April 23, 2010

Contact:  David M. Coriell (802) 828-3333

Vermont Artist Commissioned to Paint Official Portrait of Governor Douglas

Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Jim Douglas today announced that Vermont artist Kate Gridley has been commissioned to paint his official portrait, which will eventually hang in the State House.  Working with Vermont State Curator David Schütz, the Governor asked a number of Vermont artists to submit proposals and samples of their work.  Governor Douglas eventually selected Ms. Gridley.

“I am so pleased to be working with Kate on this portrait and feel confident she will be able to capture not only my physical likeness, but also my commitment to public service and my deep and abiding love for our state and its people,” said Governor Douglas.

“I am very thrilled and honored to receive this commission from the Governor,” Gridley said.  “I will work very hard to create a portrait that will be seen as part of his legacy.”

Ms. Gridley is a seasoned portrait and landscape artist.  She has painted portraits of a number of prominent Vermonters, including former Middlebury College President Timothy Light, former Green Mountain College President Thomas Benson and Vermont Law School Dean Max Kempner.  She lives in Middlebury with her husband and children.

“The State House collection includes portraits of most of the governors who have served the state for the past 230 years,” said Schütz.  “With the Governor’s choice of Kate, I feel confident that we will get a portrait that will not only be a work of art, but records an important piece of Vermont political history.”

The portrait will be paid for with funds privately raised and the portrait will eventually be donated to the State House collection.

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VTDigger

February 18, 2010

Contact: David M. Coriell (802) 828-3333

Governor Douglas Recognizes Vermont ’s Aerospace and Aviation Industry

Presents $30,000 Grant to Fund Initial Work on Burlington Aviation Technical Training Center

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Governor Jim Douglas today joined community and business leaders to celebrate the contributions of the aviation industry in Vermont at the Vermont Aerospace and Aviation Association (VAAA) open house at the Burlington International Airport . The Governor read a proclamation declaring February “Aviation and Aerospace Appreciation Month.” He also presented a check to officials from the City of South Burlington for $30,000 to fund preliminary work on a new Burlington Aviation Technical Training Center .

“The aerospace industry is an important supplier of good jobs in Vermont ,” said Governor Douglas. “I am proud to support the continuing evolution of the aerospace sector in our state.”

Aerospace and aviation continues to play an ever-expanding role in the Green Mountain State and generates nearly $2 billion in economic activity. In addition to aerospace companies like General Electric of Rutland, Vergennes-based Goodrich, and Burlington ’s General Dynamics, Vermont boasts two commercial airports and 16 public-use airports, as well as 1,350 pilots and 877 general aviation aircraft.

“The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that in Vermont, commercial aviation provides 9,369 jobs generating more than $257 million in wages and nearly a billion dollars in economic output,” Lt. Governor Brian Dubie said. “From building aircraft, to flying them and fixing them, this is an industry we need to grow.”

The VAAA is an adjunct of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and is committed to growing and promoting aerospace and aviation as key, high-growth sectors of the Vermont economy.

The $30,000 Community Development Block Grant to the City of South Burlington will assist efforts to build a technical school at the Burlington International Airport to train future aircraft maintenance workers. It will help pay for preliminary work on the planned center, including architectural services; civil design services; and permit applications and fees.

“It was in 2006 that Lt. Governor Brian Dubie, an airline pilot and former aerospace engineer, helped spearhead the formation of this association,” Douglas said. “Creating a training center will ensure that as the aviation industry grows and creates jobs here in Vermont, there is a qualified workforce locally.”

Vermont receives about $7 million annually in federal CDBG funds, which are used principally to benefit persons of low and moderate income, and awards the competitive grants based on recommendations of the Vermont Community Development Board and approval of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Kevin Dorn.

For information about the Vermont Community Development Program, please see the Agency of Commerce and Community Development website at: http://www.dhca.state.vt.us/VCDP/index.htm

David M. Coriell

Communications Director

109 State Street ¨ The Pavilion ¨ Montpelier , VT 05609-0101

Telephone: 802.828.3333 ¨ Fax: 802.828.3339 ¨ TDD: 802.828.3345

VTDigger

Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said the funds will help state agencies, hospitals and doctors’ offices develop a standardized system that will improve patient care and maintain the confidentiality and security of patient records.

