Consensus on Act 185 
By Mark Shepard

Finally we seem to have a consensus on Act 185, that it does indeed disclose personal income information of Vermont residents.  Now the focus is on how to fix the mess.  However the latest opinions express only frustration that there is no fix until January, when the legislature reconvenes and that is a bit late to prevent this year's income information from becoming publicly accessible.

While it most certainly is disturbing that the leadership of the Vermont House and Vermont Senate refused to address this important issue during last session, we need not express total despair because the problem can be solved now if our elected officials, starting with the governor, really want it fixed.

All that is needed is for the governor to call a special legislative session where the House and the Senate can pass a very simple bill to defer the implementation date for a year.  The session should not even last an hour and it could be held on a weekend or in an evening to make it easier for those who work a regular job outside of politics. 

The leadership should pledge to do no other business beyond fixing this one very serious problem.  The cost of such a session can be and should be minimized by legislators refusing pay for the session.  After all most of them voted for this invasion of privacy and just like any honorable business person, they should not charge the taxpayer extra to fix their own errors. 

This, I believe, is the only real solution and with your help we can get it to happen.  Here is how you can help:  On my website, www.markshepard.us, is a petition to the governor for a special session.  I encourage you to print out a copy or even more that one copy, gather some signatures and send them to the governor.

Please consider forwarding this message via email to as many Vermonters as you can.
 

Mark Shepard
Vermont State Senator, 2003-2006

Note: Senator Shepard was the only no vote in the Vermont Senate on Act 185 and for the reasons that have now become undeniably clear.