Week 4 - January 23th to January 26th

The Governor and the Budget

The Chamber Awaits the Governor

On Tuesday of this week Governor Phil Scott delivered his budget address to a joint session. That's the entire legislature (House and Senate) in the House chamber. There's a bit of ritual to this and a lot of applause. The end result is that he gives more specifics on how he would like to see the State's money spent. After the speech, the budget documents are released as well. Those contain the real statement of priorities. Every budget is a means of determining what is important and just how important. The Appropriations committee will take that document and make changes according to what the Representatives think is important. Then the Senate get's it's shot. There are a lot of negotiations mixed with politics.

Here's some of the reactions to the budget and the governor's address:

• vermontbiz.com
• VPR and Committee Chairs
• WCAX
• WAMC

Also this week the governor signed the marijuana legalization bill (H.511). In July it will be legal to possess an ounce or less of marijuana and grow six plants. There are a bunch of restrictions, but taxation or sales

Life churns along in the committees. Here's what my committee (Corrections & Institutions) worked on this week.

Weekly Summary

Rep. Maida Townsend

• Monday - not usually a day in Montpelier for me
• 7:30 Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Double Tree in South Burlington. Governor Scott spoke. Kind of a preview of his budget address later in the week.
• 10:00 Met with Colchester School District superintendent Amy Minor to discuss possible computer coding education opportunities and tech education.
• 12:00 In Montpelier to meet with Legislative Council about a public records request. More about that below.
• 2:00 State Treasurer Beth Pierce's hearing on Green Mountain Secure Retirement Plan. 
• 7:00 pm - Colchester School Board meeting to vote on proposed school budget. The Board passed the $40 million unanimously.
• Tuesday
• 10:00 to 10:30 on the floor after a rainy drive down from Colchester
• Colchester Representative Brennan's Highway Safety bill H.691 was introduced. Last session this bill on Highway Safety became the bill that legalized marijuana. It's being submitted again in hopes that it will not be gutted again. The bill will authorize primary enforcement of the seat-belt law for adults. This means one can be pulled over and ticketed for not have their seat-belt fastened. It's controversial and will be debated and result in a roll-call vote on Thursday.
• 10:30 - 11:30 Democratic Caucus - several bills introduced and questioned
• 1:00 - 1:50  - Governor's budget address
• 2:10 - In committee with Brad Ferland, Deputy Secretary, Agency of Administration to go over governor's proposed capital budget adjustments.
• 3:40 - Done in committee. I stayed and reworked my response to the public records request.
• 4:15 Done
• Wednesday
• 8:30 Mailed public records response
• 8:40 - 9:40 Neil Kamman, Senior Policy Adviser, DEC. This is a rather interesting mess. It related to construction project records being lost during Hurricane Irene. The chair decided to we need to hear from the State Treasurer who was scheduled for later in the day. This is part of H.559 submitted by Representative Deen of Natural Resources.
• 10:00  - 11;20  Karen Barber, Chief Legal Counsel, Department of Mental Health (DMH) Mourning Fox, Deputy Commissioner, DMH  and Annie Ramniceanu, Mental Health Systems Director at DOC also testified. This is a complicated interaction that I will explain in a later post when there are better document to cite. 
• 11:25 - 12:20 DOC - Mike Touchette, Deputy Commissioner of DOC and Lisa Menard DOC Commissioner to talk about the various services offered to inmates and to clarify how mental health and Corrections are intertwined. This is their Risk and Needs Assessment. 
• 1:00 - 1:17 On the floor
• 2:00 Back in committee with BetsyAnn Wrask, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Council to work on that Results Based Accountability issue from Thursday, January 11th. It has to do with measuring progress in reducing opioid use.
• 2:25 - 3:00 Free Time !!!! Check emails etc.
• State Treasurer Beth Pierce to weigh in on the Irene item. She said she needs to study it and consult with her Bond council. She also weighed in on how a lease-to-own process for the governor's proposed 925 bed facility might effect the state's indebtedness. Her conclusion was that it's better to bond than to lease-to-own.
• Thursday
• 9:00 - 9:30 Committee doing iPad training, so I skipped to take care of emails etc.
• 9:30 - 11:00 We took testimony on workforce related issues from Sarah Buxton, WIOA Policy and Implementation Analyst, Vermont Department of Labor (DOL) and David Lahr, Workforce Development Director, DOL. WIOA is the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act. Buxton described her work coordinating about 18 different funding sources for workforce training. We had a long discussion about educating, training and certifying prisoners such that they can find employment when released. This is just another side of trying to reduce recidivism in Vermont's Corrections system.
•  11:10 - 12:10 How is BGS (Buildings and General Services) spending the money we put into a budget line entitled Major Maintenance?  Testimony by Joseph Aja, Interim Director Design & Construction, BGS and Tabrena Karish, Building Engineer, BGS. Aja walked us through three spreadsheets: Funds left over from projects completed, Projects for FY18 and FY19 and Deferred maintenance projects. BGS is taking the $2.9 million left over from previous projects and rolling that into new projects. This turned into long and confusing discussion of what projects should receive committee approval before significant funds are spent.
• 1:00 - 2:05 On the floor - We have yet to have a really controversial bill come up for a vote. In the past, the question of seat-belt use has been one. In H.691, not using a seat-belt becomes a primary offence. That means cops can pull you over if you do not have your seat-belt fastened. Libertarians object because they don't want the government telling them to buckle up. Conservatives go along with the libertarians because of the Big Government issue. Progressives think it will be another example of police bias in pulling over drivers. But this time, there was little discussion. It passed on second reading and will come to the floor one more time this week.

