In the Media

Bill would drop outdated language from Vt. laws

April 12, 2013; Times Argus

MONTPELIER — Outdated, offensive words to describe people including “lunatics” and “retarded” that are still on the books in Vermont are being sought out so lawmakers can strike the passages from the law.

The Senate has already passed a bill calling for respectful language to be used, and a House committee reviewing it heard testimony Thursday.

“There are certain words that are no longer acceptable,” said Sen. Anthony Pollina, of Washington County.

In one instance, a law says a marriage could be annulled if it could be shown that one of the partners was a “lunatic” or was “distracted” at the time of the wedding.

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Vermont lawmakers consider early August primary election date

April 8, 2013; Terri Hallenbeck; Burlington Free Press

Progressive Party Executive Director Robert Millar said he has concerns about the earlier primary.

"It pushes the primary even earlier in the summer, when few folks are likely to be thinking about politics, which is bad for voter engagement and turnout. This change effectively favors incumbents over challengers."

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No Laughing Matter: In the Vermont Senate, the Joke's on Campaign-Finance Reform

April 3, 2013; Paul Heintz; Seven Days

What’s so funny about banning corporate contributions to political candidates?

That’s what Sen. Dave Zuckerman (P/D-Chittenden) was wondering last Thursday night when several colleagues began to chuckle during a roll call vote on a tough new campaign-finance rule.

For years, the Vermont Senate had resisted taking up an amendment that would prohibit corporations from donating directly to political campaigns. Incumbent politicians didn’t want to end a practice that benefits them — but they certainly didn’t want to go on record opposing limits on corporate money in politics.

On Thursday, the question was finally called.

Late in the evening, after hours of debate on a comprehensive campaign-finance bill, the Senate voted 21 to 8 in favor of an amendment offered by Sen. Peter Galbraith (D-Windham) banning direct corporate contributions.

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Bill would have state collect data on gas prices, market

Submitted by Vermont Progres... on Tue, 2013-04-02 00:00

April 2, 2013; Nancy Remsen; Burlington Free Press

MONTPELIER— Gasoline prices in the Burlington area ranged from $3.57 cents per gallon of regular to $3.79 on Tuesday — with an average price of $3.65 which was below the statewide average of $3.70 and close to the national average of $3.63.

More typically the fuel prices in Chittenden County have been higher than other parts of the state over the past year, which is why Rep. Christopher Pearson, P-Burlington, urged the House Transportation Committee to consider his bill calling for the collection of data on fuel pricing, mergers and market share.

The committee held hearings in January on gasoline price differences.

“There are a lot of theories about why our gas prices seem to be inflated,” Pearson told the panel. “This is trying to peel back the layers of this mystery of why we pay more.”

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Vermont House considers marijuana decriminalization bill

March 29, 2013; Terri Hallenbeck; Burlington Free Press

Vermont would hardly be in the forefront if it decriminalizes marijuana, Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, lead sponsor of the bill, told the committee. He pointed out that Maine has had such a law since 1976 and New York since 1977.

Pearson said that means those caught with a small amount of marijuana won’t face a lifelong criminal record that could hurt their chances at college loans, jobs and housing.

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Vermont Senate’s campaign finance bill: many find something to like

March 19, 2013; Nancy Remsen; Burlington Free Press

Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group also praised the expanded reporting and other disclosure provisions.

“If this bill is passed, voters will eventually have a lot more useful information about where candidates and political action committees are getting their money,” Burns said.

“The bill also reestablishes limits on campaign contributions that are for the most part reasonable,” Burns added. “The final version of the bill passed by the Government Operations committee was certainly a vast improvement over earlier drafts that would have allowed wealthy individuals and corporations even greater influence over elections.”

The contributions limits were the most contentious provisions in the bill, said Senate Government Operations Vice Chairman Anthony Pollina, P/D-Washington.

He was prepared to reject the bill if the committee had stuck with contributions higher than in place today.

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Bill reinforces state’s same-sex mandate

March 16, 2013; Peter Hirschfeld; Times Argus

Donegan said she doesn’t have any data on how many businesses or workers the legislation passed Friday would affect. And it’s doubtful the law would survive a legal challenge, since states generally aren’t allowed to preempt federal authority over self-insured companies.

But similar laws in California and New York have had the desired effect, and Rep. Paul Poirier, the Barre City independent who played a key role in getting the bill to the floor, said the companies he’s spoken to — Wal-Mart among them — have said they’ll voluntarily comply with the new requirements.

“They said, ‘we want to be good stewards here in Vermont,’” Poirier said. “Nobody wanted to come in and testify against it.”

Rep. Chris Pearson, a Burlington Progressive, said Vermont need not mount a defense to any legal challenges that might come. Companies that wish to disregard the new statute, he said, can try to make their case in the court of public opinion.

“Any challenge to this law would be a front-page story,” Pearson said.

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Vermont House votes to expand health insurance rights of same-sex couples

March 15, 2013; Alicia Freese; VTDigger

Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, who co-sponsored the legislation, said it’s an important step in an “ongoing process” of “peeling back the layers of discrimination.”

A federal law limits the level of parity that the Vermont Legislature can achieve in this arena, however.

That law — the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) — governs group health plans offered by employers in the private industry. If an employer is self-insured, meaning they don’t contract with an insurance company, they fall under ERISA and are not subject to state insurance law.

The bill the House passed today only requires employers to meet the health insurance standard “to the extent permitted by federal law.”

Even though the bill still leaves room for out-of-state employers to not offer the parity in coverage, Pearson argued that putting this law on the books would make them more vulnerable both to legal concerns and public opinion backlash. “It would be a front page story,” Pearson said.

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Several transparency bills on deck in Vermont Legislature; others will need more time

March 12, 2013; Nancy Remsen; Burlington Free Press

Finally, Rep. Christopher Pearson, P-Burlington, has offered a bill to expand the public meetings law to cover the governing boards and committees of hospitals and accountable care organizations.

“The basic premise is hospitals get a lot of public dollars. It would bring them under the open meeting law to bring far greater transparency,” Pearson said.

Accountable Care Organizations, a new creation under the federal Medicare program, “are 100 percent funded by federal dollars,” Pearson added. “The onus should be on explaining why they shouldn’t be open.”

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Marijuana Legalization Bill Filed in Vermont

March 12, 2013; Thomas H. Clarke; Daily Chronic

MONTPELIER, VT — A bill that would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, sold through a regulated wholesale and retail system overseen by the state’s Department of Liquor Control, has been introduced at the Vermont state house.

marijuana moneyHouse Bill 499, An Act Relating To Regulation And Taxation Of Marijuana, was introduced to the House and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

“It’s been nearly a century since Vermont first prohibited marijuana in 1915. It hasn’t worked and it’s time for a new approach,” said Representative Susan Davis (P-Washington), lead sponsor of the bill.

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