Thursday, February 5, 2015
In a spare, over-lit room at the Capitol Plaza, contract lobbyists and their clients mingled around a buffet table, chatting with six of Vermont's nine GOP senators, a slew of House Republicans and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott.
The event was hosted by the Green Mountain Republican Senate Committee, which raises money to finance its members' political campaigns. But Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) and his colleagues said they were merely invited guests and played no role in organizing it.
Benning was furnished with a list of corporate sponsors to thank when he took to a podium to introduce himself, Scott and House Minority Leader Don Turner (R-Milton). But, apparently noticing a reporter in the room, he opted against reading it.
"I would normally at this point in time introduce all the fine folks that have brought this dinner and drink occasion to us, but all you gotta do is pick up tomorrow's Seven Days and you'll read all your names," Benning said.
Tags: Green Mountain Republican Senate Committee , political fundraisers , lobbyists , Image , Web Only
"We are more seriously looking at whether we need to have a change," Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham) said. "I think a number of people automatically assumed that we had to have a change, but now we're looking at: Do we need to have a change?"
White's comments came after her committee finished its third hearing on a pair of proposals that would alter the way Vermont elects its governor, lieutenant governor and treasurer.
The subject drew renewed attention in the months after last November's unusually close gubernatorial election. Though Democratic incumbent Peter Shumlin garnered 2,434 more votes than Republican Scott Milne, neither candidate cleared the 50 percent threshold necessary to win the governorship. That thrust the decision into the hands of the legislature, which voted 110 to 69 for Shumlin last month in a secret ballot.
Tags: Vermont elections , constitutional amendment , Jeanette White , Joe Benning , Scott Milne , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
The East Montpelier woman said she now knows the deal was a mistake. At the time, though, she only knew she wanted a couch and the price seemed manageable, she told the Senate Economic Development Committee on Tuesday.
“There’s some things I didn’t understand,” Brown said, adding that she now plans to save up money to buy household needs up front and in cash.
The Senate committee is looking into whether the state can do more to keep people like Brown from getting lured into deals they don’t quite understand for rent-to-own furniture and electronics.
Committee Chair Kevin Mullin (R-Rutland) said he’s long been bothered by seeing people — typically those who can least afford it — pay more than they might realize for such products. He’s considering legislation that would limit the amount of interest rent-to-own stores can charge and require them to more clearly state how much a customer will end up paying.
Tags: Rent-to-own , Aaron's , Rent-A-Center , Vermont Legislature , Vermont Legal Aid , Image , Web Only
But Wednesday night, the Senate Republican PAC is hosting a Montpelier fundraiser to collect money from — you guessed it — registered lobbyists.
According to Green Mountain Republican Senate Committee treasurer Suzanne Butterfield, legislators and lobbyists alike have been invited to the Capitol Plaza to "exchange ideas and basically have a social get-together." Attendance costs $200 per person, and sponsorships range from $500 to $1,500.
"I just go through the list of lobbyists — the ones that I know personally — and invite them, and they invite some of their corporate clients," Butterfield explains. "It's not a huge financial event, but it's fun and it's a little something."
Those who've RSVPed, Butterfield says, include the Montpelier lobbying firms MMR, Necrason Group, KSE Partners and William Shouldice & Associates. She expects representatives from Comcast, AT&T, Pfizer, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and Reynolds American, Inc.
Tags: Vermont Republican Senate PAC , fundraising , lobbying , campaign finance , Image , Web Only
Monday, February 2, 2015
Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan says he's in no hurry to endorse the idea. But as he prepares for the debate, it occurs to him that he has no idea what a marijuana retail store looks like.
He’s also having trouble deciphering contradictory reports from 2,000 miles away about whether legalizing marijuana has made Colorado roads more dangerous or not.
So Donovan, state Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn and others are headed to Colorado next week. They hope to get a firsthand look at the first state to legalize recreational use of marijuana.
“I called Keith Flynn up and said, 'We should go there, because I can’t separate fact from fiction,'” Donovan said. “Keith agreed.”
Tags: Cannabeat , David Zuckerman , Gov. Peter Shumlin , Maple Leaf Treatment Center , Marijuana legalization , Marijuana Policy Project , T.J. Donovan , Vermont Legislature , Image , Web Only
As Rachelson approached fellow legislators about signing on to a bill, some proudly told her that they were registered as donors, only to pull out their driver’s licenses to discover it wasn’t true. That shows how people often intend to sign up, but put it off, Rachelson said.
