments. Green Mountain Power will have to file a report each year for the next 10 years.

Dorothy Schnure, a spokeswoman for Green Mountain Power, said customers will see either a rate decrease or less of an increase starting in October 2012.

If the board accepts the MOU, the utilities will have to produce $2.5 million in savings for their customers in that first year. The next year it is $5 million. The utilities are required to verify $144 million in savings to customers. The $21 million in investments in efficiency, about $12 million of which will go to weatherization programs, is supposed to yield $25 million in benefits to customers through reduced electricity use.

Schnure said the company is analyzing what their rate request would be this fall if nothing changed.

“It will be $2.5 million less than it would be without the merger, should the merger be approved,” Schnure said. “In addition, we’re looking for other savings to pass through to customers.”

Schnure said the AARP’s allegation that the board will not analyze the investment in the efficiency fund is incorrect. She said the board and the Department of Public Service will review how the money is spent to make sure the utilities act prudently.

The utilities are asking for the alternative rate setting plan to carry through 2014, when there will be a full cost-of-service review of rates. Commercial and industrial rates will not be affected until then.

Starting this summer, CVPS residential customers will pay about $87.43 on average each month. Recent rates published on the Green Mountain Power website show their residential customers purchasing a similar amount of power would pay around $84.89.

Residential customers for both companies will pay the same rate starting Oct. 1, 2013, if the merger goes through. Schnure said she could not estimate what exactly the new blended rate will be.

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Whether we want to admit it or not, renewable energy in Vermont has a predicament. The current administration, renewable energy cheerleaders, and profit-focused developers would love to ignore it, but the fact is large-scale renewable energy development is creating a tension in our communities that can’t be swept under the rug. Take a look at the events of the last couple of weeks.

We’ve seen our Canadian neighbors threaten to cut off water over a proposed wind project in Derby. Dozens of citizens turned out in Newark for heated questioning of the developers looking to build a wind project twice as big as the one proposed for Lowell. In Lowell the proposed turbines are so large they may soon spin across the nearest property line. In Charlotte neighbors of a solar project have a list of unresolved concerns. In North Springfield there’s strong outspoken opposition to a proposed biomass plant over health concerns, especially in children. All told, hardly a county in Vermont has been spared controversy and conflict over large-scale renewable energy development in the last year.

The desire to build industrial-scale renewable energy developments in Vermont, “as fast as we know how,” as the governor says, is at odds with how our communities evaluate development, respect their natural resources and protect their citizens. If we are going to be successful in this transition we must seek to ease the tension.

One way to ease the tension would be to develop projects in a more collaborative way. Currently developers arrive before select boards with project plans in hand, starting their sales job before hearing much community input on the size, scale or location of a potential project. With no official mechanism for community input citizens often feel slighted at the outset. Bringing the two parties together before anything is set in stone, in a moderated format, may enable better results for both sides.

Developers must also do more to demonstrate respect for the communities where they seek to build projects. If they feel projects won’t produce noise, lower property values or otherwise impact project neighbors, they need to offer those guarantees in writing to the satisfaction of their new neighbors. This is a fair and reasonable approach because if the developer is right, they will never have to deal with the repercussions, and if they are wrong, the neighbors are provided with some protection.

Lastly, we should look to decrease tension-filled situations by enabling and incentivizing the right projects in the right places. Our current subsidies and incentives create a “gold rush” approach towards large-scale renewable development, funding projects regardless of their impacts on natural resources or communities. Instead we need to incentivize the least disruptive projects and judge the worthiness of larger projects based on environmental impact. This makes good sense when you consider that technologies like residential solar can be installed with minimal impact, but might need a little extra help for the average homeowner to buy in.

If we continue our current course we will be left with divided communities and inappropriate development marring our state. With climate change an ever-growing concern we only have one shot to do this right. Let’s shift from a debate to a discussion, and give our people, natural resources and communities the seat at the table they deserve.

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The 2011-2012 Legislature has given up and gone home, and pretty much on schedule to boot.

A major source of contention, traditionally, is the General Fund appropriation bill for the coming fiscal year (FY2013). To the lawmakers’ credit, the spending issues were resolved rather easily, and several non-germane policy riders were rebuffed.

