Tuesday, June 16, 2015
On Monday night, the council unanimously approved Mayor Miro Weinberger’s $185 million budget for fiscal year 2016.
Bushor, who sits on the board of finance and is famed for her attention to detail, was in her element Monday night, highlighting noteworthy expenditures among the 3,600 line items.
Among them: Burlington will spend $100,000 to study how it can improve its notoriously byzantine permit system — with the goal of providing relief to homeowners who have been stymied when trying to make minor renovations.
Bushor also noted that while the municipal tax rate is going down, water, wastewater and solid waste rates are going up — increases that will amount to a few dollars per month for most users. Some of that will help fund replacements of aging pipes after 84 water main breaks betrayed their age last winter.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Burlington city council , Uber , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 15, 2015
Sanders' three-day trip to Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and elsewhere came as House Democrats abandoned President Barack Obama on Friday and helped kill legislation that would give him greater power to negotiate a 12-nation trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. While Sanders has long opposed the TPP, Clinton has attempted to remain above the fray.
"I am not clear, nor do I believe the American people are clear, as to what Secretary Clinton's position is," Sanders told reporters in Indianola on Sunday, according to the Washington Post. "Is she for it or is she against it? Those are your two options. The president is for it. Most Democrats in the Congress are against it."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Iowa , Trans-Pacific Partnership , trade , Hillary Clinton , Elizabeth Warren , campaign trail , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Friday, June 12, 2015
He may not be running for president, like his junior colleague, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). He may not be running for governor, as the third member of Vermont's congressional delegation, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), is considering doing.
But Vermont's senior senator is up for reelection to an eighth six-year term next year, and he's already collecting cash from Vermont's business — and lobbying — community. Leahy is hosting a $100-$500-per-person fundraiser Friday evening at the eponymous and lengthily named ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain.
"This is part of our early organizational efforts to raise funds and generate early support for Sen. Leahy's reelection campaign," says Leahy campaign manager, Carolyn Dwyer.
Tags: Patrick Leahy , fundraiser , Image , Web Only
Running a campaign for the state's top office ain't easy. Just ask KSE Partners lobbyist Alex MacLean, who managed Shumlin's first gubernatorial bid in 2010 and his reelect in 2012.
"It's very similar to opening a business," she says. "You need to juggle eight balls at the same time. You're drinking from a firehose."
So what should Vermont's maybe-kinda-sorta gubernatorial candidates keep in mind as they prepare to enter the race? We asked MacLean and other alums of recent statewide campaigns.
Tags: Alex MacLean , Dennise Casey , Chris Pearson , Darcie Johnston , Jill Krowinski , Mike Pieciak , Image , Web Only
Thursday, June 11, 2015
One of the state's most prominent politicians says she won't run for governor in 2016.
After Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Monday that he won't seek a fourth term, Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz was one of many top pols who indicated she would consider running for governor. But the Montpelier Democrat ruled out a run in an email Thursday morning.
"I will not be running for governor this time around," she said.
A former secretary of state, Markowitz has run the Agency of Natural Resources since January 2011. She said she hopes to stay put.
“I really have a lot that I want to accomplish, still, in the office where I am. We’ve gotten a lot of good things done — a lot of important things done — but we’re midway with a lot of important initiatives,” she said, citing her agency’s work combatting climate change and forest fragmentation. “There are a lot of internal structural changes happening at the agency that just need a steady hand on the tiller.”
Tags: Deb Markowitz , Peter Shumlin , Sue Minter , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 8, 2015
It's on.
Vermont's 2016 gubernatorial race began in earnest Monday afternoon with Gov. Peter Shumlin's surprise announcement that he will not seek a fourth term.
After a lackluster showing in last November's election, the East Montpelier Democrat was expected to face tough opposition next year from Republicans, Progressives and Democrats alike. But his decision to step down will almost certainly widen the field of contenders, which could include the state's lieutenant governor, House speaker, U.S. congressman and many others.
In public comments and private conversations, several potential candidates immediately sought to stake out a position in the race, while others indicated they would take a pass.
