Lead Bill In Dangerous Position In House

A bill that would protect children from lead in housing is currently before the House Human Services Committee and may be voted on as soon as tomorrow. While H.352 is a much needed next step, opposition from landlords may be leaving legislators in doubt. It is critical that an outspoken few not prevent us from protecting children from the dangers of lead.

Approximately 3,000 children in Vermont have dangerous levels of lead in their blood. Elevated blood lead levels can result in a variety of health problems and can damage the future development of children. As Vermont has some of the oldest housing stock in the nation, lead-based paint in housing is the primary source of lead poisoning in Vermont.

Our current law does not do enough to address this issue. We need a multi-pronged approach that is both practical and protective of our most vulnerable population. H.352 takes that approach by:

1) Further safeguarding the health of children in rental housing;
2) Expanding protections to children in owner-occupied housing as well as rental housing and;
3) Ensuring that all 1 and 2 year olds are screened for elevated blood lead levels.

Vermont is faced with a public health problem that we all must play a role in resolving. This means that landlords, homeowners, parents, the medical community, and the State of Vermont must all do our part to ensure that our children are safe and healthy.

You can let the members of the committee know that this bill is important to the children of Vermont by going here:
http://capwiz.com/vpirg/issues/alert/?alertid=10904081&type=CU

~Chairty

Bush Vetos SCHIP... Again

As expected, last night President Bush vetoed Congress’ second attempt to extend and expand the SCHIP program. The media is now speculating that Congress will pass a resolution to extend SCHIP in its current form through the end of the fiscal year. According to one report, a veto override vote has been scheduled for January 23, a few days before Bush is scheduled to give his State of the Union address.

SCHIP currently provides health coverage to 6 million children of working families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance. Democratic and Republican lawmakers and governors, as well as 80 percent of the public, support expanding the SCHIP program. After the president vetoed the first SCHIP bill, Congress adjusted the bill to address the president’s concerns, but the president said Congress did not go far enough.

Congress Ready to Rumble for Kids' Health Insurance

Tomorrow, members of the U.S. House and Senate will vote to override President Bush’s veto of legislation that would extend and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The bill in question, a compromise between the House and Senate, would extend SCHIP for another five years, provide an additional $35 billion in funding, and provide health care for an additional 10 million uninsured children whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford the typical private insurance plan.

In vetoing the bill, President Bush, always an ally of the private insurance industry, claimed the legislation was a move toward “federalized” health care and that he believes in private insurance. Oddly enough, under the SCHIP program, children are typically enrolled in private health insurance plans, and there is no federally established or recommended benefits package.

Additionally, Bush has claimed that the SCHIP legislation extends coverage to families earning over $80,000. However, the bill in question limits SCHIP dollars to children in families with incomes at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which is approximately $60,000 a year for a family of four.

Why such discrepancies between the President’s statements and the actual bill? Well, several things might be at work here. It’s possible that President Bush has not read the legislation. It’s also possible that he’s receiving bad advice from his cronies. It’s also possible that he’s purposely trying to mislead the American public so that folks will get behind his veto. It’s much easier to sell bad policy with “truthiness” than by admitting that this veto was made in deference to the private insurance industry and big tobacco companies (much of the new SCHIP funding comes from an increase in tobacco taxes).

Whatever it is, one thing is clear: Bush’s veto makes no sense. It’s an exceedingly bad policy decision that puts children across this country at risk. Let’s hope that Congress can muster the votes tomorrow to override the President (and the insurance industry and big tobacco) to provide health care to children who need it the most.

We’ll keep you posted.
-By Stefanie Sidortsova, Health Care Advocate

Is President Bush Threatening Dr. Dynasaur?

Many of you may have read the recent news over the battle to fully fund the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Here at VPIRG, we have heard from several members who want to know what, if anything, this could mean for Dr. Dynasaur.

First a little history for clarification: Most of our members will remember that about 10 years ago Vermont became a national leader in the fight to insure all our kids when we passed Dr Dynasaur. It’s been a tremendously successful program, and is in many ways the blueprint for our vision of a health care system where every Vermonter has access to quality, affordable health care. But while Dr. Dynasaur’s greatest strength is that it offers every child in Vermont access to insurance, the funding for the program is a little more complicated: What looks like a single, comprehensive system on the patient’s end is actually funded by a mish-mash of state and federal tax-dollars, private companies and the parents of the insured children.

SCHIP is one of the ways in which Dr. Dynasaur is funded. If you haven’t heard, SCHIP is a federal program that provides states with health insurance funding for low-income children and their families. The Bush administration is seeking to “refocus” the program so that only children at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL - about 40,000/year for a family of four) are covered. If this proposal is adopted, it could adversely impact 28 states, including Vermont. Currently, Vermont receives SCHIP funding for children between 225 and 300 percent FPL (~45-60,000/year for a family of four) who are without health insurance. And if nothing is done by September 30th, the program’s funding expires altogether.

The good news is that state officials are working on a plan. If Congress passes the SCHIP legislation in its current form, Vermont will endeavor to insure the kids who lose coverage through changes to SCHIP by moving them into Vermont’s Global Commitment Waiver (which is facing its own problems) and make up the difference with state funds. While it’s disturbing to see the federal government scaling back health care coverage for kids, at this point in time there is no reason to believe that a scale-back in SCHIP funding will lead to loss of coverage for Vermont children.

As always, we will continue to watchdog the issue and keep you informed.

By Stefanie L. Sidortsova
VPIRG Health Care Advocate

Another take on the day of near overrides

I said earlier this week that no matter which way the votes went on July 11 we would make history. Not to toot my own horn, but I sure was right.

Sean and Colleen's posts below cover a lot of the mood and feeling of the day. I wanted to add my own perspective as well. I also want to succinctly lay out all of the various votes that happened that day because I think that story of procedure is illuminating in this case.