The General Fund budget is balanced and the budget stabilization reserves are filled to 100 percent of their statutory requirements. General Fund spending is slated to increase by 5.4 percent over this year’s amount. The FY2014 budget deficit is estimated at $5 million-$44 million.

At the end of FY2013, the Legislature prescribed that half of any General Fund surplus will be restored to the Education Fund to reduce the $27.5 million snatch Gov. Shumlin engineered a year ago. If this happens – not highly likely — property taxpayers would be relieved of having to pay for at least part of the Shumlin sleight of hand.

An election year gimmick proposed by Sen. Jane Kitchel (D-Caledonia) – to rebate any possible surplus to residential school property taxpayers only – fell by the wayside. Despite repeated efforts by Progressive legislators, the Legislature declined to increase higher bracket income tax rates to cope with “growing inequality.” The administratively created use tax on “cloud computing” products was happily stalled at least for a year, to the relief of businesses like dealer.com that were considering relocating to more friendly climes rather than absorb the unexpected tax hit.

In a post-adjournment news conference, House Speaker Shap Smith promised to push next year to expand the sales and use tax to include services. That, he said, would allow a rate below the present 6 percent on the broader tax base. He didn’t say how long it would take for revenue-hungry legislators to push the rate back up to 6 percent.

Strong majorities in both chambers expressed outrage at the Shumlin administration’s deal with Gaz Metro to merge Gaz-owned Green Mountain Power with CVPS. That deal allows CVPS to disregard the required refunding of $21 million to ratepayers who were forced to underwrite a 2001 bailout. Instead, the governor wants to let CVPS hand over the $21 million to such favorite Shumlin causes as the Clean Energy Development Fund.

Heavy pressure from the governor’s office persuaded House Democrats to back off from even a resolution of disapproval, and refuse to accept a 27-3 Senate-passed provision to change the applicable law to require the refund.

The Shumlin version of a health benefits exchange, prohibiting small businesses from buying insurance plans outside the exchange, won passage on party line votes. The exchange, costing millions of dollars to set up, will disappear in 2017 when the governor expects that the Green Mountain Care single payer plan will terminate health insurance altogether.

A public school choice bill will allow small numbers of high schoolers to transfer to other public high schools that will have them. Curiously, the sending school won’t lose any of its budgeted funds, and will continue to count the departed student as attending for property tax computation purposes.

The receiving school will get nothing for taking on the additional student. Independent schools were dropped from the bill when they refused to accede to government tuition controls. It’s hard to see how this will be much of a step forward.

Among the good news was the last minute death of the PSB-designed renewable portfolio standard, by which the government would force electric ratepayers to pay $311 million-$435 million to subsidize the renewable industrial complex over the next 30 years. Also good news was the failure of the heavy-handed American Federation of Teachers effort to get the Legislature to force unionization of private child-care providers.

To sum up: The budget is balanced, there were no significant tax rate increases, and several really bad ideas fell by the wayside. Given the complexion of the Legislature and the ambitions of the governor, this can be viewed as far from the worst outcome.

However the special interest pressure for ever more renewable energy subsidies persists unabated, and Vermont continues to march down the road toward government-run single payer Green Mountain Care, the costs of which the Shumlin administration will keep secret until after the November election.

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

Burlington, Vt. – The Vermont Chamber Business & Industry EXPO is excited to announce that Quebec Premier Jean Charest will be speaking at the EXPO Business Luncheon on Thursday, May 24. Premier Charest will speak to business leaders about the economic relationship between Vermont and Quebec in his speech,Québec and Vermont: a Shared Vision for Economic Competitiveness and Collaboration.

“Premier Charest is a great addition to the impressive line-up of EXPO speakers,” said Vermont Chamber President, Betsy Bishop. “We are happy to host him and his topic is especially relevant to the business leaders who attend EXPO, many of whom do business across the border in Quebec”

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin will also be speaking at the luncheon. “Vermont and Quebec have a long history of working together,” says Shumlin. “I am pleased to have Premier Charest join me at EXPO and look forward to continuing our efforts to encourage collaboration between businesses from both sides of the border.”

