Something for Vermonters to be Proud Of 
By John McClaughry

Sixteen months ago the newly elected legislature convened in Montpelier. With (supposedly) veto proof majorities in both chambers, the Democratic leadership set out to remake Vermont as outlined in its election platform.

The Democrats pledged to transform the Catamount Health plan of 2006 into "universal coverage" for everyone, financed by income and payroll taxation. The House bill to take a giant step in that direction never even got a committee vote.

Despite widespread property taxpayer resentment of Act 60, the educational finance act so enthusiastically passed by Democrats in 1997, the legislature took only one step to rein in galloping education property tax costs. That was the Act 82 "think twice" or "two vote" ballot measure applicable to certain high spending districts.

The teachers' union, blindsided by the last-minute passage of this measure at the end of the 2007 session, launched a furious campaign for repeal. Speaker Gaye Symington obligingly pushed the repeal bill through the House.

To his credit, Senate President pro tem Peter Shumlin refused to break his (and Symington's) agreement with Gov. Jim Douglas to give this measure a chance to work. Shumlin blocked a Senate vote on the repeal measure.

The Democratic platform called for another run at the state Equal Rights Amendment, defeated by the voters in 1986. A new ERA proposal was not even introduced.

Same-day voter registration is a Democratic perennial. They had to settle for advancing the registration deadline to a week before election day. Another favorite, instant runoff voting, made it to the Governor's desk where it was vetoed. The House didn't even try to override.

The Democratic platform was long on promises for incentives and subsidies for renewable energy. The majority succeeded in passing some non-controversial measures to promote conservation and subsidize "clean energy". It declined, however, to adopt Shumlin's gas guzzler tax, an "unanticipated revenue" tax on Vermont Yankee to fund a "thermal efficiency utility", and an intrusive mandate for a statewide carbon dioxide emission inventory. It also dropped Shumlin's economy-busting "cap and trade" regulatory system for combating the Menace of Global Warming.

Shumlin's relentless war on nuclear energy finally took the form of a bill to force the owners of the Vermont Yankee plant to put up or guarantee up to $400 million for immediate decommissioning in the event that the plant fails to win a license extension in 2012. This fell to another Douglas veto. The House adjourned without even trying to override it.

Other liberal initiatives that disappeared were primary seat belt enforcement, a livable wage mandate, a shockingly anti-democratic (!) bill to end the secret ballot in labor union elections, citizen suits to enforce environmental laws, an Act 250 clampdown on growth outside designated village centers, a sweeping carbon tax, a 17 cent tax on plastic bags, and stringent campaign contribution limits. Mindful of the $1.4 million in legal costs the state had to pay for defending the very similar law that was tossed out by the U.S. Supreme Court, Douglas twice vetoed bills to do approximately the same thing.

The Senate adopted a fiery joint resolution demanding law suits against the petroleum industry for causing high pump prices by price fixing - something that no economist believes for a minute. The House cooled the language off considerably. When the House sent its more modest version back to the Senate, that body quietly let the resolution drop.

That latter issue, unimportant as it was, could serve as a metaphor for the biennium. The majority came to Montpelier with a Grand Vision. Its liberal leaders vowed to make Vermont #1 in the war against the Menace of Global Warming, determined to convert Catamount Health into their beloved single payer system, licked their lips at the prospect of new programs and new taxes, and advocated more government regulations over the lives of Vermonters.

Most of those dreams died in the legislature they controlled. Five important measures made it to the Governor's desk to be vetoed. The House failed to override any of the vetoes. For the Democratic leadership, this had to be a very disappointing biennium.

But there is one provision in their 2006 platform that the Democrats deserve credit for achieving: "We believe that sound fiscal policy is vital to the responsible operation of government." This year legislators of both parties faced up to the darkening fiscal picture. The majority abandoned most of its grandiose plans, declined to raise tax rates, resisted
most of their regulatory urges, balanced the budget, and went home in good time.

That's an achievement that ought to give most Vermonters some pride in both the Democratic legislature and the Republican governor.
 

John McClaughry is President of the Ethan Allen Institute