The first vote, and first surprise of the day actually happened in the Senate which voted early in the day to override the governor's veto 24-5, with one Senator absent (get the roll call here). The outcome may have been expected but one surprise was Sen. Scott (R-Washington) who crossed party lines to support the implementation of S.164's common-sense limits on campaign contributions.

While the Senate was voting, the crowd of override supporters inside the statehouse was building. By 9:30 I'd already run out of our first 250 piece printing of 1-page of talking points for citizen lobbyists. By 10 am when the House convened to take up the global warming bill we were overflowing the House chamber and doing out best not to obstruct traffic in the halls.

And when the House broke to caucus at about 10:30, we were at our peak of attendance, about 400 people, and absolutely jammed rooms 10 and 11 where the Republicans and Democrats, respectively, met to debate the bill's merits by party. I literally could not get in the door to room 10, but heard that some legislators were a little annoyed to find a crowd of constituents and citizens taking up most of the room's chairs. In Room 11, which I did squeeze into for a minute, people were seated in ever square inch of floor space, as well as in every chair, and Speaker Symington got several impromptu ovations from the crowd for her defense of the bill. What I remember most from the Speaker's speech, which i admittedly did not hear all of, was her request that members of her party remember that "Our votes today are going to build the future our children and grand children live in. That's what this vote is about."

But the speaker's passionate appeal, the 400 citizens, the thousands of phone calls and the will of 72% of Vermonters was denied on Wednesday. At a little after 11am, the House re-convened to take up H.520. There were some powerful speeches both for and against the bill: rep Rachel Weston spoke eloquently in defense of the bill and the override I thought. As did our perennial champion on this issue, Rep. Klein of east Montpelier.

By now you'll have read the coverage that we once again won the majority, but not a big enough one to enact the bill: 86-61 was the vote, almost identical to what it was last time. We did convince a few Reps to change their vote and support the bill. But in the end the united front of big business and the governor proved to big an obstacle for just over 1/3 of elected Representatives.

It was the among the toughest 5 minutes of my life when they called that roll and so few Representatives had changed their minds. I know it was tough for a lot of you too, who have worked so hard to make global warming a priority for the House and Senate. But like any activist worth his salt, I quickly converted my disappointment to outrage. And when the House adjourned for lunch and a torrential rain storm prevented our plans for a rock-concert and rally on the front steps we did the only thing we could: James Moore and I marched up to the Speaker's office and demanded that the public be given the use of the House floor for 20 minutes so we could to tell the assembled activists that the fight was not over yet.

20 minutes later, James climbed up to the speaker's podium and from the applause you would have thought he was a conquering hero. Even after the difficult defeat, our crowd filled all 150 seats the legislature uses, plus most of the gallery. And when Bill McKibben told them that the issue wasn't going away and neither would we until the governor and ALL legislators start listening, the cheers form the crown could be heard all over the building.

But the biggest surprise came from the last speakers to join us on the floor of the House: Senate President Peter Shumlin and Senate Majority Leader John Campbell jogged into the room fresh from a hurried lunch-meeting with the Speaker. Over lunch and in light of the narrow loss in the House, the Senators had agreed to press their chamber to suspend it's own rules and take up a compromise energy bill based on H.520, but without the tax on Vermont Yankee. Suddenly, energy and global warming legislation was alive again in the statehouse as Shumlin and Campbell worked with senators from both parties to forge a consensus on the bill.

Meanwhile, our crowd cleared the floor and the house took up S.164. The vote count was incredibly close, and House Republicans that had been considering breaking party ranks to support the override as Sen. Scott had already done could be seen getting a thorough dressing-down from party leadership just outside the chamber. In the end, however, we turned up one vote short 97-50 (3 likely yes votes were absent) and fat-cats and special interests gained a 6-month reprieve from any limits on spending. That vote won't stand for long, however. As soon as the House reconvenes in January and attendance is more likely from those missing 3 legislators, look for this bill to re-appear on the floor and get enacted quickly with few if any amendments.

Finally, we were down to the true last hope for the energy bill. The senate motion to suspend rules passed and the bill was given debate and consideration. In one telling moment I saw republican Senators Phil Scott, Bill Doyle and Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie (who presides over the Senate) with their head's close together just outside the Governor's office. If you saw Chanel 3's coverage (read the transcript here), you know that the Governor was having none of it. Despite impassioned requests from legislative leadership and members of his own party, the Governor refused any compromise on energy and climate legislation: at one point he even refused to speak to Speaker Symington, and sent his chief of Staff Betsy Bishop out to send her away while he remained sequestered away in his office behind a heavy door and 2 state troopers.

Even without the governor, we were able to convince a bi-partisan coalition of Senators to support the compromise energy bill, which passed 23-6. But the Republicans in the House were not as willing to move legislation as their Senate Counterparts. In a striking moment of partisan-division obstructing progress on an issue that has clearly captured public attention: the House split exactly along party lines - 93-49 - on a vote about whether or not to even consider the new bill from the Senate. That vote was short of the 3/4 majority needed to suspend the Houses' rules. With that, climate change legislation was truly dead for the year. The House voted to adjourn a few minutes later and we were left with the re-caps, the spin and about 500 little plastic sticker-backings to clean up.

In all, the day was a disappointment for sure. But it was also hugely energizing. As Paul and several other staff have noted, this was one of the largest turnouts in State House history. And coming as it did on a work-day in the middle of July, that is an achievement in itself.

The Senate's willingness several times to look beyond partisan wrangling and back legislation that was good for Vermont was also encouraging and a sure sign that in Vermont, as in the national Congress, we sometimes look to the smaller and more collegial of our two legislative bodies to provide leadership on challenging policy issues.

And finally I am given hope by the simple math of it all: a shrinking minority of legislators and the Governor opposed our bills. They backed the interests of a handful of multi-billion dollar corporations and fat-cat donors. But just how long do you think they can hold out with 73% of the public and the legislature supporting our cause? How long can a majority block, filibuster and obstruct progress before passage of time and rising of consciousness deliver a victory to our team?