For more information about EXPO speakers, seminars, awards, and for how to register visitwww.vtexpo.com.

###

The Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the largest state-wide private, not-for-profit business organization, represents nearly every sector of the state’s corporate/hospitality community. Our mission is to create an economic climate conducive to business growth and the preservation of the Vermont quality of life.

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Contact:
Melissa Murray
Outright Vermont
(802) 865-9677

Saturday, May 19th

Burlington, VT – This Saturday, May 19th from 10:30am- 8:00am, Sunday, May 20th, Outright Vermont and BFA St. Albans Queer/Straight Alliance (QSA), G.L.O.W. (Gay, Lesbian or Whatever), will co-host the 6th Annual Vermont Queer & Allied Youth Summit.

The Queer and Allied Youth Summit includes a QSA Conference, where Vermont youth and their educators can network, attend workshops on how to start QSA, address safer school strategies to address bullying and harassment, and set priorities for the work of Outright Vermont for the coming year.

“We are excited to have Franklin County host the largest queer youth conference in Vermont,” remarked Melissa Murray, Outright Vermont’s Executive Director.

This day also marks the 13th annual Queer Youth Pride March and SpeakOUT, Queer Prom, and the SleepOUT – a series of events that celebrate the lives and stories of Vermont queer youth.

The conference portion of the day will occur from 10:30am-3:00pm, with the youth march and SpeakOUT occurring on the St. Albans town green afterwards. Later that evening, BFA St. Albans will host the Queer Prom and SleepOUT in the school gym.

“The Queer Youth Summit is our biggest event of the year, drawing nearly 200 queer and allied youth, educators, and advisors from all over the state.” said Saben Littlefield, Outright Vermont’s Statewide Education & Field Coordinator.

Past host schools of the queer youth summit have included Brattleboro Union High School, Montpelier High School, Rutland High School, and the University of Vermont.

Members of the press or community are invited to attend the queer youth priority setting portion of the day from 2:20pm till 3:00pm in the BFA St. Albans auditorium. Other portions of the conference and day’s events are reserved for registered conference attendees only.

For more info, call 802.865.9677 or visit outrightvt.org.

The mission of Outright Vermont is to build safe, healthy, and supportive environments for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth, ages 13-22. Since 1989, Outright has worked to provide safety and support for LGBTQQ youth, helped make schools safer, and focused on youth empowerment, leadership, and advocacy. To learn more about Outright, visit www.outrightvt.org.

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Contact:
Patrick Brown
Sugarbush Resort Public Relations Office
communications@sugarbush.com

SUGARBUSH, VT May 16, 2012 – Sugarbush Resort accepted the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence at the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility spring conference in Burlington.

As part of its ongoing efforts to be responsible stewards of the environment, Sugarbush Resort partnered with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB), an environmental consulting firm, to develop a long-term water quality remediation plan for the entire resort.

The programs have proven successful: In the summer of 2011, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources removed Rice Brook from the state’s list of “impaired waters” due to the resort’s diligent clean-up work.

“Sugarbush is committed to being better stewards of the environment,” said Win Smith, president and owner of Sugarbush. “We are continuously looking to make sound investments that reduces the environmental impact of doing business. We are happy to have been recognized by Governor Shumlin for our efforts.”

Rice Brook is the third brook Sugarbush has restored to high-water quality conditions. Chase and Slide Brook were also restored to meet Vermont’s water quality standards.

A little more than a mile in length, Rice Brook forms in the higher elevations near the Lincoln Peak base area at Sugarbush and flows east where it joins Clay Brook before flowing into the Mad River about halfway between Warren and Waitsfield. It is part of the larger Winooski River watershed. Rice Brook’s water quality problems resulted from untreated stormwater runoff; that is, water that runs off from impervious surfaces during rainstorms and from snowmelt, rather than naturally filtering through the soil. Stormwater runoff results in increases in pollutants such as silt and sand entering streams, and also higher rates of flow, causing stream channels to erode. The plan that Sugarbush and VHB developed, in partnership with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, addressed both of these issues through design and implementation of state-of-the-art stormwater controls.

