Thursday, January 14, 2016
The bill is a first step to bring privacy protections up to speed with evolving technology, Sen. Tim Ashe (D/P- Chittenden) told his colleagues.
Before passage, the Senate Judiciary Committee had stripped out the provision that generated the most controversy — a proposal to allow individuals to sue and collect penalties and legal expenses if the privacy of their medical records was breached. "We agreed that provision wasn't fine-tuned," Ashe said, but he also acknowledged heavy lobbying by physicians.
Tags: Sen. Tim Ashe , Senate Judiciary Committee , Paul Harrington , Vermont Medical Society , ACLU of Vermont , Allen Gilbert , Image , Web Only
A week after suspending one of their own colleagues, Vermont Senate leaders met Thursday afternoon to consider the creation of an internal ethics panel charged with reviewing allegations against sitting senators.
The establishment of such a panel was one of three changes to the body's rules drafted by Senate Secretary John Bloomer and presented Thursday afternoon to the five-member Senate Rules Committee. The other proposals would require members to publicly disclose certain information about their employment and board service and would require interns, aides and other employees to register with the Sergeant at Arms' office.
The debate over forming an ethics panel long preceded last week's suspension of Sen. Norm McAllister (R-Franklin) over alleged sex crimes. But according to Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell (D-Windsor), the situation made it clear that the Senate lacked a "venue in which to deal with certain issues that you would hope did not arise, but clearly do."
Sen. Peg Flory (R-Rutland), who serves with Campbell on the rules committee, agreed.
"I think it's good to get ground rules set. I wish we had done this years ago," she said. "I remember last week [during the McAllister debate] stating, at the very least, let's take this as a call to set something up."
The specifics of the "ground rules" are still up for debate. The committee took no action Thursday and agreed to meet next week for further discussion. The full Senate would have to sign off on any changes to its rules.
Tags: Senate ethics committee , rules committee , John Bloomer , John Campbell , Peg Flory , Image , Web Only
But the Senate and House committees have taken different approaches to the so-called Act 46 "fix," setting up messy debates on the floors of both chambers next week — and difficult negotiations between the two bodies, if their respective plans pass.
Wednesday afternoon in the Senate Education Committee, Sen. David Zuckerman (D/P-Chittenden) argued that the legislature erred in the closing days of last year's session by including the cost-containment provision in a bill that otherwise focused on encouraging school districts to consolidate. The provision capped per-pupil spending increases in next year's school budgets at 0 to 5.5 percent, depending on how much those schools spent this year. Spending in excess of those caps would be punished with a tax penalty.
According to legislative analysts, more than 125 districts are facing such penalties, partly due to a 7.9 percent spike in health care costs.
"Those towns that are hitting these thresholds are not necessarily towns that have been high-spending or are not as judicious with their budgetary process," Zuckerman argued. "Districts, and therefore the taxpayers in those districts, are being somewhat unjustifiably penalized for circumstances that are out of the school districts' control."
A bill Zuckerman introduced to repeal the spending thresholds passed his committee on a 4 to 2 vote.
Tags: Act 46 , spending caps , David Sharpe , David Zuckerman , Dustin Degree , Janet Ancel , Shap Smith , Rebecca Holcombe , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Sanders, who has long trailed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in Iowa, is now leading her 49 percent to 44 percent among likely Iowa Democratic caucus voters, according to a new Quinnipiac University survey. A month ago, the same polling outfit showed Clinton leading Sanders by nine percentage points.
"Iowa may well become Sen. Bernie Sanders' 'Field of Dreams,'" Quinnipiac University Poll assistant director Peter Brown said in a written statement. "Sen. Sanders' surge seems based on the perception by Iowa Democrats that he is a better fit for Iowans. They see him, by solid double digit margins as more sharing their values, more honest and trustworthy and viewed more favorably overall than is Secretary Clinton."
The Q-Poll, whose margin of error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, found that only 3 percent of Iowans were undecided — and only 20 percent of those who have chosen a candidate would consider changing their mind. Just 5 percent supported former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley.
The Iowa caucuses are scheduled to take place February 1.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , presidential campaign , polls , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
The Vermont Democrat endorsed Clinton last May, electing jeers on social media from supporters of his home-state senator, Bernie Sanders, who is locked in a close race with Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders campaigned for Shumlin ahead of the governor's narrow reelection in 2014.
According to the Clinton campaign, Shumlin will visit campaign offices in Burlington, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Grinnell and Newton to meet with supporters and volunteers. He'll also host an organizing event Wednesday in Keokuk and will speak Thursday evening at the Ankeny Area Democrats' Winter Banquet in Des Moines.
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"This is a massive vote in favor of Bernie Sanders, showing that grassroots progressives across the country are excited and inspired by his message and track record of standing up to big money and corporate interests to reclaim our democracy for the American people," MoveOn.org political action committee executive director Ilya Sheyman said in a statement circulated by the Sanders campaign.
The MoveOn endorsement represents "boots on the ground" in the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. The organization pledges to turn out its 43,000 members in the Hawkeye State and its 30,000 members in the Granite State.
In December, Sanders received an endorsement from another liberal advocacy group, Democracy for America. But his chief Democratic opponent, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, has generally outperformed him in the endorsement game, winning nods from far more elected officials and most national labor unions. Just last weekend, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced its support for her candidacy.
