Category Archives: Current Affairs

By Senator Alice Nitka, Windsor County, February 10, 2012

Myriad reports and studies are received each week on a variety of issues and topics. Many are related to bills that have been introduced or were passed previously and require a report back to see if the bill did what it was intended to do. All aspects of the budget requested by the Governor require reports on what the money requested will be used for and comparisons to past years. An example would be the Buildings and General Services (BGS) budget and their request for the VT Information Centers, better known as rest areas to most people. But, in fact, they are providing marketing and promotion of businesses and attractions in our state to travelers while providing a needed service at the same time.

This past year 3,165,029 visitors were at the centers which are open 365 days per year. Hours were reduced at nine sites in 2009 to save money and 4 sites were closed completely due to budget cuts. However, two new sites will be opening; Hartford on I-91 in 2012 and the Bennington Welcome Center in 2013. Presently the Welcome Center in Guilford draws the most visitors in the state. The center at Sharon with the Viet Nam Memorial is another popular site. It also has a unique composting system with vegetation that can be found in South East Asia. A very expensive issue for the centers is waste disposal as the centers are not on municipal sewer systems and must pump out the waste and transport it to a disposal site. Operating expenses for all the centers in 2011 were $3,891,422 and in 2008 were $4,901,497. They are doing their best to reduce costs while still providing services. The question is always how much can we afford.  Public-private partnerships are also being explored to address service voids. 

BGS also has a fleet of vehicles that they lease and rent to various state agencies. Some may be interested to know that of the 530 vehicles, 232 are passenger sedans and station wagons and of those, 68 are hybrid vehicles. The report also provided information on charging stations, mileage for vehicles and options for the future. The cost of a charging station is about $10,000 and a number of companies are manufacturing them.  

A Senate bill that has generated some interest with the driving public is #244, An Act Relating to Referral to Court Diversion for Driving with a Suspended License.  It has been changed a lot since it was introduced but addresses the issue of persons who have failed to pay fines and have lost their license because of the failure to pay.  It excludes DUI and other serious offenses. The goal is to collect money and reduce the number of persons suspended. Presently there are 23,000 Vermont licenses suspended just from failure to pay fines. It will be interesting to see how this bill progresses.

Contact me at home at 228-8432, the State House at 1-800-322-5616 or at anitka@leg.state.vt.us or P.O. Box 136, Ludlow, VT 05149   Find schedules and bills at www.leg.state.vt.us.

By Senator Alice Nitka, Windsor County, February 3, 2012

Education is always a topic that has House and Senate members expressing divergent views while all want the best for the children of our state. The same is true of the general public and this week I heard from those on both sides of the aisle with regard to school choice. On the radar this week was Senate bill 201, An Act Relating to Expanding Public School Choice for Elementary and High School Students. Many of our smaller towns in VT have school choice when they don’t have their own schools and aren’t members of a union. There is also limited public high school choice, up to ten students via agreements between high schools. The money from the state doesn’t follow the student and stays with the sending school. The Senate Ed Committee took testimony on S-201 and heard from residents from Kirby to Barnard to Berkshire to Chester. Principal Craig Hutt Vater of the Mount Holly School also testified and the information he presented was valued by the committee. A measured approach for some expansion of the law seems like it might have some traction but full blown school choice won’t have the votes. It’s hard to tell at this point what this bill will look like after the committee works on it.   

Some other bills in the Senate Ed Committee that you might want to check out are: #120, Freedom of expression for students; #194, Consolidation of supervisory unions; #219, A statewide public school teachers contract; #233, (a bill I sponsored), Gradually increasing the mandatory age of school attendance;  and #245, Cardiovascular care instruction for secondary students.  The cardiovascular bill or CPR bill originally proposed making CPR a high school graduation requirement along with training on difibulators. The committee dropped the graduation requirement but did send the bill to the full Senate for a vote with a requirement in it that high schools “shall” offer the training to every student. The bill had a very strong lobbying effort behind it by the American Heart Association and no one doubted that it would be beneficial for more people to learn CPR and to be familiar with difibulators. However the word “shall” triggered a firestorm of questions from Senators mainly about costs and mandates. The school representatives who spoke to the committee apparently felt the bill should go forward and would not be a burden on schools. A majority of Senators felt differently and viewed it as an unfunded mandate on schools who were already struggling with budgets and mandates. On a voice vote, over the objection of the supporters of the bill, it was ordered, “to lie”. This means that it could be resurrected if supporters thought they had the votes to pass it, or the committee could take it back and make changes to it or it could be dead for the session. Such is the life of someone’s favorite bill.

Contact me at home at 228-8432, the State House at 1-800-322-5616 or at anitka@leg.state.vt.us or P.O. Box 136, Ludlow, VT 05149   Find schedules and bills at www.leg.state.vt.us.

By Senator Alice Nitka, Windsor County, January 27, 2012

The “I am Vermont Strong” commemorative license plate to benefit the Vermont Food Bank and the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund is making its way through the General Assembly for approval. You may recall it being mentioned in the Governor’s State of the State address earlier in the month and appearing on the front page of many papers. On January 26,  S-249 passed the full Senate on a unanimous voice vote.  It had previously been vetted in the Senate Transportation, Finance and the Appropriations Committees. It now moves to the House of Representatives to be reviewed by committees and then to the House floor for expected passage. Upon passage, it will be sent to the Governor for his signature.

Behind the scenes, literally, the plate is already being produced by our working male prisoners at the Northwest Correctional Center at St Albans in the license plate shop. (This is the same shop that used to be located at the correctional facility in Windsor and run by women prisoners.)  These workers had already made 6800 by the 25th and likely will have made the 8,000 requested in the first round by the time you read this. The cost to make the plates is $4.86 and they are being purchased by the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.

The plate which is green, black and white will sell for $25. Eighteen dollars will be for 2011 flood victims via the relief fund, two dollars will be for the food bank and five dollars will go to the DMV. As I understand it, the two people from Rutland who designed the logo and put it on T-shirts to raise funds for victims after Hurricane Irene made the food bank request in exchange for the use of the logo. The goal with the sales is to raise one million dollars.

The plates can be put on the front of cars, or trucks weighing less than 26,000 pounds and must be placed on top of the official front plate. This may be a little tricky but one is required in the law to leave your DMV issued plate in place. They can be on one’s vehicle until June 30, 2014. The plates can be purchased by anyone, in and out of state, and it is believed that many will buy them as souvenirs. They will be sold hopefully by many vendors, and already VT Life magazine has received 1019 pre-orders. Maybe you’ll be able to buy one at your local grocery store. The commemorative plate will be exempt from the sales and use tax.

Contact me at home at 228-8432, the State House at 1-800-322-5616 or at anitka@leg.state.vt.us or P.O. Box 136, Ludlow, VT 05149   Find schedules and bills at www.leg.state.vt.us.