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WASHINGTON, May 16 – Gov. Peter Shumlin today joined Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) in announcing that Vermont could receive more than $30 million in additional federal funding for Tropical Storm Irene recovery projects.

Shumlin on May 3 asked President Obama to increase the reimbursement rate for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s public assistance program. Leahy, Sanders and Welch wrote to Obama urging the president to grant the state’s request.

“Given the widespread devastation caused by Tropical Storm Irene, we are very pleased that the president acted quickly and approved a higher reimbursement rate,” the delegation said in a joint statement.

“This will significantly reduce the financial burden of recovery efforts that would otherwise fall on Vermonters. We have been working closely with Governor Shumlin and his excellent recovery team to do everything we can to make sure Vermont receives the federal resources we need to rebuild our communities as quickly and successfully as possible,” Leahy, Sanders and Welch added.

“Vermonters have done an incredible job rebuilding in the eight months since this devastating storm,” Shumlin said. “This decision by President Obama is another important piece of the funding puzzle.”

The governor thanked the congressional delegation for its support. “I appreciate the delegation’s commitment to ensuring Vermont’s emergency assistance needs are heard loud and clear – and met – in Washington.”

The higher reimbursement rate likely will yield more than $30 million in additional federal disaster aid for Vermont. The amount includes almost $26 million in additional FEMA public assistance funds, and approximately $4 million in additional hazard mitigation funds for property buyouts and to reduce damages from future flooding.

Federal law allows for increased federal participation in disaster funding for “extraordinary” events like Irene.

Typically, FEMA covers 75 percent of the cost of repairing or replacing public infrastructure and facilities, such as state buildings and municipal roads, bridges and buildings. The president has authority to increase the federal share to 90 percent in extraordinary circumstances.

Vermont Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding noted that the additional aid would help ease the burden on state resources that have been budgeted to cover uninsured damages to state-owned facilities, like the Waterbury State Office Complex and the temporary relocation of the Vermont State Hospital.

Vermont League of Cities and Towns Executive Director Steven Jeffrey noted the importance of the president’s decision for Vermont towns. “Some towns have spent several times their annual operating budgets repairing damages to local roads and bridges, town halls, libraries, schools, fire departments and water plants,” Jeffrey said. “I cannot overstate how important it is to these towns to have the local share reduced so significantly.”

To read the letter from Shumlin to President Obama, click here.

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CONTACT:
Mary Alice Bisbee,
(802) 223-8140,
Consumer Hotline, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Vermont,
3 Prospect St., Apt. 308, Montpelier, VT 05602
mbisbee@myfairpoint.net

Home Funerals and Green Burials is the topic of a presentation and group discussion at the 2012 annual meeting and conference of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Vermont (FCA-VT) to be held at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, Main St., across from Kellogg Hubbard Library, on Saturday, May 19th at 1:00 PM, downstairs, side entrance. The main speaker, Lee Webster, a native Vermonter now living in New Hampshire is a home funeral guide; one of a growing number of trained helpers who support families in carrying out the rituals that have often been lost by the more current use of funeral homes, funeral directors, embalming of the body and burial in an expensive sealed casket surrounded by a concrete vault in a well manicured cemetery.

The title of her presentation is: “Creating Community Through Loss—The Home Funeral Experience”. Following her talk, a panel made up of Lee, Ron Slabaugh of Middlebury, also a home funeral guide and board member of FCA-VT, and Annie Ross, another FCA-VT board member who cared for her mother after death, will take questions and discuss options, costs, and new/old traditions that are becoming more common all around the World in an era of enhanced spiritual and environmental concerns.

The meeting is FREE and open to all, press included, and will be videotaped by ORCA Media to be shown on Central VT public access stations. It will also be available for viewing at ALL public access stations throughout Vermont upon request.

For more information about the meeting or the totally non-profit, volunteer run Funeral Consumers Alliance of Vermont or to receive a free copy of our most recent newsletter or membership application, please contact: (802)223-8140 and give a mailing address or ask a question. More information is also available at the national web site; www.funerals.org or at our state affiliate at www.funerals.org/affiliate/vermont .

