[S]OUTH BURLINGTON — Four of the candidates running for governor made their pitch to state employees this week, promising to not balance the budget at their expense and to veto any legislation that would undermine unions.
They also emphasized the importance of workplace safety and drew applause when they pledged to end having private companies do work done previously by public workers, including the housing of some inmates at out-of-state correctional facilities owned by private corporations.
The candidates made their case to the Vermont State Employees union members, who are poised to make one of the first key endorsements before the August primary. Members are voting this week on their preference for governor and other state offices. The union’s board is planning on making a formal endorsement next week.
On Wednesday, a key subcommittee of the 5,000-member union threw their support behind Sen. Peter Galbraith in the Democratic primary. The vote was misrepresented in a newspaper headline as an endorsement from the full union. The union held two forums, one in Montpelier on Wednesday and in South Burlington on Thursday.
At the Thursday event, former Transportation Secretary Sue Minter, one of three Democrats running, decried the use of consultants, who she said cost more but gave the appearance that cuts had been made. She and Republican Bruce Lisman said their goal was to make state government viewed as a highly desirable place to work.
All of the candidates promised to raise enough resources for adequate public services and pay. Former Sen. Peter Galbraith, also a Democrat, called for higher income taxes on the wealthy and cutting incentive payments to corporations, as a way to raise sufficient revenue.
Democrat Matt Dunne, a former state senator who used to work for Google, promised he would never leave the worker’s’ contract out of the proposed state budget. He said more revenue should be raised taxing internet sales. Minter supported expanding the sales tax to include some services while also cutting the rate. Galbraith said special interests convinced lawmakers — and went against a recommendation by the Tax Department — to not tax “the cloud,” some of the services sold on the internet.
Galbraith repeated his call for a $15 an hour minimum wage and said he was glad to see Dunne and Minter now supported that proposal.
“A deal is a deal,” Lisman said, promising he would never request state workers give back any pay or benefits once a contract was signed. Both Gov. Peter Shumlin and Gov. Jim Douglas requested state workers give concessions during tough economic times.
Lt. Gov Phil Scott, who is running for governor, was invited but did not attend either forum. The Legislative Committee did not make an endorsement in the Republican primary.
Galbraith thanked the union’s 23-member Legislative Committee for its recommendation that he win the full VSEA endorsement in the Democratic primary, but made clear he wanted the support of the rank and file and not just the union leadership. The committee recommended Sen. David Zuckerman get the Democratic endorsement in the Lt. Governor’s race.
Galbraith and the other candidates also vowed to not hold against the union an endorsement of another candidate. John Howe, a teacher at the high school program in the Vermont prisons, questioned whether the union’s endorsement of Doug Racine in the 2010 race had led to sour relations at times with the Shumlin administration.
VSEA executive director Steve Howard said the method of making the endorsement, including the straw poll voting by the membership, was new and designed to get more members involved and to avoid any appearance of a “backroom deal.”
“We’ve often heard that members want to be more involved in this. We’re a member driven union and this is like taking it out of the quarters of power and saying ‘Okay, members you tell us who you think should get it,’” Howard said.
“Politicians don’t like it. They like to be able to charm a room of people versus having to be tested as if they were running in a small microcosm of the electorate,” he said.
All of the statewide candidates filled out a questionnaire. Howard said Galbraith got the nod from the Legislative committee because of the clarity of his answers.
“His answers were really clear and precise. There were no yes, buts,” Howard said.
However, Howard said he thought the straw poll would carry significant weight with Board of Trustees. Members can vote until Monday in the non-binding poll. Then the trustees vote on Tuesday. Their decision will then go to the VSEA Council, a 150-member part of the group that will either ratify the trustee’s decision or overturn it with a two-thirds vote.
Howard said the union membership is a microcosm of the state’s political demographics and a real test for the candidates. And he said while endorsements can be overblown in importance, they can make a bigger difference in a primary, where turnout is lower and union support and the effort they put in can make a difference.
