Tuesday, December 30, 2014
The report is long and detailed. Shumlin insisted the pre-New Year's Eve document dump was not intended to hide anything, but instead was to release the data that's available as soon as possible.
The beauty of the report is that it’s online and available for all to read here.
At a news conference earlier Tuesday, Shumlin emphasized that while he had dropped the single-payer plan after determining it was too expensive, he will continue to push for changes in the way health care providers are paid. His goal, he said, is to move by 2017 from the current fee-for-service payment method to reimbursing providers for health care outcomes.
Shumlin said he’ll ask the legislature in his budget address in mid-January to make changes that will help toward that goal. That will include boosting the regulatory authority of the Green Mountain Care Board. It’ll take some money, too, and cooperation of health care providers, he said. All this presumes lawmakers affirm his election next week.
Slightly more than a month after Shumlin came away from the election with a bare lead over Republican Scott Milne, the two-term Democrat announced that his long-touted health care plans didn’t work out.
Shumlin contended he lacked the detailed information to make that decision until after the election. “We weren’t sitting around for years with a plan,” he said.
His team determined that an 11.5 percent payroll tax and an income tax ranging from nothing to 9.5 percent would be needed to fund universal coverage for Vermonters.
The report released Tuesday concluded, “Based on our analysis, the economic shock and transition issues were too great for us to recommend that Vermont proceed with public financing at this time.”
Tags: Peter Shumlin , health care , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
On December 29, the U.S. District Court issued a judgement in the case awarding $624 in damages to the six plaintiffs. The city is also paying their $180,000 in legal fees and $7,300 in other expenses.
Six plaintiffs — all of them pro-life protesters who stood outside the St. Paul Street Planned Parenthood clinic — sued the city in 2012, contending that the 35-foot zone infringed on their constitutional right to free speech. Initially, the city won the case, but the protesters appealed the ruling. Leading the case for them was Connecticut-based Michael DePrimo, who’s been involved in several high-profile buffer zone legal battles.
The legal battle outlasted the actual zone, which was nullified by a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Massachusetts law last summer. The lawsuit was dismissed at the city's request after the ruling, but the two parties continued to disagree about who would cover the attorney fees that had accumulated over two years.
In its December 24 issue, Seven Days wrote about the Burlington City Council’s efforts to replace the buffer zone and the lingering legal battle. Five days later, the federal district court issued its final judgment.
Tags: buffer zone , Planned Parenthood , Burlington , Image , Web Only
Monday, December 29, 2014
The ads are slated to start running Tuesday on WCAX-TV and other stations, according to filings with the Federal Communications Commission. The legislature is scheduled to vote on the governor race January 8 because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the November 4 election. Despite being a heavy favorite, Shumlin won just 46 percent of the vote, leading Milne by roughly 2,400 votes.
Bill Round, a retired U.S. Navy captain and Vermont native who lives in Newport Center, issued a news release Monday afternoon saying he formed the group that is behind the ad and a website — www.vthonestgov.com — that went live Monday. “Vermonters have had enough of Peter Shumlin and his broken promises,” Round said in the release.
Tags: Scott Milne , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Thursday, December 18, 2014
On Wednesday afternoon, Shumlin proved them prescient.
In an extraordinary about-face, the man who built his political career on the promise of bringing universal, affordable health insurance to Vermont said that, within the last five days, he had suddenly concluded that doing so would damage the state’s economy.
“It became clear that the risk of economic shock is too high at this time to offer a plan that I can responsibly support for passage in the legislature,” Shumlin told a rapt crowd in a first-floor hearing room of the Statehouse.
His decision to scrap his own, long-promised plan and move forward with more modest reforms, he said, was “the greatest disappointment of my political life, so far.”
No doubt it was equally disappointing to those who took Shumlin at his word when he first ran for governor in 2010 pledging to “get tough things done” like turning single-payer from liberal dream to reality. Or to those who believed him when he said it again two years later during his 2012 race for reelection — or again two years after that.
Tags: health care reform , Peter Shumlin , single-payer health care , Vermont , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
VSEA has more than 5,000 members — most are state employees; its ranks include staff at the Vermont State Colleges.
This marks the second failed effort to unionize this group of UVM staff in just more than two years. In September 2012, two unions vied to represent UVM staff, but after a runoff, 70 percent of the 634 voters ended up casting ballots against joining the Vermont branch of the National Education Association.
The employees eligible to join hold jobs that fall into three categories — administrative, technical and specialist, which include positions such as library support staff, lab technicians and research assistants.
Tags: union , University of Vermont , Vermont State Employees Association , Image , Web Only
In a striking reversal, Gov. Peter Shumlin on Wednesday abandoned his chief policy initiative, saying “now is not the right time” to pursue single-payer health care reform.