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Sen. Dick Sears, chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary. VTD/Alan Panebaker

This legislative session, two judicial issues captured the headlines — the death with dignity bill and a proposal to allow police access to the state’s prescription drug database. Both attempts at sweeping reforms failed.

A number of other changes to the legal system addressed by the Legislature’s Senate and House judiciary committees have garnered little attention. This session lawmakers approved changes to divorce proceedings for gays, criminal record expungement and new child-support enforcement rules, highway condemnation requirements and search and rescue protocols.

Though these pieces of legislation may not have hit the media spotlight, many will have real-world consequences for Vermonters. Some are designed to protect the vulnerable; others make it harder for individuals to flout the law.

H.413 will allow the state to assess fines on nursing homes for cases of abuse

One of the new public safety bills that expands the attorney general’s authority to prosecute abuse of vulnerable adults — went into effect on Tuesday when Gov. Peter Shumlin signed H.413 into law at a senior center in Shelburne.

At a press conference and bill signing at Shelburne Bay Senior Living Community, Shumlin told the story of 81-year-old Daniel Wright who died shortly after moving into Green Mountain Nursing Home in Colchester in 2005. Wright was assaulted by another resident who had dementia and had a history of violence against staff and other patients. The perpetrator’s mental state made prosecution impossible. A subsequent case involving Wright’s family and the home was settled out of court.

Shumlin said though the nursing home staff did not deal the deathblow against Wright, they failed in other areas.

“None of the prior assaults upon residents had been reported as required by both state and federal law,” he said. “They were covered up. The nursing home had taken no steps to protect its residents and gave no special orders for supervisors so that other residents wouldn’t be harmed. … On the day of the assaults, nursing staff failed to take Mr. Wright’s vital signs and failed to notify the physicians of the assaults that he had endured. After his death, they failed to notify the medical examiner.”

Shumlin did not name Green Mountain Nursing Home in his speech. Sorrell confirmed Wright was a resident of the home.

Robert Sterling, administrator of Green Mountain Nursing Home, said he understood Wright’s case differently. “He died, according to the autopsy of natural causes and everything,” Sterling said.

Vermont AG William Sorrell. VTD/Josh Larkin

Wright’s death was one of the cases that spurred the attorney general’s office to seek a legislative remedy.

Assistant Attorney General Linda Purdy, who investigated the case, said autopsy results stated Wright’s primary cause of death was natural, but his conditions were complicated by the assaults.

“He died of both some cardiovascular problems and the secondary cause, which they couldn’t really quantify, was the attack and the injuries he sustained,” Purdy said.

The nursing home’s attorney, Scott McGee, said that despite the tragic nature of the events, staff at the home were all doing their jobs correctly. “As far as we were concerned, all the right steps had been taken,” McGee said. “In these kinds of things, people can second-guess lots of steps. Everyone was working in good faith.”

Sorrell’s office threatened a civil action against the nursing home, but found they didn’t have strong legal footing to do so.

“We wanted more clear legal authority to bring such a suit,” he said.

H.413 does exactly that, Sorrell said. Under the new law, the state may bring a civil action of up to $50,000 against a nursing home or individual caretaker where neglect, abuse or exploitation results in death and other actions for lesser amounts when the victim survives.

H.535, Bias-free policing

For the first time, local law enforcement will be required to adopt bias-free policing policies and to collect racial information from routine traffic stops.

H.535 requires all Vermont law enforcement agencies to implement “bias-free” policing policies designed to deter police from racial discrimination. The policies would be based on Vermont State Police guidelines and recommendations the Attorney General’s office made to the state’s 73 independent policing entities in 2010. About 30 municipal police and sheriffs departments have policies addressing racial discrimination.

The growing disproportionate representation of blacks in prison has raised questions about racial bias among law enforcement officials and the court system.

H.758, dissolution and divorce

Gays from out of state who obtain civil unions or marriage certificates from Vermont have had no way of dissolving that union or divorcing in home states that didn’t recognize their Vermont status.

This bill makes it possible for couples to break up through a no-fault process based on mutual agreement.

Previously under Vermont law, gay couples had to live in Vermont for six months before they could get a divorce or dissolution.