Not long I think, not long. Stay tuned. The last vote on global warming is not cast yet in the legislature or in the voting booth and we're counting on your support to win the next round.

A Day to Run Away, A Day to Move Forward

First, a quick apology to those of you looking forward to a live blog from the State House yesterday. We ran into some significant technical issues that could not be resolved on site. So once again, my apologies.

Yesterday, as you all are aware, 61 members of the House voted to uphold Governor Douglas’ veto of the comprehensive energy efficiency and global warming bill. In spite of overwhelming scientific evidence pointing to the need for action and massive public support for the bill, these legislators buckled under the weight of special interest pressure.

Also, 50 members of the House voted against overriding Governor Douglas’ veto of the Campaign Finance bill. Perhaps with an eye on larger campaign donations from PACs and political parties, they once again decided to vote against the public interest.

Feel me building a rhythm here?

Finally, even after the pieces of the global warming bill that Governor Douglas deemed most offensive were taken out of the bill, 54 legislators could still not see their way clear though the heat, humidity and fog of special interest influence to do what’s right for Vermont.

In other words, they ran away.

They ran away from the facts and from the great weight of public opinion.

In fact, you can watch Governor Douglas showing them how to do it by running away from a polar bear and Bill McKibben right here:



However, it was also a day to move forward.

More than 400 Vermonters turned out yesterday to show their support for pro-active change in the way we do business, including Bill McKibben and a really cute polar bear who was sadly rejected by her legislators:

We lobbied our legislators, we showed our support to the heroes of this bill, and we made our positions known. We made it clear that the agents of business-as-usual and influence peddling are not the only voices in the State House. The people, too, have a voice and a say and if anything is clear from yesterday’s events it is that the while the enemies of progress won a victory, they are not going to win the war.

In other words, I think we’ll look back on the day as a last chance for those who do not believe in global warming or fair elections to celebrate victory in Vermont.

For the rest of us, it was our day to move forward.

Check out what Bill McKibben had to say at an historic address in the well of the House after the vote:

Thank you again everyone for coming together on a stormy afternoon and helping us push Vermont forward and make the future we all deserve.

Overrides Fail But the Battle Goes On...

Nearly 500 Vermonters filled the State House today in a passionate attempt to get their legislators to put politics aside and do the right thing for the future of this state by overriding two gubenatorial vetos of the campaign finance reform and global warming energy bills. Sadly, in both cases enough of those legislators failed to listen to the overwhelming majority of Vermonters and chose special interest over the public interest by voting to sustain the vetoes.

The good news is that we gained momentum -- and votes -- on every vote today. That, together with the hundreds of Vermonters that joined us in this effort, will help ensure that we carry this momentum forward to make sure that in the end, we prevail. As Bill McKibben said today, we are gaining momentum and we're not going away.

Stay tuned for more details from today's momentous events, including the appearance at the State House of that single polar bear that Jim Douglas refuses to help.

Are you ready to rumble?

Tomorrow is the big day for both campaign finance and global warming. The VPIRG office is a hub of activity: a crew of interns from our sibling-organization TAC is making posters and cutting the bright green stickers that activists will be wearing to identify themselves as pro-override; the copier is running at maximum speed churning out talking points, posters and flyers; and staff are furiously answering calls and emails from citizens all over the state who want to be part of the history made tomorrow. In a minute you'll get an email from us inviting you to join us at the State House tomorrow or call your legislator and tell them to vote yes on both override votes.

Earlier today, we held a news conference with AARP and VBSR releasing new poll data that shows a whopping 72% of Vermonters support H.520's plan to cut heating bills and global warming pollution. We also released a list of more than 150 Vermont businesses that have signed a petition endorsing the override - so much for the bill being anti-business, huh? Moments after our press conference ended, the Speaker and Pro-Tem emerged from a last meeting with Governor seeking a fair compromise on the bill. They left empty-handed. Governor Douglas, it seems, is more interested in scoring political points than advancing legislation that will lower heating bills, create jobs and fight global warming.

And so we go once more to the breach, and it's going to be quite a show. Not just the vote, mind you: our plans include speeches from Bill McKibben, musical performances by X10 and a local rock group, and a visit from a friendly polar bear - you know, the one Douglas doesn't think we can save?

I do hope you can join us, and once again I'll be blogging from the floor whenever the vote gets underway...thanks again!

What's up with the global warming override?

It's been a busy few weeks here at VPIRG and we are fielding a lot of calls from people asking "what's up with the that veto override on global warming?"


The answer is - well - complicated. But let me try and untangle the recent news into a clear narrative:


1) A growing list of celebrities and opinion leaders are joining the call for the override: Al Gore endorsed the override on June 6. Then last week local high school students and rappers X10 put out a serious, and seriously funny video endorsing the override. Now Bill McKibben has joined the call, inviting all Vermonters to join him at the State House on July 11 as we seek to make Vermont a national leader in the fight to stop global warming. Their support, and the voices of literally thousands of Vermonters like you has lead to an extraordinary few weeks of news and opinion coverage of this topic. It's been exciting seeing all these folks come together in support of the bill, and it's definitely making an impact on the legislators. We're hearing news that we're picking up more and more votes, but there's more work to be done (see below).


2) Democratic leaders did propose a compromise, but Douglas vetoed that too. As you may have read in the news, Senate Pro-Tem Peter Shumlin and House Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resource Committee Robert Dostis were planning to meet with Governor Douglas last week. The purpose of the meeting: to discuss the global warming bill and see if common ground or compromise could be found before the override vote on the 11th. But Douglas cancelled the meeting at the last minute, and Press Secretary Jason Gibbs made it clear that the Governor was not interested in any version of the bill. This sets up a tough scenario for the most talked-about version of a compromise: namely removing just the portion of the bill that makes Vermont Yankee pay the same property tax rate as wind farms (the bill would still contain about $17 million in funding from other sources, including a tax on wind farms).
To even vote on such a compromise, 3/4 of legislators would need to first support a procedural motion to 'suspend the rules' of the House. With the governor and special interests still opposing the bill -- even with the element they say most concerns them removed -- it's tough to envision coming up with the votes to pass such a compromise.