Gov. Jim Douglas said Vermont has led the nation in innovative efforts to improve the quality of health care and slow the growth in costs.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the Vermont Department of Human Services more than $5 million. Another $6.8 million will go to Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. The Montpelier-based nonprofit is one of 32 organizations nationwide that will develop regional centers to coordinate health information technology.

The funds are from the economic recovery program that Congress approved last year.

Leahy, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured another $1.4 million over the last two years for VITL to work with doctors and independent pharmacies to adopt electronic medical records. “Electronic records hold the potential to provide billions in dollars of user savings to our health care system nationwide,” he said. “These federal funds will help Vermont continue to lead the country in adopting medical records technology statewide. Better records mean better patient care and safety for Vermonters. They mean improved health outcomes, and they reduce the potential that small but significant details may be missed.”

Sanders, a member of the Senate health committee, said the grants “will help us address soaring health care costs, reduce medical errors, and make it easier for patients to get quality care anyplace in the country.”

Welch said, “Containing the ever-growing cost of health care is key to expanding access to all Americans, and adopting electronic health records is a critical step toward bending the cost curve. These grants will help medical providers and state agencies provide better care to patients, while contributing to efforts to drive down the cost of health care.”

Douglas, cochairman of the National Governors Association State Alliance for eHealth, called widespread adoption of health information technology “a critical part of health care reform” and said the grants “will be a vital step forward in our efforts.

Nationwide, $975 million in grants were awarded to help states and health care providers adopt health information technology and encourage doctors and hospitals to continue to move from paper to electronic record-keeping. The awards will help make health information technologies available to more than 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians by 2014.

Modernizing and integrating the health care record-keeping system will reduce health costs for the federal government by more than $12 billion over the next 10 years. The new records system also promises to reduce medical errors and vastly expand the amount of clinical data available for research.

Contacts:

David Carle (Leahy) 202 224-3693

Michael Briggs (Sanders) 202 224-5141

Paul Heintz (Welch) 202 226-8346

David Coriell (Douglas) 802 828-3333

VTDigger

Photo from Stockxchng

Editor’s note: Jon Margolis, aka the Vermont News Guy, is the author of this news analysis.

A funny thing happened to the Vermont teachers retirement system on its way to getting diminished and perhaps demolished. It got stronger.

At a price, to be sure. Teachers will have to pay a little more into their pension fund and wait a little longer to retire. But when they do, their benefits will be higher.

Perhaps more important, their plan will survive as a defined benefit plan (the jargon for a traditional pension system) instead of being turned into a defined contribution (the 401k alternative) plan as some officials had apparently hoped.

In the process, the state saves $15 million. Pretty much a win-win-win situation, the winners being: the teachers and their union (Vermont-National Education Association); State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding, who seems to have orchestrated the arrangement; the Democrats, because the deal removes a Republican talking point; the taxpayers, both for the $15 million and because the agreement might inspire some veteran (meaning well-paid) teachers to retire.

What, no losers?

Maybe not. Gov. Jim Douglas wanted a plan that would save the $29 million proposed by a special commission last year from both the teachers and state workers. There are more teachers than state workers, so even if a deal is worked out with the Vermont State Employees Association, the $29 million figure is not likely to be reached. But Douglas does not really come off as a loser here, and is not threatening to veto the agreement.

A few teachers are miffed because, for a while at least, they thought they’d have to make the higher contribution to the pension fund without getting the higher benefit. The agreement has apparently been modified to assuage their concerns at least somewhat, but perhaps not entirely.

And the retirement controversy is not over. The VSEA and state officials are farther apart than the Vermont-NEA ever was. The state workers union and state officials are not even negotiating yet.

“Negotiating,” in this context, comes with an asterisk. In the words of Jes Kraus of the VSEA, “this isn’t a matter of negotiating a contract. This is a matter of statute.”

Meaning that the deal reached by the teachers union, Spaulding, and the leaders of the Legislature isn’t final unless and until it becomes law. Or maybe not even then. The public employee pensions are not simply laws. They are constitutionally protected contracts with each worker, and “any aggrieved individual can always challenge” any contract change in court, as Spaulding acknowledged. Especially because the Vermont-NEA has agreed to these changes, a challenge might fail. But fighting it would cost the state some of that $15 million it expects to save.