S.37, expungement of a nonviolent misdemeanor criminal record

This bill creates a process for expunging the record of an arrest or conviction for many nonviolent misdemeanors.

Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, says he supported the legislation because he heard from Vermonters who had been arrested and convicted of minor crimes 20 to 30 years ago for possession of small amounts of marijuana and other petty offenses but who hadn’t been in trouble with the law for decades and wanted to apply to have their records expunged.

“The bill provides a process for people to apply to state’s attorney in the county where they were convicted,” Sears said. “If they are clean of any crime for 10 years or more … they can apply to have the record expunged.”

The basic conditions? Ten years must have elapsed, any sentence must have been completed, restitution paid or conditions met and there can have been no subsequent criminal convictions. The final decision is at the discretion of the court.

Certain offenses, such as sexual exploitation of children and violation of a protection order, cannot be expunged.

When the court decides in favor of removing the criminal record, it issues a certificate that “must state that such person’s behavior after the conviction has warranted the issuance of the order.” The FBI and all other agencies which have or might have the record are notified. The statute requires that from the time the certificate is issued the person “be treated in all respects as if he or she had never been arrested, convicted or sentenced for the offense.”

S.203, child support enforcement

According to a report from the Department of Children and Families, about 30 percent of court-ordered child support goes unpaid each month. The state of Vermont has nearly $100 million in unpaid child support on the books.

Under a new statute, parents who refuse to pay child support may be subject to civil contempt. If the court finds the individual in contempt, he or she may be required to search for work, participate in employment, educational, or training-related activities. If the individual fails to complete the court-ordered program, he or she may be subject to incarceration.

Sears said, under the new provisions, the nonpaying parent “holds the keys to jail cell” — he or she can be released from prison by paying up or complying with the court’s recommendation.

While the state can’t hold someone in jail for lack of funds, it can detain an individual for contempt of court.

Though scofflaws wouldn’t be held for long, Sears said “it’s enough to grab some people’s attention.”

The legislation softens requirements for parents who are willing to make payments but who have been hurt by the economic downturn, Sears said.

The bill also revises the options for calculating available income in determining child support, and it makes it easier to get relief from a default child support order if the parent can show the court used incorrect financial information in calculating income.

S.122, human trafficking, prostitution provision

If someone is convicted of prostitution and can show they have been a victim of human trafficking, the court can allow the individual to file a motion to vacate.

Once the motion is granted, the victim’s name is removed from all the related court records.

The victim need not have reported the crime of human trafficking to law enforcement before the arrest. Various protections are now offered to victims of human trafficking that parallel those provided for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, such as providing lists of counseling and shelter services. State services will now be revised to meet the needs of human trafficking victims.

S.115, a bill barring ineffective assistance claims against assigned counsel

Some defendants have sought to hamper the criminal justice process by suing assigned defense attorneys who were in the middle of litigating their cases, according to Defender General Matthew Valerio.

Valerio says S.115 bars defendants from inappropriately manipulating the system. “Now you have to follow the normal process and get redress through courts before suing your attorney,” he said.

“It doesn’t take away your rights to pursue a negligence case, it just tells you what order it has to be done in and by doing that it prevents individuals who for the wrong reasons are attempting to manipulate the criminal justice system,” Valerio said.

Valerio’s office hires more than 50 lawyers a year to work on contract with the state. These attorneys have to purchase their own malpractice insurance. There was a concern that the lawsuits against some contract attorneys who are doing serious felony work with the most difficult clients and getting a number of claims could get to point where it would be difficult to obtain malpractice insurance.

Convicted criminals had been taking a page from Michael Brillon, who was sent to jail on a domestic violence charge and went through six assigned public defenders. His case went to the Vermont Supreme Court, which ruled that his right to a speedy trial had been hampered, and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices ruled that “delay caused by the defense weighs against the defendant.”

H.751, juvenile delinquent custody

This legislation allows 16- to 17-year olds who have committed minor crimes the option to stay in state custody and receive services for an additional six months.

That additional time could make a difference for some kids, Sears said. The bill also calls for a study to evaluate the success rate of the juvenile system.

Editor’s note: This story was updated between 5:15 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. May 16.

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