Speaking at a Statehouse press conference just hours after Shumlin's announcement, House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) told reporters he would spend the next several weeks weighing his options.
"I am seriously considering running for governor," he said.
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, the Vermont Republican Party's sole statewide officeholder, said recently he, too, was "considering" a run for governor.
"This doesn't change anything from my perspective," Scott said Monday.
Tags: Brian Dubie , Bruce Lisman , Chuck Ross , Dan Feliciano , Deb Markowitz , Doug Racine , Matt Dunne , Miro Weinberger , Peter Galbraith , Peter Shumlin , Peter Welch , Phil Scott , Randy Brock , Scott Milne , Shap Smith , Sue Minter , T.J. Donovan , Tim Ashe , Image , Web Only
Gov. Peter Shumlin stunned the political world Monday with the unexpected announcement that he won’t seek reelection in 2016.
The three-term Democrat emerged from a closed-door Statehouse meeting with cabinet members and close advisors just after 1 p.m. to address reporters in front of a bust of Abraham Lincoln. Speaking at times in the past tense, the governor reflected on his four years and five months in office and said he hoped to spend the next year and a half finishing the job he started.
"I am announcing today for those reasons that I will not be a candidate for a fourth term in 2016," he said. “I believe that we will have accomplished — and in many cases exceeded beyond my expectations — the work we set out to do when I became governor.”
The news took by surprise even the governor’s top staffers, many of whom stood by his side for the announcement. Secretary of Administration Justin Johnson said he had found out just an hour earlier. Vermont Democratic Party chair Dottie Deans said she had been summoned to the Statehouse for a meeting about 2016 messaging, only to learn that the field had changed dramatically.
Tags: Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
The USA Freedom Act, he said in a written statement, "will enact the most significant reforms to government surveillance powers" since Congress passed the USA Patriot Act in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001. The bill bars the National Security Agency from collecting bulk metadata from telephone companies and requires a court order for the information to be obtained, among other changes.
Passage of the USA Freedom Act restored certain surveillance powers that have been on hold since Sunday, when portions of the Patriot Act expired and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) held up consideration of the new legislation.
Opposing the bill Leahy helped write was his fellow Vermont delegate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). He and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) were the only liberals to join 30 Republican senators in voting "nay." Sixty-seven Democrats, Republicans and independents voted for the bill.
In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Sanders indicated he was inclined to vote for the bill, which passed the U.S. House last month with Congressman Peter Welch's (D-Vt.) support.
"I may well be voting for it," he told moderator Chuck Todd. "It doesn't go as far as I would like it to go."
Tags: Senator , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , surveillance , USA Freedom Act , Image , Web Only
Along with the layoffs, the state also plans to cut another 48 vacant positions in 14 departments. The cuts are part of $10.8 million in state personnel savings intended to help close a $113 million budget gap.
“It’s not a lot of fun,” said Agency of Administration Secretary Justin Johnson, whose own office will see two layoffs, which are technically called reductions in force, or RIFs.
“Fourteen RIFs are … 14 RIFs too many,” said Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees Association, who fought the cuts that were once proposed to be more significant. “It’s not a good way to balance the budget.”
Tags: Vermont State Employees Association , Vermont legislature , layoffs , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 1, 2015
"By the way, on broader issues, what I think when we talk about issues, Chuck, we need a lot more debates in this campaign," Sanders told moderator Chuck Todd. "I hope very much that we can begin with the Democratic candidates at least as early as July, and also Republicans in those debates, as well."
Sanders did not explain on the show how such bipartisan primary-season debates would work — nor why they would be a good idea. But in a press release issued by his campaign later that day, spokesman Michael Briggs elaborated.
"Early debates involving both Democrats and Republicans also could revive interest among ordinary voters in the democratic process," Briggs wrote. "One way to get disillusioned voters to participate in elections would be to make it clear that there are major differences between a progressive agenda and the reactionary platform of the Republican Party. That is why Sanders suggested debates including Republican candidates as well as his Democratic rivals for the nomination."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Meet the Press , Chuck Todd , presidential debates , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only