This constitutional complication is not merely theoretical; it is, for instance, one reason Kraus and the VSEA are so far standing firm in opposing any change in their pension system. But it does not seem likely to scuttle the deal with the teachers, which came as something of a surprise when it was announced two weeks ago.

Until then, state officials and what might be termed the establishment public opinion machine had prepared press and public for a confrontation. Both unions objected to making concessions. To Douglas and some Republican observers, a “crisis” loomed because of the projected growth in state payments into the retirement funds — $73.5 million this fiscal year, $103.5 million next year, and continuing to rise in the future.

Out of context, those raw figures are meaningless, except perhaps to provide politicians with ammunition for declaring a “crisis.” But putting the figures in context does not demonstrate that there is no problem. The obligation is projected to rise as a percentage of state spending, higher than the 3.5 percent of the General Fund deemed acceptable by the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office.

There is nothing unique to Vermont about any of this. All over the country, governors and mayors for decades have been negotiating generous retirement plans (most far more generous than Vermont’s) in exchange for union acceptance of smaller wage hikes. The wage increases have to be paid now, during the mayor or governor’s term. The retirement benefits will be somebody else’s responsibility. By one estimate, states and localities face a $2 trillion retirement obligation shortfall.

Seen from that perspective, Vermont’s problem seems manageable, but chances of reaching any kind of agreement dimmed last year when Spaulding established a seven-person “Commission on the Design and Funding of Retirement and Retiree Health Benefits Plans” without naming a worker representative to it, though one of the members is an employee of VSEA, Rep. Terry Macaig, D-Burlington. Adding insult to that injury, (from the unions’ perspectives) the commission retained as a consultant the Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller, which claims on its web page that it can “solve difficult employee issues and resolve disputes before they ever rise to the level of a lawsuit or a union organizing drive.”

That’s jargon for, “We bust unions.”

The Vermont-NEA understood it was going to have to give way on the retirement age and employee contribution, but it insisted on getting something in return. What it got was that 60 percent ceiling plus health care coverage of a retired worker’s spouse.

But when the Commission issued its report last month, its recommendations, while ambitious, were not draconian. It did call for raising the age of full retirement eligibility and the employees contribution to the system. But it also proposed raising the basic retirement benefit to a maximum of 60 percent – rather than the current 50 percent – of how much an employee had earned while working.

That’s still “the lowest in New England,” Spaulding said, but perhaps enough of an improvement, in the view of NEA spokesman Darren Allen, to attract more top-flight young teachers into the state’s system.

Though Douglas took the Commission report as a done deal, incorporating its $29 million reduction in his budget proposal as though it had been adopted, instead of just recommended, Spaulding, the legislative leaders, and the Vermont-NEA obviously saw it as the next step in the negotiating process.

As it happened, the negotiations didn’t take long. The Vermont-NEA understood it was going to have to give way on the retirement age and employee contribution, but it insisted on getting something in return. What it got was that 60 percent ceiling plus health care coverage of a retired worker’s spouse.

As health care costs continue to rise, that could be a big plus.

Ironically, the Commission had rejected recommending spousal coverage, even as a topic for discussion. But it appears to be significant that Spaulding was in the minority on that vote, joined only by Macaig, the Commission’s most liberal member.

The final “score” is that the teachers will pay 5 percent rather than 4 percent of their salaries into the retirement plan (an average of an extra $550 a year), and more (though not all) will have to wait until they are 65, instead of 62, to retire.

That leaves some of the 1,800 or so (out of about 9,500) teachers in their late 50s or early 60s wondering what’s in it for them. If they can’t take advantage of the new spousal benefit, either because they are spouseless or because their spouse has access to his/her own retirement health care plan, some could decide they’re better off retiring now.

“We could be sitting on an unprecedented wave of retirements this year,” Allen said, perhaps welcome news to school boards who can replace a highly paid veteran with a lower-salary rookie, or not replace the veteran at all.

As is usual in these matters, all parties had political interests. The advantages to Spaulding are the most obvious. He appears as an official who has done his job effectively and saved the state some money. He’s also preserved the defined benefit pension plan of a union whose members vote in Democratic primaries. Spaulding decided last year he didn’t want to run for governor this year. But he’s only 47. There’s an election every two years.

As for the Vermont-NEA, this is not a bad time for it to appear to be accommodating. With school budgets rising even as school populations fall, the union has faced increasing criticism for winning wage and benefit increases for its members.