3) Which brings us to the bottom line: the vote to override the global warming veto is still on for July 11 and we need your help to win it. 3 things you can do to help in order of simplicity: Click here to email your Representatives and ask them to VOTE YES on the global warming override; Volunteer 2 hours to help call VPIRG members and ask them to support of the override by emailing drew@vpirg.org; Join us on July 11 at 9AM at the VT State House.


Thanks again for all you're doing, hope to see you soon.

Its the (w)right thing to do...

Last night the intrepid activists of Burlington Step it Up joined forces with VPIRG to get the word out to the last remaining Legislator in Burlington who is against overriding Gov. Douglas’ veto of the global warming bill.

His name?

Kurt Wright.

His phone number? (if you’d like to give him a call and ask him to do the ehemm… Wright thing)

658-1410

I must say, despite there being only seven of us it was a great event! We had lots of public interest in the form of honks, waves, shouts of support, and people stopping by. But an event like this is about more than just asking one legislator to do the right thing. It’s about keeping the conversation going.

Win or loose on July 11^th the most important thing is that all of keep going, keep struggling, and keep seeking the right answers to global climate change. In other words, no matter the cost, the derisive comments by blind bureaucrats (or governors…), or legislative mishaps the issue remains: Climate Change is real, it is happening, and we can do something about. The people who joined me last night in the new north end see that, as do many of you. Getting out and acting out is more than just our duty as citizens who care about our climate and future, it’s simply the right thing to do.

Oh, and by the way thanks to Peter Freyne for stopping by, snapping some shots, and getting some great quotes for his blog! Check out his blog post about us here. Oh yeah, and thanks again Peter for letting me use the photo.

Douglas Picks politics ahead of principle

By Paul Burns, VPIRG Executive Director

Governor Douglas vetoed a popular campaign finance bill on May 31st that had been passed earlier this year in a unanimous vote of the Senate and with tri-partisan support in the House.

VPIRG worked very hard to pass this legislation in order to have some reasonable contribution limits in place for the 2008 elections after the Supreme Court struck down Vermont’s landmark campaign finance law last year.

Unfortunately, the governor blundered badly by failing to do his homework before vetoing this bill – S.164. His stated objections don’t hold up to a review of actual facts. Consider his four principle concerns:

1) Proposed individual and party contribution limits will extend a form of political protection to incumbents.

Response:
Research presented to the House Government Operations Committee by UVM campaign finance expert Tony Gierzinski proves that House races run under the strict limits in place from 2000 – 2004 were more competitive (more incumbents lost) than in races run before or since.

VPIRG analysis of some of the most competitive House and Senate races in 2006 shows effective campaigns can be waged by challengers in Vermont under the limits contained in S.164. In fact, almost no candidates raised money in amounts that would violate the limits in S.164 despite the fact that the law allowed for larger gifts last year.

Finally, a 2006 academic research study found that, “Analyses of both the number of contributors and the dollar amount of contributions [to gubernatorial candidates] suggest no support for an increased bias in favor of incumbents resulting from the presence of campaign contribution limits. If anything, contribution limits can work to reduce the bias that traditionally works in favor of incumbents. Also, contribution limits do not seem to increase disparities between gubernatorial candidates in general” (emphasis deleted). Eom & Gross, Contribution Limits and Disparity in Contributions Between Gubernatorial Candidates, 59 Pol. Research Q. 99, 99 (2006).

2) The proposed limits on the activities of political parties will empower special interest groups – whose independent actions and expenditures are unlimited – and provide a platform for these well-financed, often out-of-state, organizations to run more ads and make more independent expenditures than ever before.

Response:
S.164 imposes far greater restrictions on PACs than on political parties. Both political parties and PACs are free to make unlimited independent expenditures under the bill (since they cannot be restrained constitutionally). But while political parties can give up to $30,000 to a candidate running for governor (and lesser amounts to down-ticket offices), PACs are limited to giving no more than what an individual may give ($2,000 for governor and less for other offices). Furthermore, political parties are given wide leverage to perform various party-building activities and provide direct support to candidates in ways that are exempt from the contribution limits. PACs are not given a similar exemption under S.164. Therefore, the suggestion that political parties will be unable to respond to an independent attack ad sponsored by a PAC is factually incorrect.

The theory that such attack ads will be prevented by some sense of mutually assured destruction is also highly suspect. The ads are run in order to attack a particular candidate. The “Swift Boat Veterans” were probably not much worried about being attacked themselves. More to the point, there’s a better way to prevent such ads from being run by “outsiders” in Vermont. The 2006 U.S. House race proved that a highly competitive race could be waged without resorting to such negative advertising. The major party candidates in that race both deserve credit for making clear from the outset that they did not welcome such spending on their behalf. They recognized that Vermonters generally do not respond well to such advertising. That’s the kind of leadership we could use from the governor.


3) This proposal could be attacked as being unconstitutional just like the old law was.

Response:
Any law can be challenged, of course. But S.164 is very different from the law struck down by the Supreme Court last year. The 1997 campaign reform law that was challenged by the Republican Party and Right to Life Committee was designed to force a reconsideration of a 1976 Court ruling that said essentially that money equals speech. That law also had the lowest contribution limits in the nation. It was no surprise to anyone that the legal case made it all the way to the Supreme Court. By contrast, the contribution limits in S.164 are nearly identical to the state of Missouri’s contribution limits that were upheld by the Supreme Court as constitutional in Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Gov’t PAC, 528 U.S. 377 (2000). This legislation (S.164) is on solid legal ground. However, the governor’s actions have opened the door to more litigation in Vermont because the old limits now in place could easily be challenged and quite possibly thrown out before November 2008. That would leave Vermont with no limits at all for next year’s elections!

4) The governor has also suggested that VPIRG’s work on the legislation was self-serving, that we will somehow derive a benefit if the law passes.

