Thursday, March 31, 2016
The two hospitals — which are affiliated under an umbrella organization called the UVM Health Network — posted jointly nearly $30 million in surplus revenues for the fiscal year that ended September 30. UVMMC's excess was $22 million, or 2 percent over budget, while CVMC's was $6.9 million, a 4.2 percent variance.
A week ago, network officials proposed giving $12 million of the combined surplus to community health programs and $3 million to health-payment reform initiatives. They said they would address the remaining $14 million when they submitted their 2017 budgets to the regulatory board for approval in the summer, intending to lower rates for commercial insurance.
Tags: Al Gobeille , Central Vermont Medical Center , Copley Hospital , Green Mountain Care Board , Rutland Regional Medical Center , Sen. Richard Westman , University of Vermont Medical Center , UVM Health Network , UVM Medical Center , Image , Web Only
"I just proposed that we take it out because I actually am not comfortable saying that anyone with a contract can't donate to a gubernatorial candidate," the committee's chair, Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham), explained Wednesday.
By Thursday, White had changed her mind.
"I do philosophically support it," she said. "I think we didn't have enough time for a detailed conversation."
Now, even though her committee has sent the ethics reform bill to its next destination, the Senate Appropriations Committee, White and her committee colleagues plan to author a floor amendment that would restore the pay-to-play ban.
"We got some more information," she said Thursday. "Isn't that the way things happen around here?"
Tags: Ethics , pay-to-play , Jeanette White , Joe Benning , Paul Burns , Bill Sorrell , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
After swearing in South Burlington City Council Chair Helen Riehle as the newest member of the Vermont Senate, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott met in his Statehouse office with the two other members of the Senate's powerful Committee on Committees: Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell (D-Windsor) and Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle). A Seven Days reporter attempted to cover the meeting but was asked to leave.
"We're talking about personnel issues," Scott explained before a Senate aide closed the door.
Ten minutes later, the three men emerged and said they had made two changes to the Senate's committee assignments in response to Diane Snelling's resignation from the Senate the day before. Scott said they had appointed Riehle to Snelling's seat on the Natural Resources and Energy Committee and Sen. Richard Westman (R-Lamoille) to her seat on the Appropriations Committee.
Tags: Committee on Committees , Phil Scott , Sen. John Campbell , Vermont Senate , Image , Video , Web Only
The Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office, in a move that experts said is highly unusual, charged Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility inmate Martin “Serendipity” Morales with falsely representing herself as a lawyer. Morales, who identifies as a woman, did not appear at the hearing, held at Vermont Law School.
Several inmates told authorities that Morales, who has gained a reputation for her legal skills, helped them file court appeals.
So-called jailhouse lawyers such as Morales are in prisons around the country, and Vermont prisons have law libraries to ensure inmates can pursue legal claims. Seven Days recently wrote about Morales as part of a larger story about how Bennington County locks up more inmates per capita than other Vermont counties.
Tags: Vermont Supreme Court , Bennington County , Emily Tredeau , Beth Robinson , Alexander Burke , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Brian Searles, former secretary of transportation, noted two promising developments in recent weeks — the introduction of a bill in Congress that would enable negotiations to begin, and a promise from new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his U.S. visit that Parliament would pass similar authorization this spring.
Amtrak’s Vermonter, which now runs between St. Albans and Washington, D.C., used to go to Montréal, until 1995, Searles said. But requirements for crew changes and a border stop created lengthy delays “that basically rendered it noncompetitive with the auto,” he said.
Tags: Brian Searles , Vermonter , Amtrak , Sen. Dick Mazza , Image , Web Only
Snelling, who has held the Senate seat since 2002, will be replaced for the remaining weeks of the legislative session by former senator Helen Riehle, a Republican who chairs the South Burlington city council.
Gov. Peter Shumlin announced the two appointments Tuesday morning in his ceremonial Statehouse office. Snelling’s resignation took effect shortly thereafter. Though governors often wait for party committees to recommend replacements to fill vacant legislative seats, Shumlin said he acted swiftly because the session is winding down.
Snelling, 64, of Hinesburg, said that when former board chair Jon Groveman announced his departure in February, she was immediately interested.