Winning such benefits is precisely what unions are supposed to do, but in this case the employers are taxpayers who are more likely to feel stingy in a troubled economy.

VSEA has the opposite problem, especially among its own members. It has been quite accommodating, if mostly because it had little choice. The union has accepted hundreds of layoffs, a two-year pay freeze, and now a 3 percent pay cut. It would seem to be in Kraus’s interest to be seen by his own members as being as tough as possible.

Besides, he said VSEA’s situation is not the same as the teachers. His union’s pension plan is “pay as you go,” he said, and is closer to being fully funded than the Vermont-NEA plan.  Spaulding said “informal talks” were going on with the VSEA, but in the meanwhile Kraus is adroitly playing the legal challenge card. He got prominent attorney Beth Robinson, she of the Vermont Freedom to Marry organization, to prepare a legal brief which concluded that, “if the Legislature chose to adopt the Commission’s proposals, it would subject the State of Vermont to very substantial risk of litigation leading to injunctive relief, possibly an award of damages, and possibly a substantial attorney’s fee award to aggrieved state employees.”

Right now, then, a deal with the VSEA doesn’t appear likely. But then, a few weeks ago, a deal with the Vermont-NEA didn’t look likely, either.

VTDigger

February 12, 2010

Contact: Jeff Morton
Director of Communications
(802) 229-2273
jmorton@vtchamber.com

The Vermont Aerospace & Aviation Association (VAAA) will hold an Open House on Thursday, February 18 from 3-5 pm at the Heritage Aviation Facility, located at 228 Aviation Ave in South Burlington, next to the Burlington International Airport.

During the Open House, Governor Jim Douglas will sign a proclamation declaring February as “General Aviation Appreciation Month”, highlighting the significance the industry has on Vermont’s statewide economy. The VAAA is a division of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce which manages this association in partnership with Lt. Governor and VAAA Chair Brian Dubie, who also serves as National Chair of the Aerospace States Association. The event will be attended by general aviation (GA) leaders from around the country.

“As Vermont seeks to rebound from the recession, we have to work to maintain and strengthen industries that positively impact our small towns and businesses,” said Governor Douglas. “By declaring February “Aviation and Aerospace Appreciation Month”, we’re sending a clear signal that we support this industry that is central to our state’s economic success.”

Lt. Governor Brian Dubie, who founded VAAA in 2006, added, “Our national security, our economic vitality, and our national mobility rely on a strong aerospace and aviation sector. Similarly, Vermont’s aviation sector plays a vital role in our state’s economic well-being and public safety.”

Featured guest speakers will include: Governor Douglas, Lt. Governor Brian Dubie, Ted Brady, Office of Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, Stephen O’Bryan, VP of Business Development and Customer Engagement for the F-35, Lockheed Martin, Brian Searles, Director of Aviation, Burlington International Airport, Bill Gural, General Dynamics, VP of Detection Systems, and Patricia Moulton-Powden, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Labor.

Vermont depends heavily on general aviation. GA alone contributes $274 million, or $430 per capita, to Vermont’s economy annually. Vermont has 16 public-use airports, 1,350 pilots and 877 general aviation aircraft. Aviation, including commercial service, accounts for 9,000 jobs and $225 million in wages to Vermont’s economy. These and other statistics from our newly launched economic impact survey can be found online at http://www.aviationacrossamerica.org/States.aspx.

In business since 1912, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce is a private, not-for-profit business organization with 1,500 members, collectively employing 45,000 people, representing all sectors of the state’s economy. Our mission is to create an economic climate conducive to business growth and preservation of the Vermont quality of life.

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Jeff Morton
Director of Communications
Vermont Chamber of Commerce
(802) 229-2273
www.vtchamber.com

VTDigger

Gov. James Douglas

Gov. James Douglas painted a dark picture of the state’s economy for reporters at his weekly press conference on Thursday.

Douglas announced that revenue figures for January have come in $5.5 million below the most recent revenue forecast, or 4.5 percent less than expected.

“That underscores the fact that we’re in very uncertain territory from an economic standpoint and emphasizes the need to take important steps to right our fiscal condition as quickly as we possibly can,” Douglas said.

He also made reference to a recent White House report that indicates unemployment in the United States will remain at 10 percent in 2010 and projects an ongoing rate of 6 percent for the next five years.