Response:
VPIRG is a nonpartisan organization that neither supports nor opposes candidates running for office. By contrast, it is Gov. Douglas who would benefit most by eliminating reasonable limits on what parties and very wealthy individual scan give. In the past he’s taken in more than $600,000 from the Republican Party in a single race! Now that’s self-serving.

A veto override vote is scheduled for July 11 at the State House.

Waiting for the Axe

It's been almost a month since the legisalture took a bold step forward on energy and global warming. After months of work, thousands of calls, hundreds of emails, 71 Step It Up events and innumerable local conversations, the Vermont legislature passed H.520 a comprehensive global warming bill. (In case you missed it, read our play-by-play posts from the floor)

The final bill has many parts, but accomplishes three main goals:

1. Invests in renewable energy by requiring Vermont utilities to supply 25% of our power from clean local sources by 2012;
2. Makes it easier for businesses and individuals to invest in small renewable energy projects;
3. Improves efficiency by tightening building codes and expanding the mandate and funding of Efficiency Vermont so they can help us use less heating oil as well as electricity.

All this is paid for by making Vermont Yankee pay the same property tax rate as wind farms will pay (VYcurrently pays less than 1/3rd as much).

And that’s where the controversy lies: Governor Douglas is opposed to the bill because it taxes Yankee. His opposition, combined with a massive PR and lobbying campaign by Vermont Yankee (remember the ad wars?) made the fight to pass the bill though our House a huge challenge. In the end we got 85 representatives to vote in favor.

But now the Governor is about to veto the bill. It’s outrageous, but he’s sticking up for the profit margins of Entergy instead of for a bill that will make Vermont more affordable, create jobs, and fight global warming.

But there’s good news: the legislature will reconvene on July 11th to override the governor’s veto. (click here to learn more) We have this one chance to get 2/3 of our legislature to do the right thing. If we win, Vermont will be the first state in the nation to stand up to the oil industry, the nuclear industry, and the big utilities and get serious about an economy driven by renewable and energy independence.

GLOBAL WARMING BILL PASSES

final vote by my count is 86 in favor, 60 opposed, 3 absent.

Thanks to all for hard work to get this bill done, the strong margin is a reflection of all the work Vermonters have done to demand action on global warming.

Huzzah!

post from the floor of the Vermont State House

Post # 2 from the statehouse floor.
Debate still raging. Several Representatives have attacked the bill and Rep. Shap Smith, Rep. Tony Klein and Robert Dostis are defending it.

Opponents agreements focus in 3 main areas: 1) that the process creating this bill is flawed, 2) that the tax on Vermont Yankee is unfair or violates an earlier ‘deal’ and 3) that taxing Vermont Yankee will hurt business in the state.

Several members have noted that they supported H.520 when it passed the House some weeks ago, and feel that this version goes too far. That’s tremendously misleading since, as you may remember (click here and scroll down if you need a refresher), the bill passed weeks ago was weak and would have done little to stop global warming.

The bill as being considered today WILL do something about global warming and that’s why many representatives are standing up to defend it, citing experiences with Bill McKibben’s walk last summer, Step It Up events and the enormous number of letters, calls and comments you’ve sent in over the last few months.
Sitting on the floor of the VT House as the representatives file in to vote on H.520, the comprehensive global warming bill we’ve been working on all year. Today promises to be an historic vote … one way or another.

I spent most of the last hour in the Democratic caucus. There were several good and moving speeches in favor of the bill. Most notably to my mind:
1) Tony Klein (D-E. Montpelier) did an excellent job defending the bill, explaining its merits and putting into perspective the limited life-span of Vermont Yankee.
2) House Speaker Gaye Symington also spoke eloquently and passionately about the difference between being for a bill with no money, which will do nothing to stop global warming, and being for a bill that has the funds it needs to be effective at stopping global warming.
3) On the negative side, Al Perry (D-Richford) spoke strongly in opposition to the bill. We’re worried his speech may have moved other democrats, especially those from Franklin County, to oppose the bill.

I’ll post again when debate gets going.

Global Warming Bill Enters Home Stretch

Last night the conference committee on H.520 finished its work and the Vermont Senate gave the improved bill their final approval. Now there’s less than 24 hours to call your house rep and tell them to VOTE YES. This one is going to be close, so call now and make sure your legislators knows you care!

The Senate vote happened so fast, if you weren’t listening closely to the debate you might have missed it. There was a discernable chuckle in the chamber in fact. Several Senators later complained that they hadn’t had a chance to get back into the chamber and offer their "Aye" vote, though since the vote was on voice, instead of by roll call it would not have made much difference.

If you’ve been following the news in the Free Press, Times Argus or other outlets you’ve also no doubt heard about the new spin on the tax on Vermont Yankee that funds that expanded efficiency Vermont. Initially, legislators considered taxing Vermont Yankee's windfall profits. Over the next 4 years they will make over $100 million in unanticipated profits because the price of oil has gone up and changes in the New England electricity market have all of us paying a little more to energy companies like them.

But when legislators were researching this idea, they discovered that Vermont Yankee has been paying a lower property tax rate than other businesses and power generators - like wind farms, for example - will be required to pay. So they decided simply to require Vermont Yankee to pay its fair share. In the bill that came out of the conference committee and was passed by the Senate, Vermont Yankee has to pay the same tax rate as wind farms in Vermont -.003 cents/kWh, to be exact.

Now, as a general rule, VPIRG believes that polluting power sources like Vermont Yankee should pay HIGHER taxes than clean, safe and affordable alternatives like wind power. But in a year that’s been dominated by calls for property tax fairness and relief for Vermonters, we're willing to accept a bill that at least levels the playing field between polluters and clean power.

Vermont Yankee is not. In a desperate attempt to change the subject from tax-fairness and clean power to … well, anything else, several lawmakers held a press conference yesterday attacking VPIRG. It got ignored or pushed to the end of most stories except the Brattleboro Reformer’s, but some folks are claiming VPIRG tried to hide our involvement in a series of ads that ran in 8 newspapers and on several radio stations.

