Never mind the half dozen or so “unfinished business” notices in the Senate calendar that have been carried over for a number of days now — the 30 senators in the Statehouse are suddenly making the great leap forward toward adjournment.
Lawmakers may have to stay in the Senate Chamber until well past supper every night this week (8 p.m.), but by gum, all the money bills are being dislodged from Senate committees over the next few days — the budget, transportation, capital and miscellaneous tax bills — and it appears they’ll be ready for show time in the Green Room before the end of the week.
Even the universal health care bill, H.202, which passed out of Senate Finance on a 5-2 vote (two Republicans on the committee voted no), may go live by Friday. (There were no substantive changes to the legislation.)
Senate Institutions Committee members gave the capital bill unanimous approval on Tuesday; last night, the capital and transportation bills passed on 2nd reading in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee wrapped up deliberations on the stickiest issues in the budget (the last of the changes to human services). The big bill is as good as finished, committee members say; the transportation and tax bills were passed out of committee last week.
Expect to see a vigorous debate on amendments to the capital bill in the morning. (Sen. Vince Illuzzi, D/R-Essex-Orleans County wants to add language to the bill, for example, that would enable state workers to telecommute. Read the amendment.)
But passage of all of the bills in question is imminent. Such is life in the Statehouse these days where the Democratic majority can easily overpower resistance to their governor’s legislative recommendations.
In spite of the fierce loyalty evinced by lawmakers on most facets of the administration’s budget, Gov. Peter Shumlin has made a concerted effort to alter several recent Senate committee spending decisions that deviate from his recommendations. The governor has appealed to certain senators to vote down the $1 per pack cigarette tax. Appropriations committee members on Tuesday were summoned to the ceremonial office one by one for a tete a tete with the governor over the issue. By end of Tuesday, it wasn’t clear where the votes stand on the matter.
One thing is clear, however: by inserting himself in the legislative process, the governor temporarily slowed the grinding wheels of legislative momentum.
It’s a chicken or egg thing. Senators want to know they have a solid proposal when they go to the floor. Meanwhile, the tax bill can’t move forward without the budget; and vice versa. So while Senate Approps picked through the remaining spending issues and senators were ready to vote by the end of Tuesday, they felt they couldn’t move forward without the confidence of knowing the tax bill is settled.
If the cigarette tax doesn’t pass muster, the $4 million to $5 million has to come from somewhere else — most likely from an increase in the provider tax on hospitals. No one in the building, as Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, put it, has an appetite for Shumlin’s “tooth” tax. So dentists will likely be left alone this year.
These behind-closed-door disputes don’t appear to be dealbreakers, however, and so the stars may be aligned for a May 7 adjournment — in spite of anxiety about the Senate’s sporadic schedule. (Don’t bother checking the calendar, insiders say, because senators don’t adhere to a strict schedule at the end of the session, unlike the House members who are subject to much more intensive time management).
The Senate is scheduled to vote on final passage of the capital and transportation bills on Wednesday; health care on Thursday; and the miscellaneous tax bill and the Big Bill on Friday.
Montpelier loses money for boiler
The Senate’s capital bill doesn’t differ much from the House passed version. Both are two-year proposals; both invest more money up front ($90 million) in the first year than in the second ($63 million); and both incorporate a budget adjustment mechanism for year two.
The House and the Senate have guaranteed funding for three major projects in fiscal years 2012 and 2013: the state health lab in Colchester ($28 million), a new consolidated state police barracks for Brattleboro and Rockingham ($5 million) and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements at courthouses ($400,000). Everything else on the list is subject to change in next year’s capital budget adjustment.
There are a few discrepancies of note in the Senate bill. The most controversial will likely be a $5.1 million cut to the House recommendation for a biomass heating project in Montpelier that would upgrade the state’s boiler system, which heats the statehouse and state buildings downtown, and expand access to the system to other structures in the city.
The second likely contentious issue is funding for the Vermont Telecommunications Authority. The Senate awards the state board $11.8 million over two years ($5 million in the first year and $6.8 million in year two); the House gave the authority $2 million in the first year and $8 million in the second — contingent on the board meeting performance contracting requirements.
Here is a list of other changes:
- The health lab got a $1.4 million haircut.
- Corrections will receive an additional $2.6 million for continuation of a suicide prevention project.
- The Department of Building and General Services will get an additional $2.4 million for major maintenance.
- The Vermont State Hospital is slated to receive $2.6 million over two years for planning to replace the facility which has failed annual federal certification requirements for eight years. (In addition, the executive director of the hospital will become an exempt employee, subject to appointment by the governor, in the bill language.)
- The Shelburne Museum will receive $168,000, but the state funding will be rolled into the historic preservation grants line item.
- School construction aid is reduced by $2.2 million. The total of $7 million will be used for paying off construction costs for wood chip boilers around the state. The moratorium on new school construction still holds.
- Funding for the Burlington Housing Authority, $600,000, is moved to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board line item.
- The capital bill also includes a few oddities, notably money for shooting ranges and the Lake Champlain Walleye Association. In the Senate bill, the ranges lose $50,000; the walleye hatchery gets $25,000.
- In all, environmental and conservation expenditures add up to $33 million over the two-year period.