This makes passage of the “Challenges for Change” bill, S. 238, all the more imperative, Douglas said. He thanked the Senate for passing the bill this week, and asked the House to push the $38 million plan forward.

“Moving quickly on this $38 million plan will allow us to proceed with certainty on the $151 million challenge that we’re facing,” Douglas said. “The effort goes beyond next fiscal year’s budget. If we can achieve state budget efficiencies now we’ll realize even greater savings in the future. That’s essential because the effects of this recession are going to continue for a few more years.”

The ultimate solution, however, Douglas said, is “growing our tax base and ensuring Vermonters have access to good jobs that pay good wages.”

Douglas also urged the Legislature to pass the so-called jobs bill, which would infuse $8.7 million in federal stimulus dollars in the economy, before Town Meeting Day. He said the money would be used for what  he called “critical economic development needs,” such as workforce training, spring planting grants for farmers, capital for companies, tourism marketing and broadband investments.

He also called for a roll back of capital gains and estate tax changes that “the Legislature imposed last year.”

“We’ve to make our state more competitive economically,” Douglas said. “If we’re going to avoid a slow and halting recovery we have to have a competitive tax burden and provide incentives for creating more jobs.”

When asked whether he thought the jobs bill should have been pushed through the budget adjustment bill for fiscal year 2010, so that $1 million of that funding could have been made available for dairy farmers, Douglas said he had hoped the jobs bill would have been passed by the end of January. Sen. Vince Illuzzi, R-Essex-Orleans, had tried to attach the bill to the budget adjustment act, but the House objected, Douglas said.

“We can talk about process all we want, whether it’s budget adjustment or the jobs bill, farmers need the money to plant their crops very soon,” Douglas said. “And 40 companies need that job training money on March 1, VEDA can get some more low cost loans out to create more jobs as soon as possible.  We can start expanding broadband as quickly as we can do it. I don’t think Vermonters care about the legislative process, they need the money.”

Douglas said the $8.7 million in stimulus dollars is being used for economic development programs instead of filling the budget gap because they are “one-time” dollars, funds from the federal stimulus bill from February of last year, that won’t be available next year.

“One-time dollars should be used for one-time purposes,” Douglas said. “Remember, the purpose of the recovery act was to create jobs. Last year I was critical of legislators for … building (some of those funds) into the budget base. They put money in Public Safety and we need the state police every year and we don’t want those dollars to go away so I think this is exactly the purpose for which these were intended.”

VTDigger

I believe the tritium leak at ENVY is a greater environmental disaster than you realize. Just one gram of tritium contaminates 500 billion liters of water up to the fed. limit of 20,000pCi/L. The leak has been allowed to continue at full speed for over one month. The level of tritiated water found in groundwater monitoring wells is now at 2.7 million pCi/L, near the level of the reactor water itself.  This represents a breach of containment, understood as the systems in the reactor and powerplant intended to isolate radioactive contamination from the public.

The groundwater belongs to the public, not to ENVY. ENVY’s leak has polluted our groundwater to the second highest level of all tritium leaks from reactors in the country. NRC rules have allowed contamination of groundwater resources at 27 leaking nuclear reactors. This is illegal in Vermont. Your agencies can stop the leak by shutting down the reactor, but they are waiting for you to give the nod. You must protect public trust resources. Please instruct your agencies (DPS, ANR, VDH) to act swiftly to turn off the reactor water that is contaminating the groundwater by shutting down the reactor.

It is not necessary to run the reactor at overpressure levels to find the leak. Drilling wells just maps the toxicity and extent of the plume, it does not find the leak. All power plants have design drawings, sophisticated gauges and flow meters on their pipes and engineers who can do mass balance calculations to detect leaks.  This has gone on far too long, is based on industry lies and incompetence and NRC tolerance of groundwater pollution, and MUST BE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY. Please do the right thing and act.

Thank you for your rapid consideration of my concerns.

Sally Shaw

Gill, Mass.

An 11th generation Vermonter and mother, living in the EPZ.

A letter from Sally Shaw’s husband, Bart Bales, follows.

Leak detection in plant systems with regard to the VT Yankee tritium leak.