The ads encouraged Vermonters to contact their legislators because we believe decisions about Vermont’s energy future should be made by Vermonters, not Entergy lobbyists. Anyone who thinks we were trying to hide our involvement needed to look no farther than our homepage at http://www.vpirg.org/ to see that we were proud of our involvement. We’re also not the only ones responsible, and we didn't want to take all the credit when there were a number of people who helped make these ads happen.

With less than 24 hours to go, you can bet we are NOT distracted. We’ll be on the phones again tonight, and back in tomorrow’s paper if you read the Times Argus, so stay tuned, stay engaged and call now to stop global warming!

Global Warming bill passes Senate

Many of you have joined us this year in advocating for legislation that addresses global warming. VPIRG members packed town halls and church basements at the start of the session, called and emailed Senators and House reps literally thousands of times, and marched in Step It Up Rallies demanding action, not just talk, to avert climate disaster.

Now, after months of action your work is finally paying off: Yesterday the Senate voted to pass H.520, the omnibus energy and climate act (more info below) by a razor thin margin. I was there for the last minute wrangling before key procedural votes Tuesday and Wednesday and can attest to the reports that virtually every corporate lobbyist in the State House is working to kill the bill, which is the only legislation still moving that will help stop global warming.

On Tuesday, Entergy and the Governor fought hard all morning to line up votes to kill the bill. They very nearly succeeded. A morning vote was postponed, and VPIRG staff worked the phones to get calls in to wavering Senators form our members in their districts. By 3:30, we knew we were making progress, but also that the vote was very close. By 7:00 that night, after several hours of debate the Senate voted by the thinnest of margins: 15-14 to keep the bills funding intact and later sent it to a third and final reading.

We thought we were out of the woods, and sent an email alert to our members encouraging them to contact their House representatives, where a close vote is expected soon once a conference committee works through a few remaining details.

But Sen. Racine of Chittenden County considered introducing another amendment to cut H.520’s funding by 95%. So VPIRG was back on the phone Wednesday morning too, calling a handful of members in Chittenden, Franklin and Windsor counties to ask them to contact your Senators in the moments before they took the floor to vote. It was a tense and fast-paced morning, but our work paid off a second time: Sen. Racine withdrew his amendment. And when a similar Sen. Mullin of Rutland offered a similar amendment, many of the same Senators members had called voted correctly, and kept the funding for S.94 intact.

All eyes are now turning to the House, where our opponents will spare no expense following their loss in the Senate. Your voice is needed! A close vote is expected as early as next week. It is essential that every member of the House hear from constituents that global warming is a must-pass issue this session.

You can help by contacting your House Representative(s) through the Sargent at Arms office 802-828-2228, or VPIRG’s website. We also need help calling lists of VPIRG members across the state, only about 10% of our members are on our email list, and we need to reach more of you than ever before on this important bill. Contact me at 223-8421 x4787 or drew@vpirg.org if you’re interested in volunteering one or more hours in the next 10 days to help pass the most aggressive climate legislation in the country.

Yours in action,
Drew Hudson
VPIRG Director of Field and Communications.

More info
• Allows Efficiency Vermont to help Vermonters save money and stop global warming by using less heating fuel as well as electricity;
• Funds the expanded Efficiency Vermont with a tax on Vermont Yankee’s windfall profits;
• Requires that our utilities purchase 20-25% of our electricity from renewable generators by 2012;
• Helps Vermonter’s install small wind, solar and other renewables to lower their electric bills and Vermont’s global warming emissions;
• Supports the development of wind farms in Vermont by guaranteeing them a fair tax rate;
• Gives incentives for individuals and businesses to develop larger solar power systems;
• And more…

VPIRG, Allies tell Douglas: Lead or Get out of the Way

By Emily Landry: VPIRG InternVPIRG Energy advocate James Moore speaks at yesterday's press conference

This afternoon in the Cedar Creek Room of the State House VPIRG, VNRC, and VACV held a press conference urging Governor Douglas to lead or get out of the way of aggressive legislation around global warming- namely H.520 the comprehensive energy bill. This hard-fought legislation will secure local renewable energy for Vermonters while saving them over $400 million on their heating bills.
More than 3000 Vermonters signed petitions (click here to sign if you haven't already!), wrote letters and emailed asking their elected leaders to step up to the challenge and support this type of legislation this year and these signatures and comments were delivered directly to the Governor’s desk. Unfortunately Douglas has chosen to attack the bill as an unnecessary tax on Vermonters instead of supporting it. Nor has the Governor offered an alternative suggestion for funding the heating efficiency program. Click here to take action!
That’s too bad, because the so called “tax” would pose no financial burden on Vermonters at all, but rather save them money while removing our reliance on dirty, dangerous sources of power.
This inaction puts Vermont at risk of falling behind other states that are making this issue a top priority. The message today was clear-If Vermont wishes to take the lead in preventing the catastrophic damage that climate change poses on our environment and local economies then we need to act now!

Fed up with inaction on global warming at the statehouse? Ready to tell the Governor to lead or get out of the way? Click here to take action!

IRV passes Senate!

A Democracy Program Update from Executive Director Paul Burns

VPIRG members and activists helped to push the Instant Runoff Voting bill over the top in the state Senate today by a vote of 16-13 with one absent. Thanks a lot for the phone calls, emails and letters you sent to senators on this one. Every vote mattered! Other groups pushing IRV include Common Cause, the VT League of Women Voters, Older Women's League and the Grange.

The vote breakdown is below. It played out exactly as we figured it would in the hours leading up to the vote. No surprises as the votes were cast. Senators White, Campbell, Ayer, Flanagan and Shumlin deserve special credit for helping to make this happen.

Click here to email your Senators and tell them what you think of thier IRV vote

Senators who argued on the floor against IRV included Mullin, Miller, Snelling, Doyle, Maynard and Scott.

The House Government Operations Committee will take up the bill once the Senate finishes with it tomorrow. Early predictions are that a vote in the House will also be close.

