Legislature Puts a Wrap
On 2007-8 Biennium
By James Dwinell
Special to The Herald

And then it was over, the 2007-8 legislative biennium.

One moment the state house was abuzz with activity. Lobbyists, advocates, members of the administration, the governor and his staff, representative, senators, members of the press, and observers were crowding the hallways, meeting rooms, and cafeteria in Montpelier, chatting away, making last-minute pleas or last-minute deals. And then it was over. Legislators cleaned out their desks, tidied up their committee rooms, said their good byes, and headed home.

The last week of each session is a blur. It can take both legislative sessions to move a policy discussion into a bill. Often the ideas are developed in a summer study committee. Then a bill is introduced, and sent to committee. With luck and hard work, it moves to the floor of the legislature, is passed, and sent to the other body. It may be accepted there, or if there are changes, it goes to conference committee for negotiation. Then the bill goes onto the floor of the House and Senate for final legislative passage, or not, and then to the governor’s office.

In this session the governor has already said that he has concerns about a number of bills including the hemp bill and the Yankee decommissioning bill, which he says will increase rates.

He said, "Once we receive the bill, it goes to all the appropriate agencies for review and it goes to our legal staff to insure that the language is appropriate. Once I have all the recommendations, I make a decision to sign it or not." Uniquely this year, the legislature adjourned without scheduling a date for veto overrides.

Lack of Cash

The legislative discussions were dominated by the lack of excess cash. Though the budget grew over three percent, in Montpelier terms it was a very tight year. Legislators had to "cut" about $25 million from their expected budget because of the last-minute revenue shortfalls; but as Governor Douglas said, there was some "shuffling" and some cutting.

For example, once they agreed to bond $10 million for road repair, they took $2,000,000 from the Highway Fund to support another program. They took almost the same amount from the petroleum clean-up fund for another good cause. Yet by adjourning weeks earlier than expected, the legislature saved voters over $1 million just in legislative salaries and costs.

A Summary

Legislation passed this year includes increasing raw milk sales, controlling ground water, energy conservation to save money, prison reorganization to cut accelerating costs, stronger beer allowed in stores, pot hole repair, an economic stimulus package including a sales tax holiday weekend, and a housing bill which allows some projects to move forward without an Act 250 permit.

Not making it through was legislation to improve Catamount Health, instant runoff voting, campaign finance reform (successfully vetoed by the governor), a repeal of the two-vote school budget provision, and a prohibition on teenage cell phone use while driving.

The last two were defeated by a single vote, the vote of Senate pro tem Peter Shumlin, who simply did not allow the legislation to go forward.

The cell phone bill was in response to teenage highway deaths attributed to text messaging and cell phone use while driving. Shumlin merely said, "If you don’t want your kids to use a cell phone while driving, don’t get you kid a phone."

The big issue that went unaddressed is the burden of the property tax. As editorialist David Moats wrote, "Lawmakers bemoaned the fact that they had not done anything significant to curb the rise of property taxes. Bemoaning a lack of action at the end of the session is part of the ritual. Promising action at the beginning of the session is the other part of the ritual."