So Rachelson and 10 cosponsors authored a bill that would presume all Vermont adults consent to being organ donors unless they specifically opt out. That's the practice in some countries, including Spain and Austria, but apparently in no U.S. states.
The concept shocked former state representative Pat McDonald when she came across the bill. “This bill takes the term ‘big brother’ to a whole new meaning,” McDonald said. “This is my body. I get to choose.”
Tags: organ donation , University of Vermont Medical Center , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Businesses, nonprofits and trade associations spent nearly $7.2 million lobbying Vermont lawmakers last year, according to a disclosure database finalized by the secretary of state's office Wednesday.
Those groups reported spending nearly $6.4 million of that cash directly compensating registered lobbyists — and the rest, roughly $787,000, on other lobbying-related expenditures, such as advertising campaigns.
Vermont's 443 registered lobbyists reported earning $7.2 million in compensation related to influence-peddling last year. The discrepancy is likely due to the fact that lobbyists and those who hire them report compensation figures separately to the secretary of state's office and may calculate them differently.
The totals do not include contributions to campaigns, political-action committees or political parties.
The majority of the money went to Vermont's 20 lobbying firms, which typically employ a stable of lobbyists and represent many clients. Those firms — and the 55 registered lobbyists who work for them — reported earning just more than $5 million in lobbying-related compensation last year. That figure does not include the money they make from unrelated services, such as legal work or public relations.
Tags: Vermont lobbying , disclosures , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Like a bunch of thirtysomething bros from Boston, members of the House General, Housing and Military Affairs Committee will make a pilgrimage to the Alchemist's Waterbury brewery Thursday morning to, um, do work and stuff.
"It's purely educational," insists Rep. Tom Stevens (D-Waterbury), who introduced himself at a Democratic caucus last December as "the representative from Heady Topper."
The committee's headed to the land of Heady primarily to tour a 27-unit affordable housing project. It's under construction in Waterbury on the site of a former state building badly damaged by Tropical Storm Irene. Then the eight House members will head north to the Alchemist.
"Given the portfolio of our committee and given the fact that we have so many new committee members, seeing this [project] in this stage will help our committee understand the benefits of affordable housing," says Stevens, the committee's vice chair. "Alcohol is also in our portfolio, so we decided we'll kill two birds with one stone and we'll visit the brewery."
Tags: Vermont House , Alchemist Brewery , Heady Topper , Tom Stevens , Image , Web Only
All it took to crank up turnout was a couple of gun bills on the legislature’s agenda. Dozens of gun owners, most of them clad in blaze orange, flannel and Carhartts, streamed into the Statehouse Tuesday afternoon to weigh in on the legislation.
“This year there’s more interest because of S.31,” said Evan Hughes, vice president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.
He was referring to a bill introduced last week by Sens. John Campbell (D-Windsor), Phil Baruth (D-Chittenden) and Claire Ayer (D-Addison) that goes further than most proposals in a state where gun rights are fiercely guarded.
Tags: gun control , Vermont sportsmen , background checks , Peter Shumlin , Burlington , Image , Web Only
Saturday, January 24, 2015
As he has every January for the past five years, former governor Jim Douglas descended upon the Statehouse last week with a small crowd of smartly dressed college kids in tow.
Like a star quarterback returning to his alma mater, the Middlebury Republican gripped and grinned his way through the state capitol, hugging old friends and cracking corny jokes.
“Madame chair-babe!” Douglas exclaimed as Sen. Peg Flory (R-Rutland), the Senate Institutions Committee chair, approached him in the ornate Cedar Creek Room.
“There’s a long story,” Flory explained to a red-faced reporter before turning back to the governor emeritus. “How are you? It’s so good to see you.”
“It’s nice to be seen, except I keep looking older than the fella on the wall,” Douglas said, gesturing to Kate Gridley's portrait of himself hanging just outside the governor’s ceremonial office.
“We all are,” Flory remarked as she carried on toward the Statehouse cafeteria.
Tags: Jim Douglas , Middlebury , Montpeculiar , Image , Web Only