By Bart Bales, P.E., M.S.M.E

February 9, 2010

This is an evaluation of the facts surrounding the VT Yankee tritium leak as reported in the press and to the public through the VT Dept. of Health’s website. It is the opinion of a registered mechanical engineer with twenty-five years of professional experience in energy engineering. It provides approaches to leak detection in power plant piping systems in general, and evaluates the approach being employed, according to public information, to find the tritium leak at VT Yankee.

1.    A plant operator should have up-to-date schematics for all piping and the expected pressures and flow rates throughout the piping network.

2.    Design pipe layouts and as-built pipe layouts are necessary elements for responsible operation and maintenance of a power plant.

3.    Use of design and as-built drawings and specifications along with gauge and instrumentation operating parameters should provide information sufficient to determine expected flow rates and pressures in the piping networks.

4.    The design documents at VT Yankee should enable plant personnel to identify a limited number of pipes that could contain tritiated water.

5.    Plant personnel should determine actual flows through and between elements and components of those piping networks that contain tritium, and determine quantities in various storage vessels by a mass balance calculation.

6.    These calculations can determine flows from within the plant enclosure to the piping network and storage vessels outside the enclosure and should provide information sufficient to identify the leaking pipe loop.

7.    Differences in flows into and out of parts of the network can help localize the leak as the mass balance will indicate a shortfall in expected values for the piping network containing the leak.

8.    This is a more prudent approach to leak detection that can allow the plant system to be operated at lower and safer pressures and flow rates until the leak is found and repaired.

9.    It is expected that there would be existing flow meters on all the various piping loops, especially those conveying radioactive liquids or gases. These should be calibrated, serviced or replaced and rendered reliably functional to determine flow rates and diagnose leaks.

10.     Maintenance of full pressure ratings throughout the power plant should not be necessary to accomplish leak detection. Maintenance of even moderate pressures in the piping will produce a sufficient gradient for leak detection.

11.     There is no justification for maintaining pressures at uprated or even original design conditions for leak detection.

12.     Fluid flow through holes in the leaking pipes erodes the edges of these holes.  Larger holes result in even higher rates of leakage.

13.     It should be recognized that the higher the pressure the greater the flow through leaks, and the faster the introduction of contaminants into the groundwater.

14.     A higher influx rate into the groundwater increases the rate of migration of the plume into adjacent areas and into the Connecticut River.

15.     A more responsible leak detection protocol would be to shut down the plant, evaluate and model analytically, prioritizing the pipe systems most likely to be leaking tritium, then test each system progressively in order of probability that it is the source of the leak.

16.     This approach to leak detection methods from inside the plant employs existing flow gauges or installation of mechanical measuring gauges, and use of ultrasonic or inflow measurements.

17.     For a plant operator or engineer to lack knowledge of location of piping networks and their contents is an unacceptable situation, especially in the handling of potentially hazardous fluids.

VTDigger

February 5, 2010

Contact: David M. Coriell (802) 828-3333

Governor Douglas Urges Congress to Allow State Greater Medicaid Flexibility

Douglas, other governors ask Congress for ARRA extension

Montpelier , Vt. – Governor Jim Douglas, along with NGA Vice-Chair Governor Joe Manchin (D-WV), sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to extend the federal Medicaid match (FMAP) for two additional quarters, while modifying the maintenance of effort requirements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

“Governors and state legislators across the country are working hard to fill budget gaps and invest in a robust economic recovery,” Governor Douglas said. “While additional federal assistance will help in the short term, my colleagues and I are seeking greater flexibility to invest in strategic efforts to make state budgets sustainable for the future.”

The recession has created enormous fiscal challenges for states. Between fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2011, states will have faced a cumulative $256 billion in budget gaps. This year alone, Vermont is addressing a $150 million gap in the State General Fund budget.

“The budget I proposed to the General Assembly last month did not rely on additional federal funds,” the Governor noted. “But if we do receive additional support from Washington , we must use that money to invest in ways to make our budget sustainable. If we use these funds to support unsustainable programs, Vermonters will be faced with even larger shortfalls in the years to come.”

If Vermont ’s fiscal 2011 shortfall was to be filled exclusively by one-time funds, the fiscal 2012 shortfall would be roughly a quarter billion dollars. Fortunately, efforts, such as “Challenges for Change,” are underway to meet these challenges and make state government more sustainable.