-Paul

VOTE COUNT on the IRV BILL (S.108) in the VERMONT SENATE
April 25, 2007

YES - 16
Ayer
Bartlett
Campbell
Carris
Collins
Condos
Cummings
Flanagan
Giard
Kittell
Lyons
MacDonald
McCormack
Racine
Shumlin
White

NO - 13
Coppenrath
Doyle
Hartwell
Kitchel
Maynard
Mazza
Miller
Mullen
Nitka
Scott
Sears
Snelling
Starr

ABSENT
Illuzzi

Sen. Doyle’s Fails to Block IRV

A Democracy Program Update from Executive Director Paul Burns

Despite Sen. Bill Doyle’s best efforts at obstruction, the VPIRG-backed IRV bill survived in a 3-2 vote today, the Senate’s Government Operations Committee passed the bill in a 3-2 vote.

The bill is all about voter choice and majority rule (read more about IRV here). It’s a good thing for Vermont. Sen. Jeanette White, chair of the committee, deserves credit for moving the bill to a successful vote. Senators Ed Flanagan and Clair Ayer also voted for the bill, which would institute IRV for US House and US Senate races in Vermont.

The two Republicans on the committee voted against the bill. Sen. Doyle was joined by Sen. George Coppenrath.

The vote on the Senate floor will not fall entirely along partisan lines though. We expect a VERY close vote with some Democrats voting against the bill (S.108). It could come up on the floor as soon as this Friday, April 20th. Visit our action center to learn more and TAKE ACTION in support of IRV.

-- Paul
April 18, 2007

Stepin' it Up with VPIRG

It was a fantastic day, despite the cold and damp weather in the morning, thousands of Vermonters turned out to more than 70 events all over the state demanding that our leaders step it up by cutting carbon 80% by 2050. VPIRG staff heard reports from dozens of events, and directly participated in two: Montpelier and Burlington.

In Montpelier hundreds of central-Vermonters marched from Morse Farm to the statehouse. Burr Morse, a one of a kind 7th generation sugarer lead off our event at the farm by discussing the local impacts of global warming. Joined by Onion River Sports owner Andrew Brewer and local High School Student Colin Arisman, Burr sent a message that was carried loud and clear on WCAX: We can’t afford any more inaction on global warming, our environment and our economy depend on us finding an answer to this problem -- and soon.

After Burr, Andrew and Colin spoke about the bad news, VPIRG’s own Andrea Stander lead the march down the hill to the statehouse. We met up along the way with Senator Bernie Sanders and VT-Senate President Peter Shumlin. We arrived at the statehouse lawn in a roar of chants, music, and calls for action. Bernie took the stage first, happy to pledge continued support of his bill in the US Senate to cut carbon 80% by 2050. VPIRG’s Drew Hudson read a short statement from Congressman Welch, who is backing similar legislation in the House, but was in Iraq on the 14th and could not join us. Finally, Senator Shumlin took the stage and boldly signed a 3 part pledge to enact laws that will achieve the 80% cuts scientists tell us are necessary to stop global warming.

The crowd literally was literally screaming for Governor Douglas, who attended exactly zero step it up events, despite having only 2 ribbon cuttings on his schedule. No word yet on whether he plans to stick to his earlier promises to enact policies to cut global warming pollution, or if he will flip-flop and veto legislation under consideration this year. But you know VPIRG will be watching, and you can join our email network to get the news before it breaks!

~ Drew Hudson

Well, we couldn’t have asked for a better Step It Up event in Burlington. We started off the day early with an 11 am talk on how to influence you friends, family, and government into taking responsible action for climate change. Then the team broke up into 6 groups and spread through out the city.

The first three groups went tabling in and around downtown Burlington for 10% challenge and for the big rally that would happen later in the day. The fourth group built a traveling display out of some 150 2 liter bottles that showed how much co2 emission you put out traveling the one mile from UVM campus to Lake Champlain. The fifth group hit the North End and exchanged old inefficient light bulbs for newer more efficient CFL’s. The sixth and final group stayed at home base and got on with the process of setting up the event.

So finally, at 5pm, with the free ice cream stand from Ben & Jerry’s rockin’ and the place starting to fill up the event got underway. From Sen. Bernie Sanders, to Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss, to a myriad of State Rep’s, to musicians, poets, and even a talking dinosaur the 450 people who made up the congregation on the shores of Lake Champlain to ask Congress to cut Carbon Emissions 80% by 2050 was simply huge.

The group of women and men who put this event together had a monumental job and they did it well. Kudos to them and kudos to all of you who made it to Burlington or any one of the myriad of other Step It Up’s that went on around the state! Together, showing this type of solidarity we can do what it takes to make real change and reverse the damage being done to the climate right now.

~ Sean Sarah

Step It Up VT!

The time has come once again to put on your activism hats, get out there and show the world Vermont cares about Global Warming! That’s right, this Saturday April 14th at nearly 70 locations around the state and more than 1,300 locations around the nation people will be gathering for STEP IT UP.

Step It Up is the brain child of noted environmental advocate and author Bill Mckibben who is fighting to cut global warming pollution 80% by 2050. (Read his invitation here) To get this done he has moved away from the standard “million man/woman/zebra march” on the National Mall and instead brought the action, and the issue, to your home town. So this Saturday people will gather all over the nation in places that are important to their environment, their community, and their lives and have photos taken of the assembled group. All the photos will be sent with Mr. Mckibben to Congress to urge them to cut carbon by 80%.

Here in VT we’re adding a little local to the national call: VPIRG has helped organize events in Montpelier and Burlington that will feature Senator Bernie Sanders and local legislators. Surprisingly, as of right now, the governor does not plan to attend any Step It Up rallies.

VPIRG and allies have also created a pledge that asks local legislators to support policies capable of achieving the 80% by 2050 goals; and so far we have commitments from Senator Sanders, Congressman Welch, House Speaker Symington and Senate President Pro Tem Shumlin. Again, no word from the governor. In fact, he has not even returned phone calls to organizers about the pledge. One is left to wonder: If Governor Douglas is really committed to stopping global warming, why won’t he step it up on the 14th?