Shumlin dropped the political bombshell with no warning Wednesday afternoon at a crowded Statehouse press conference. He said that new cost estimates presented to him last Friday by his health care team made clear that the plan he envisioned was “just not affordable.”
Continuing to fight for single-payer when it would likely hurt Vermont’s economy, he said, “is not good for Vermont and it would not be good for true health care reform.”
Shumlin vowed to pursue more modest measures to slow the growth of health care spending, but his decision to forego a looming battle in the legislature over how to finance his plan marks the end — for now — of a four-year effort to dramatically restructure the state’s health care system.
It also represents a major political blow to a politician who rode to the governorship on the promise of enacting the nation’s first single-payer system. As Shumlin himself said Wednesday, “This is the greatest disappointment of my political life, so far.”
Tags: Peter Shumlin , single-payer health care , Vermont , Image , Web Only
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) flew to Cuba Wednesday morning to accompany imprisoned American contractor Alan Gross back to the United States.
After five years in prison, the U.S. Agency for International Development contractor was released as part of a sweeping deal to restore diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba following more than half a century of tensions.
“Today President Obama and [Cuban] President Raul Castro made history,” Leahy said in a written statement. “After 64 years of animosity rooted in the Cold War, they have finally put our two countries on a new path. I congratulate them both.”
Leahy was joined on the trip to Cuba and back by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and by Gross’ wife, Judy. They landed at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews shortly after 11 a.m. The three congressmen are expected to hold a press conference on Capitol Hill at 1:30 p.m.
Tags: Senator , Alan Gross , Patrick Leahy , Cuba , Bernie Sanders , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
An influential state lawmaker will introduce a bill to restrict police agencies' use of the Pentagon's surplus equipment program, which Vermont agencies have used to obtain an arsenal of assault rifles, Humvees, night-vision goggles and other military gear.
Janet Ancel (D-Calais), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, told Seven Days she is concerned that police are obtaining military gear through the federal 1033 Program with little oversight or public debate. Ancel expects the House Government Operations Committee to hold hearings on her bill in the upcoming legislative session.
"I want public discussion and legislative focus on the program," Ancel said. "I have concerns about the use of military hardware, particularly by some of our smaller law-enforcement agencies. It's a subject we need to discuss. The bill is a vehicle for the discussion."
Currently, police apply directly to the state's 1033 Program coordinator, an official with the Vermont National Guard. Often citing the war on drugs, agencies ranging from the Vermont State Police to the Middlebury Police Department have obtained 158 assault rifles, 14 military Humvees, one mine-resistant vehicle, and scores of scopes, sights and other equipment, according to a Seven Days review of nearly 4,000 pages of documents. Law-enforcement agencies have requested, but been denied, more than twice as much stuff.
Tags: Police , Politics , Janet Ancel , militarization , 1033 Program , legislature , Vermont State Polie , Image , Web Only
Monday, December 15, 2014
Holly Groschner, who currently serves as general counsel for the Vermont Telecommunications Authority, will lead the station formerly known as Vermont Public Television, starting in February. A Michigan native and Vermont Law School graduate, Groschner lives in Corinth.
"She has very good Vermont roots," says Charlie Smith, who has led the station on an interim basis since King's departure. "She does not come directly from the broadcast industry, but has pretty strong interest and connections that make her very appropriate for the mission of the station."
According to Smith, roughly 70 people applied for the position; 12 were interviewed over Skype; and five took part in daylong interviews at the station. He says Vermont PBS' board was looking for a candidate with strong local connections and an understanding of "our political culture and our philanthropic culture," among other attributes.
In a statement, Groschner called it "one of the most exciting times for the growth of Vermont PBS."
Tags: Vermont PBS , Vermont Public Television , Holly Groscher , John King , Image , Web Only
Democrats will make their picks at their January 11 caucus. They currently hold half of the 14 seats and are hoping to hold onto seven seats when the council is reduced to 12 members next year.
Currently, the city has seven wards that each send two councilors to city hall. Due to redistricting, the city will have eight wards that each send a single councilor, and four districts each consisting of two wards that will also elect a councilor.
Ayres won't, however, have to worry about facing a challenge from his Democratic seatmate, Bianka Legrand. Legrand, who previously said she wasn't sure whether she'd seek a second term, told Seven Days today that she will sit this election out.
"I just have to take care of my family and a few other life priorities," Legrand said, adding that she plans to run again in the future. Describing the decision as "100 percent personal," Legrand said it had nothing to do with not wanting to run against Ayres, who worked on her campaign last year.
L'Ecuyer, a longtime IBM employee, made his decision public on Front Porch Forum Sunday evening. Describing himself as a moderate Democrat, L'Ecuyer has never run for public office, but he noted that he'd served on the planning commission and development review board while a resident of Winooski. He listed financial responsibility, smart development, public safety and preserving the Farrington Mobile Home Park as priorities.
Tags: Burlington city council , Tom Ayres , redistricting , Image , Web Only