Tags: Diane Snelling , Helen Riehle , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Monday, March 28, 2016
Shumlin wrote an op-ed on the subject on March 18. He referred to a measure on which Massachusetts residents are scheduled to vote in November as a “bad pot bill.”
Never mind that it’s actually a referendum, not a bill.
Shumlin argued, “If Massachusetts moves forward with their legalization bill while Vermont delays, the entire southern part of our state could end up with all the negatives of a bad pot bill and none of the positives of doing the right thing.”
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana legalization , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
The not-so-veiled message is yet another expression of opposition to Vermont Railway president David Wulfson's construction of a salt shed and a freight yard a mile north of the village.
So far, the town has been unable to stop the intermodal freight project in court, but loud opposition is resounding in the court of public opinion in Shelburne.
In addition to the signs, a Facebook group called Vermont United has been circulating a petition. Opponents have also purchased ads in the Shelburne News. And they've promoted a video featuring 10-year-old Madeleine Connery of Shelburne deploring the tree cutting and the potential for pollution at the site, which sits next to the LaPlatte River and land preserved by the Nature Conservancy Vermont Chapter. Connery also tells Wulfson to "fix it" in the video.
Through his attorney, Peter Young, Wulfson declined to comment on the signs. But construction continues on the freight yard, which Vermont Railway is building under a legal federal preemption without local or state Act 250 environmental permits. The town has sued in federal court to stop the project, and a hearing date is set for May 3 to May 5. Supporters of the project say it's a good location with direct access to Route 7, and that intermodal freight yards help reduce long-haul truck traffic on the nation's highways.
Town manager Joe Colangelo emphasized that the town, while opposed to the rail project, has nothing to do with the signs and said they are not permitted in the public right-of-way.
"The signs were not given approval by the town and are therefore unpermitted, but it is impossible, given our current staffing levels, to police these types of signs," Colangelo wrote in an email to Seven Days. "Similarly, signs in support of politicians are not allowed in the public right-of-way but we are just unable to get around town to pull them out. It's a very difficult task to do during a presidential election season."
Town officials enforce the sign rule when they can. In late January, the town notified Christopher and Christine Sharp of 5373 Shelburne Road that their Bernie Sanders sign in the shape of a cow was larger than what's allowed in the public right-of-way without a temporary sign permit. They took it down, according to Colangelo.
The FIX IT sign in the village was posted in front of Brianne's Vintage Chic at 5462 Shelburne Road. The owner of the business did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Tags: David Wulfson , Vermont Railway , Vermont United , Image , Video , Web Only
Two more Democrats on Monday confirmed their plans to run in the two-seat district. That puts at least three Democrats and two Republicans in the running, with more than a month to go before the filing deadline.
Interest in the race is particularly strong, with incumbent Republican Sen. Norm McAllister facing criminal sexual assault charges. The Senate suspended McAllister until the charges are resolved. A trial is tentatively set for May. McAllister told Seven Days he has not ruled out seeking reelection.
Former state senator Sara Kittell, a Democrat who held the seat for 17 years before retiring in 2012, announced Monday she is making a second attempt to return to the Statehouse. She ran in 2014, and came in third behind Republicans Dustin Degree and McAllister.
Tags: Sara Kittell , Denise Smith , Norm McAllister , Dustin Degree , Caroline Bright , Carolyn Branagan , Image , Web Only
In a letter to Attorney General Bill Sorrell, Vermont Public Interest Research Group executive director Paul Burns called for "an appropriate investigation and determination from your office in order to help clarify the meaning of the law moving forward."
Citing a recent Seven Days story, Burns questioned whether the Vermont House Republican PAC failed to register as a "leadership PAC" — defined in statute as "a political committee established by or on behalf of a political party caucus within a chamber of the General Assembly." Such PACs are prohibited under a new law from accepting contributions from lobbyists and the companies that employ them until the legislature adjourns at the end of a two-year biennium.
The Vermont House Republican PAC accepted $1,000 late last year from the cigarette company Altria Client Services and $2,000 from the drug company Pfizer, both of which employ registered Vermont lobbyists.
Tags: Vermont Public Interest Research Group , Vermont House Republicans , Paul Burns , Don Turner , Suzanne Butterfield , Image , Web Only