Legislative committees in the House of Representatives are in wind up mode before the big mid-session break — town meeting week — and the action in the infield will be intense as lawmakers gear up to make a final pitch for bills. The last day to introduce legislation is Feb. 28, and the deadline is coming up hard and fast for big bills. By the time lawmakers return from a week of bonding with constituents, all the major legislation will be in play – bills will be voted out of House committees and a flurry of floor votes will ensue. Then it’ll be the Senate’s turn at the bat.
The House Appropriations Committee will be marking up the Big Bill — that is making changes to the appropriations draft bill proposed by Gov. Peter Shumlin — every day this week. Members of the committee will lift their heads from the arduous task of balancing the budget in the face of a $176 million shortfall to take testimony from the public in two hearings this week – one is today from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 10. The second public hearing on the budget will be held tomorrow from 9 to 11 a.m. in Room 11.
You can expect to see advocates from the major stakeholder groups hardest hit by the governor’s budget proposal – the Area Agencies on Aging, the regional mental health and developmental disabilities agencies and substance abuse groups – lining up to give 2 minutes worth of testimony to the Committee.
Gov. Peter Shumlin has proposed cutting programs that help elderly Vermonters stay in their homes as part of the Choices for Care program. The General Fund cuts total about $2.2 million, but because they are matched with federal funding, the total reductions are roughly $5 million.
Designated agencies, the nonprofits that provide mental health services and support for Vermonters with developmental disabilities, are slated to take a 5 percent cut. The designated agencies stand to lose $4.6 million, on top of $5.6 million in cuts they sustained in fiscal year 2011, as a result of Challenges for Change, the government restructuring effort, according to Julie Tessler, executive director of the Vermont Council of Developmental and Mental Health Services.
Student Assistance Program counselors who provide support for teenagers at high schools around the state are also on the chopping block. The governor is looking to save $1.3 million by eliminating the positions.
Shumlin, in his budget address and in press conferences, has reiterated his hard-line, no-new-taxes stance. He has also said he has no interest in using money from the budget stabilization reserve.
On that score there will likely be push back from some quarters in the Legislature. House Approps is very thorough in its analysis of budget proposals, and judging from a recent op-ed by one of its members, Rep. Ann Manwaring, D-Wilmington, cutting further into the bone of social programs for the neediest Vermonters may not be a palatable option.
The governor’s jobs bill is also getting a thorough vetting in several committees – namely House Agriculture and House Commerce and Economic Development. A variety of lobbyists will be in Commerce to give their spin on H.287, which is a smorgasbord of small tax breaks, incentives and low-budget workforce training programs designed to stimulate the economy. At the time Shumlin introduced the proposal, the bill had a price tag of about $1 million.
Among those testifying is Doug Hoffer, a former Democratic candidate for State Auditor, who is an adamant opponent of the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive, a program listed in the bill, which is designed to give companies cash incentives in exchange for the number of jobs they actually create. Hoffer questions the efficacy of the investments the state has made in this economic development program.
Hoffer will also be inside the Golden Bubble this week to talk with House Ways and Means about a Jobs Bill spinoff – H.275 – a program that gives employers who hire veterans a tax break. Adjutant general Michael Dubie told lawmakers at the beginning of the legislative session that unemployment among recently returned veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan is running at roughly 30 percent. H.275 was proposed by the governor and legislative leaders to address that problem.
Hoffer argues in his prepared testimony that the state should invest the money in veterans – instead of businesses. He makes the case that it would be better to help unemployed veterans directly by providing them with the transportation, medical attention, training, and so on that would enable them to find work more readily.
The House Committee on Government Operations will spend Tuesday and Wednesday marking up H.73, the government transparency office and public records act legislation, also proposed by the governor’s office. At issue is whether existing law adequately protects the public’s right to know. Shumlin’s office has pushed for additional charges to view records, more time to fulfill records requests and has equivocated on whether to instruct judges to award attorneys’ fees to parties that successfully sue the state over access to public records.
It’s all single payer all the time in House Health Care this week. Lawmakers will hear from IBM, VPIRG, the Vermont Medical Society, the hospitals’ association and single-payer advocates.
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/schedule/frame.cfm?CommitteeMeetingID=7974
The Natural Resources and Energy committee is putting the final touches on the energy bill, which includes the creation of Renewable Energy Investment Vermont, a program that would provide oversight and incentives for utility-owned small electric generation plants. It would be funded through “customer optional” charge on ratepayers’ electric bills.
The capital bill is working its way through Corrections and Institutions, and the committee is looking to pass a two year proposal that will include investments in energy efficiency upgrades for state buildings. Ways and Means continues to sift through comments about the Vermont Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission’s recommendations and the transportation bill is well under way.
Meanwhile, watch for a lot of side action this week.
Here’s a brief lineup of the protests, pressers and hearings this week at the Statehouse.
Today:
11:30 a.m., Cedar Creek Room. Union leaders from the Vermont State Employees Association, Vermont-NEA, Nurses and Healthcare Professionals Union and others are holding a press conference in solidarity with state workers in Wisconsin to “denounce Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights.” The presser will morph into a rally at noon on the Statehouse lawn.
2:30-4:30 p.m., Room 10. House Appropriations Committee, public hearing on the governor’s proposed budget.
Wednesday:
9-11 a.m., Room 11. House Appropriations Committee, public hearing on the governor’s proposed budget.
1-3 p.m. Central Vermont Community Action Council is holding a stroll-in at Sen. Patrick Leahy’s office in Montpelier to protest cuts to Head Start.
Thursday:
11:30 a.m., Cedar Creek Room. Vermont Toxics Action holds a press conference as part of the Power of the Onesie lobby day held in conjunction with VPIRG and the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Vermont. Families are calling on elected officials to support bills that would protect kids from toxic chemicals.
12:15 p.m., Room 11. Wendell Potter, a former Cigna insurance executive, an outspoken critic of the health care industry, will address single-payer advocates
4 p.m. UVM Davis Center. Howard Shaffer and Arne Gundersen, two nuclear experts square off on whether Vermont Yankee should continue to operate beyond its 40 year license.
In case you missed it …