We hope you will join us at a local Step It Up rally and sign our petition calling on leaders to support 80% cuts in global warming pollution by 2050. You can find your local event at http://www.stepitup2007.org/ and sign the petition here. Brief agendas of the two SIU events that VPIRG is helping to organize are below.

INFO:
Montpelier: April 14th 2007

• 12 Noon at Morse Family Farm: Come for the free Maple Creemees and stay for the action!
• 1pm speeches by those affected by Global Warming
• 2pm a march to the State House
• 3pm State House Lawn
  ~ Senator Bernie Sanders
  ~ Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin
• 3:30 Group Picture
  

More info online

Burlington: April 14th 2007

• 12 Noon under the canopy at Main Street Landing: A discussion on climate change policy, and what you can do at home, followed by service projects around the city!
• 5pm in the parking lot next to the ECHO Center on the corners of Lake and College St.: Speeches by Senator Bernie Sanders, Mayor of Burlington Bob Kiss, and State Representatives Rachel Weston and Dave Zuckerman
  ~ Free Ice Cream From Ben & Jerry’s
  ~ Climo-Dino, a fun way for the whole family to explore climate change!
  ~ Free bands, poetry readings, informational tables and much more!
  ~ Hand stamp will get you discounts at many local restaurants and retailers including Muddy Waters, Nectars, Ben & Jerry’s, and many more!
• 5:30 Group Picture
  

More info online

SHOW UP and STEP IT UP!

-Sean Sarah and Drew Hudson

Update on Public Financing

An Update from Paul Burns, VPIRG Executive Director

I was invited to serve as the primary witness today in a Senate Government Operations committee hearing concerning a bill that would reduce the influence of money in politics by making public financing available to qualifying candidates for state Senate and House.

VPIRG supports full public financing because it substantially reduces the need for candidates to rely on private contributions to finance their campaigns, thereby:

• Strengthening public confidence in the integrity of government;
• Encouraging candidates from all walks of life to enter the political arena; and
• Freeing candidates from the burden of fundraising so they can spend their time talking to voters instead of dialing for dollars.

Committee Chairwoman Jeanette White wanted to get all the issues on the table before next January when the committee has pledged to take up the bill again when they have more time to deal with it. You can write your Representative(s) and Senator(s) to let them know you support public financing here.

Sen. Diane Snelling felt so strongly opposed to the bill that she made time to testify to the committee even though there was no possibility of the committee voting on it this year.

Longtime committee member and former Chairman, Sen. Bill Doyle also expressed his opposition. When he asked me why VPIRG believes the legislation is needed, I was glad to be able to quote the senator’s own words from a floor debate ten years ago, in which he said that campaign reform is necessary so that “there will be increased time for real debate; [and] that candidates will be able to concentrate more on issues rather than raising public money.”

Sen. Doyle’s position made sense then and it makes sense today. The only question is whether his mind has changed….

- Paul
April 11, 2007

We Win One in the Supreme Court!

It’s not often that we get to start the week off with a monumental victory in the US Supreme Court. This week it happened.

For years President Bush has been the foot-dragger in chief when it comes to stopping global warming. He and his administration have denied the existence of the problem, stifled their own scientists, suppressed data, and attacked those who had the courage to speak the truth.

When the EPA claimed that it lacked the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act and that the causal link between greenhouse gases and global warming had not been unequivocally established, a coalition of states, cities, and environmental organizations (including VPIRG through our federal advocacy arm, U.S. PIRG) took them to court.

In a 5-4 decision, the Court made clear that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, and therefore the EPA has the authority to regulate emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. The Court also ordered the EPA to reconsider its decision not to regulate CO2 emissions from cars.

The justices who sided with the Bush administration make up the Court’s ultra-conservative wing: Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito. (Note: Those four along with justices Kennedy and Breyer voted to strike down Vermont’s landmark campaign finance law last year….)

This is a huge victory and it must have come as a shock to the President and the dwindling number of global warming skeptics in this country.

It opens the door to lots of possibilities for future action and it certainly damages the auto industry’s case in challenging Vermont’s Clean Cars regulations. So there’s more work ahead, but this is one to celebrate and enjoy. Congrats to all those who helped to make it possible!

For a complete list of the petitioners and other documents related to the case, go to www.cleancarscampaign.org and click on “Court Action.”

- Paul

Senate Votes 28-0 for New Limits on Campaign Contributions

Vermont’s state Senate voted unanimously in favor of new limits on campaign contributions today signaling strong bi-partisan support for the legislation that will soon move to the House for consideration.

Jeanette White (D-Windham), chair of the Senate Government Operation Committee, reported the bill to her colleagues. She outlined key provisions including the new caps on what individuals may give to candidates, aggregate limits on the political donations that may be given by individuals or corporations, and new limits on the amount of cash that political parties can dole out to candidates.

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin (D-Windham) spoke passionately about his dismay over the current state of political spending and the corrupting influence of special interest money in campaigns. He specifically noted the influence that the pharmaceutical industry has had over legislative proposals in Washington and right here in Vermont.

In response, Senator Diane Snelling (R-Chittenden) said that she did not believe that money has corrupted politics in Vermont. Nevertheless, she voted for the bill.

Senator George Coppenrath (R-Caledonia) explained his vote for the legislation by stating that “I voted for the bill because I knew it was going to pass.” He had reservations about it, however. He suggested that it was a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

Unfortunately, Sen. Coppenrath missed much of the discussion about the bill that took place in his committee because he was on vacation in Europe when the testimony and discussion took place.

Bottom line – this is a good bill, but it’s only half a loaf. VPIRG will be pushing the Senate to take up public financing of elections later this year so that Vermont can regain its position as a national leader in protecting the integrity and fairness of our elections system.

- Paul Burns
March 27, 2007