According to the latest polls, Sanders and Clinton are neck-and-neck in Iowa and New Hampshire. A new poll released Tuesday by Monmouth University showed Sanders faring even better. It found that the Vermont senator had opened up a 14-point lead over Clinton in neighboring New Hampshire, besting her 53 percent to 39 percent.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , MoveOn.org , Hilary Clinton , Planned Parenthood , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 11, 2016
In a letter sent Sunday to U.S. Attorney Eric Miller, Vermont Republican Party vice chair Brady Toensing alleged that O'Meara Sanders made material misstatements in a 2010 loan application when the college was seeking to purchase a 32-acre campus. Citing stories published by VTDigger.org and two conservative websites, Toensing accused O'Meara Sanders of overstating by nearly $2 million the amount of money donors had committed to finance the acquisition.
"The evidence indicates that Ms. Sanders, as president of the college, successfully and intentionally engaged in a fraudulent scheme to actively conceal and misrepresent material facts from a federal financial institution," he wrote.
Toensing filed the complaint on behalf of Rutland City Treasurer Wendy Wilton, the 2012 Republican nominee for state treasurer, and "other aggrieved Vermont parishioners" of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington. The diocese, which previously owned the 32-acre plot overlooking Lake Champlain, lost between $1.5 million and $2 million when the college failed to repay a $3.65 million loan to the church, according to VTDigger.
The complaint comes just three weeks before the Iowa caucuses, in which Sen. Sanders is competing for the Democratic presidential nomination. A spokesman for the senator said Monday in a written statement that Toensing's letter was politically motivated, calling it "recycled, discredited garbage."
Tags: Senator , Jane Sanders , Bernie Sanders , Burlington College , presidential campaign , Brady Toensing , Wendy Wilton , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Clinton has repeatedly criticized Sanders for a 2005 vote protecting gun dealers and manufacturers from legal liability. Though Sanders has said in recent months that he would consider revisiting aspects of the legislation, Clinton accused him Sunday of "refusing to say that he would vote to repeal" it.
"You know, President Obama and I and Sen. Sanders were all in the Senate at the same time," she told CBS' John Dickerson on "Face the Nation." "Two of us voted against what the NRA says was the most important piece of legislation in 20 years for the gun lobby. Senator Sanders voted with them."
Speaking Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Sanders referred to the immunity law as "complicated" and said that there were "aspects of it ... that were wrong" and that he would like to "revise." But, he told host George Stephanopoulous, "There are parts of it that made sense to me."
"Look, George, if you have a small gun shop owner in northern Vermont who sells a gun legally to somebody and then, you know, something happens to that guy — he goes nuts or something and he kills somebody — should the gun shop owner be held liable?" Sanders asked.
As the two leading Democratic presidential candidates argued over the matter, a pair of polls released Sunday showed them statistically tied in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote next month. In Iowa, Clinton leads Sanders just 48 to 45 percent, according to a survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal, NBC News and Marist. Those same organizations found Sanders leading Clinton 50 to 46 percent in New Hampshire.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , presidential campaign , gun immunity , gun control , Recommended Reading , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, January 7, 2016
“Wow, what a beautiful view. Beautiful,” he said, taking his place behind a podium at center-stage. “We’re in Vermont, where the air is so nice and clean.”
Waving white placards and hoisting cellphones aloft, supporters of the real estate mogul and reality television star chanted, “Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!”
“I got here and said, ‘I just wanna breathe that air,’” the candidate continued. “I went outside. There’s like 20,000 people. We can’t get ’em in. So you are very lucky.”
Lucky indeed. After waiting in line for hours, those with tickets to the biggest show in town were asked at the door whether they supported Trump. Those who answered in the affirmative were admitted; others were shown the door.
One ticket holder, Katina Cummings of Waterbury Center, joined a long line that snaked around St. Paul Street at 2:30 p.m., carrying a sign that read, “Refugees welcome, Trump not.” When she disclosed to Trump staffers at the entrance that she did not support their candidate, she recalled, “Two of them started to push me out.”
Calling those who denied her entry “thugs,” she said, “This is a rigged event!”
Tags: Donald Trump , Vermont , Burlington , Flynn Center for the Performing Arts , Image , Web Only
For the past five years, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott has joined his Republican colleagues in the legislature to offer reaction to the State of the State speech by Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin — but not this year.
Instead Scott, who aspires to deliver the State of the State address next year as governor, sat down in front of a camera at his gubernatorial campaign headquarters and offered his own assessment of Vermont's health. And in a contrived second segment of this live stream, he answered questions posed by a "moderator." As Scott fielded questions on his leadership style, finances and property taxes, four women — campaign volunteers — seated at tables behind him kept their eyes glued to their computer screens.
"Vermonters expect and deserve a renewed focus on making Vermont affordable," Scott declared in his opening statement. In gentle jabs at the party in power, he suggested that the legislature and governor had been overly optimistic about revenues for the past five years. The result: budgets to operate state government that spent more money than was available.
"I'm frugal," Scott declared. Such fiscal prudence was the signature characteristic of his response to the governor: "I won't sign or propose a budget that grows faster than the previous year's."
Tags: Bruce Lisman , cannabis related , Matt Dunne , Peter Shumlin , Phil Scott , Sue Minter , Image , Web Only