In the letter, Governor Douglas and Governor Manchin wrote, “Governors are committed to encouraging job creation and speeding recovery and urge you to work with us by extending FMAP enhancements and restoring state flexibility over Medicaid as soon as possible.”

VTDigger

February 5, 2010

Contact: David M. Coriell (802) 828-3333

Governors will work with federal officials on issues related to the use of military reserve forces in domestic emergencies

Montpelier , Vt. – Governor Jim Douglas has been appointed by President Obama to co-chair the Council of Governors, a bipartisan group of 10 governors who will work closely with the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, as well as other defense and national security officials to advise on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions.

“It is a great honor to be asked by the President to co-chair the Council,” said Governor Douglas. “Ensuring that the state and federal governments are coordinated in response to domestic military operations and disasters is critical to the safety and security of our Vermont residents, and citizens across the country.”

The National Guard Empowerment Act of 2007 directed the President to establish a bipartisan Council of Governors – five from each party – who will work with defense and homeland security officials on issues regarding the command structure for National Guard and active duty military forces operating within states in response to domestic disasters and emergencies.

“Governors appreciate the opportunity to exchange ideas and views about military operations within their states,” said the Governor. “This Council will provide a forum for the discussion of issues that might arise and ultimately lead to more effective responses to domestic disasters and emergencies.”

On January 11, President Obama issued an executive order to formally establish the Council. Its membership includes:

Ø Governor James H. Douglas, Co-Chair

Ø Governor Chris Gregoire, Co-Chair

Ø Governor Janice K. Brewer

Ø Governor Luis G. Fortuño

Ø Governor Brad Henry, Member

Ø Governor Robert F. McDonnell

Ø Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon

Ø Governor Martin O’Malley

Ø Governor Beverly Eaves Perdue

Ø Governor M. Michael Rounds

Ø Secretary of Defense

Ø Secretary of Homeland Security

Ø Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism

Ø Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement

Ø Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas ’ Security Affairs

Ø Commander, U.S. Northern Command

Ø Chief, National Guard Bureau

Ø Commandant , U.S. Coast Guard

VTDigger

Gov. James Douglas

In his weekly press conference, Gov. James Douglas talked about his meeting on Wednesday with President Obama and Vice President Biden and their call for a bipartisan approach to energy issues, particularly investments in biofuels, biomass, hydroelectric and nuclear power.

When asked if he was satisfied with recent management decisions at Vermont Yankee, including the removal of one official who apologized and the creation of a special Entergy team who will focus on the investigation of misstatements regarding underground piping at the plant and inspections of the tritium leak, the governor said, “We don’t have the answers we need at this point.”

He said he wants to see the investigation and inspections wrapped up and a decommissioning plan from the company.

“There are a lot of balls that are still in the air that may come down before we all feel comfortable,” Douglas said.

In testimony on Wednesday, Commissioner Douglas O’Brien said he would like to see a management team that had the authority to make decisions at Vermont Yankee. A reporter at the press conference asked Douglas what he would like to see.

“I’ve been vague because I don’t want to prescribe how the corporation is structured,” Douglas said. “What I’m interested in is not the structure, or the personalities, but the results.”

Douglas on the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow corporations to contribute to political campaigns:

Douglas says the decision has no impact on state corporate contributions laws. “I’d rather have a statute than not, I’m also concerned we’re getting into an election. … Maybe the tradition of not making changes in an election year is one that should be respected.

Would the governor support bill in the legislature that would ask him to certify that there is congressional authorization for a war before the Vermont National Guard is deployed.

“The Congress has made it quite clear the president orders the National Guard into federal service, that he has that authority,” Douglas Said.

Do you have concerns that there are enough guard soldiers here? “I want to make sure that there are. … Some states had three quarters of their soldiers deployed and we made it clear we were uncomfortable with that.”

Do you care for legislation regarding use of hands-free cell phones?

Douglas supports a ban on texting, but “beyond that it gets to be a slippery slope.”

Is the governor pleased with the legislators’ draft legislation under the Challenges for Change plan to reorganize state government?

“I think the process is going along well,” Douglas said. The Legislature recognizes the need to get our spending under control. “We have to take the first step, which is relatively easy. It solves the first quarter of our budget gap and I think the legislators are doing a good job. I’d hoped we’d be a little further along by now, but I know they’re working hard on it.”

VTDigger