Friday, January 9, 2015
The protest, which began with singing and chanting in the halls of the Statehouse, escalated over the course of the two-hour ceremony. After one activist burst onto the balcony of the House chamber, Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon grabbed and attempted to forcibly remove him.
Roughly three dozen people affiliated with the Vermont Workers’ Center refused to leave the chamber for more than five hours, demanding that House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) schedule public hearings to debate Shumlin’s single-payer plan.
Between 8 and 9 p.m., the Vermont State Police removed the protesters one by one, arresting 29 and charging them with unlawful trespass. Of those, at least seven were also charged with resisting arrest, according to VSP Lt. Garry Scott.
State troopers lifted up several protesters who refused to comply with their instructions to leave the Statehouse, dragging them down the center aisle of the House and out of the chamber. One of them, Sheila Linton of Brattleboro, cried out in apparent pain as two troopers pulled her arms behind her back.
Tags: Peter Shumlin , inauguration , protest , Vermont Workers' Center , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, January 8, 2015
In a joint session of the Vermont legislature, 179 lawmakers voted Thursday morning to reelect Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin to a third term.
By secret ballot, legislators cast 110 votes for Shumlin and 69 for Republican Scott Milne.
Thursday’s vote brought to a close a highly unusual process that began when no candidate cleared the constitutional threshold of 50 percent of the popular vote in last November’s election. That put the final decision in the hands of the legislature, whose members were free to choose from among the top three vote getters: Shumlin, Milne and Libertarian Dan Feliciano.
Though Shumlin edged out Milne 46.4 percent to 45.1 percent in November — a margin of just 2,434 votes — the Pomfret Republican declined to concede the election, a break from recent tradition.
In the days preceding Thursday’s vote, Milne asked Vermonters to call their delegates to urge them to support him. He and Shumlin said they weren't personally lobbying legislators, but both spent time mingling with them in the Statehouse Wednesday.
In a statement released shortly after the vote, Shumlin said he was “so grateful for the opportunity to continue serving this state I love.” He predicted the new legislative session would be “productive” and pledged to “expand our economy, grow jobs and increase affordability.”
Addressing a scrum of reporters immediately after the election, Milne said he was pleased with the way the process played out.
“I think it’s been a good day for Vermont. I was happy to be part of it,” he said. “I think the road that’s led us here has … gotten a lot of people feeling like one person can make a difference.”
Tags: Peter Shumlin , Scott Milne , Vermont legislature , gubernatorial election , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
With the bang of a gavel Wednesday morning, the Vermont legislature launched its most anticipated session in years.
Thirty-five new House members and four freshmen senators joined veteran lawmakers in swearing oaths of office. As friends and family members looked on, all 180 legislators — some sporting new haircuts and others wearing old suits — pledged to uphold Vermont’s constitution.
The day of ceremony featured few surprises. Leaders of both chambers — House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) and Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell (D-Windsor) — won unanimous reelection to their posts. Smith formally announced an overhaul of his committee leadership team that he has been planning and telegraphing for months.
Even as Vermont’s newest class of legislators enjoyed the pomp and circumstance of opening day, many appeared preoccupied by the next day’s business: the unusual election and inauguration of a governor whose identity is not yet known.
Tags: Vermont legislature , Shap Smith , John Campbell , Scott Milne , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
“Normally I’d go for the top vote-getter," he says. "I’m going to vote for Washington County."
Doyle says that means he’ll cast his ballot Thursday for Republican Scott Milne, the second-place finisher, instead of Democratic incumbent Peter Shumlin, as he had previously said he would do. Milne narrowly edged out Shumlin in Washington County.
Doyle's change of heart is one among many indications that there is nothing ordinary about the vote legislators will take Thursday to decide who should be governor for the next two years. It comes after Milne declined to concede the November election, in which no candidate received a majority, as required by the state's constitution.
Political ads, normally reserved for autumn, are airing in January. Election laws no longer prevail, though, so there is no requirement to reveal who is paying for the ads. Milne himself was preparing Tuesday to register as a lobbyist, as he has taken an election campaign into uncharted territory. Shumlin, who has said he’s not campaigning because the campaign is over, argues that democracy hinges upon electing the candidate who gets the most votes.
Tags: Peter Shumlin , Scott Milne , Vermont elections , Bill Doyle , Vermont Legislature , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
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
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
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
Saturday, December 13, 2014
At separate meetings in Montpelier, the Senate and House Democratic caucuses met to discuss their priorities for the coming legislative session and to elect those who will lead them through it.
The proceedings were largely free of drama. Though races emerged after Election Day for House Democrats’ No. 2 and 3 positions — majority leader and majority whip — both were settled before lawmakers descended upon Montpelier.
Meeting at the Statehouse Saturday morning, House Dems unanimously elected five-term Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford) to replace Rep. Willem Jewett (D-Ripton) as majority leader. Nominating her was Rep. Kesha Ram (D-Burlington), who waged a spirited campaign against Copeland Hanzas, but who dropped out of the running on Tuesday.
“We know that a rising tide floats all boats, but I think that we as Democrats are keenly aware that part of our job is to throw a lifeline to the Vermonters who’ve been swept overboard in our great recession,” Copeland Hanzas told her colleagues. “And that’s going to be [House Democrats’] central focus.”
Tags: Vermont House , Vermont Senate , Shap Smith , Sarah Copeland Hanzas , Kesha Ram , Kate Webb , John Campbell , Phil Baruth , Claire Ayer , Dick Mazza , Image , Web Only
Friday, December 12, 2014
The legislation, which will fund the government through next September, narrowly survived a procedural vote Thursday afternoon as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spoke out against it. After President Obama joined House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in personally lobbying for the bill, it passed by a vote of 219 to 206 — just hours before a midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown.
The Senate is expected to vote on the measure Friday or Saturday.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told national news outlets Thursday that he, too, would oppose the bill. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) helped negotiate portions of it as the most senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In a floor speech Thursday, Leahy called it "a balanced, bipartisan bill."
Tags: Senator , Peter Welch , Bernie Sanders , Patrick Leahy , Cromnibus , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only