  

  Vermont Veterans Home

• 2:22 Back in Committee for testimony about the Vermont Veterans' Home in Bennington. The capital bill financed a major renovation of the kitchen and food service there. Melissa Jackson, CEO of the Home gave a presentation about the project. Apparently the changes  have been very well received by the veterans. It's good to see the successful completion of something we helped to bring about.
• 3:00 Rep. Connor and I met with the speaker for a half hour to talk about the Clean Water Workgroup we're trying to get started. The hope is to better coordinate the funding of Clean Water projects.
• 3:30 Back in committee to hear testimony about a large software project being done by the Judiciary. The cost is about $12 million with most of that coming from the Capital budget. This software project coordinates many aspects of the Judiciary. 
• 4:00 Done with committee work.
• Friday
• 8:30 First up on Friday was the fate of the the Woodside facility in Essex Junction.
  
  Kenneth Schatz, Commissioner, Department for Children and Families (DCF) and Melissa Bailey, Commissioner, Department of Mental Health (DMH) re-iterated their preference that a new $14 million facility be built right next to the existing one. The current facility can house 30 juveniles (up to 18 years old). The new one will house 25. Apparently the need is actually lessening. This is NOT a Corrections facility. That has been the problem, because it sure looks like one. The Feds began saying it's a Corrections facility, so no Medicaid dollars. We say it's a Mental Health facility and should qualify for those dollars - about $4 million a year, I believe. 
• 9:30 - 10:20 On the floor. After about half an hour of introductions and resolutions congratulating various sports teams, we got to work on that Highway Safety bill (H.691) with the seat-belt change. There was only a little discussion, but there was a request for a roll-call vote. The result was 133 for and 7 against. I voted for it.
• 10:37 - 11:36 Were trying to understand the various levels of care in Vermont's Mental Health services. This is a long and complicated topic about what facilities are required for what mental illnesses and how one gets into and out of those facilities. It's hard to imagine how all this works, but we have a 16 bed facility that cost about $1 million a bed to build. The level of care is such that a patient can require 24-hour one-on-one (or even two-on-one) supervision, though that is rare and usually not for very long. We will have to revisit this several times to fully understand it.
• 11:37 - 12:05 What does forensic mean? What is a forensic mental health unit? What is a forensic mental health center? What is a forensic mental health hospital? When are each of those used? Who is in them and for how long? Lisa Menard, Commissioner of DOC did her best to describe this, but needed help from Karen Barber of the DMH to make much progress. We're getting close.
• 12:15 - Tax Workshop on Vermont's Public Education Funding System. Mark Perrault from the Join Fiscal Office (JFO) presented. They really need to set aside about 4 hours to really cover this subject and wear down all the people with detail questions. Mark stated that he was presenting the current system so that people will understand why it needs to change. This session there may well be a significant change - finally.
• 1:15 - 2:00 Met with Rep. Connor, Committee chair Rep. Emmons and committee Vice Chair Rep. Shaw to talk more about this Clean Water Workgroup.
• 2:30 - Done for the week.

The Details

A Public Records Request from a Camp Hill, PA Inmate

A Public Record Request

Last Sunday, when I finally got around to opening the mail I received in Colchester while I was in Montpelier I found a public records request. No one likes  receiving one. It means putting together all kinds of records that one may not really want to be made public. That includes emails, text messages, reports and such. Fortunately, as soon as one becomes a public person: school board, select board, town committees, legislators etc. etc. we are briefed on what can and cannot be requested and warned about what we record. We are reminded of what an old West End political boss from Boston, Martin Lomasney, said to young politicians everywhere — “Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink”. Eliot Spitzer added - “never put it in email”. And I have been careful.

Over the weekend I put together the few records I had regarding Camp Hill and the Vermont prisoners there, and Monday I drove down Montpelier to talk with Legislative Council about it. This is the specialty of one of the lawyers and she was very helpful. On Wednesday I put my reply in the mail and felt much better. It was just an added stress, another thing that has to get done by a date certain.

Receiving letters from inmates is not unusual. Almost all the members, and particularly the chair, receive them. I just haven't been sure what to do with them, because the inmate never seems to mention what I should do with the information I receive. On the one hand I don't really want to encourage communication but on the other hand I am on the Corrections & Institutions committee with some oversight responsibilities. So I don't want to ignore them.

The Deputy Commissioner of Corrections said I should turn any letters over to him and he will look into the issues. I believe now, that is what I will do. And I will send a note to the inmates telling them what I have done, urging them to use the proper channels for complaints and that they should document everything.

This is one of those parts of being an elected official that you don't always think of when considering running for office. We do receive hate mail and emails, threats (not me yet) and occasional kudos.


That Proposed Corrections Campus

Poster Made by Rep. Scheu

There has been much discussion in the State House and in the press about the Governor's proposed Corrections Campus for the St. Albans area. We try to make it clear that this is just a proposal. There is no money in the governor's budget for its construction, or even for scoping and/or feasibility. It's a concept and a possible solution for the need for renovation or replacement of several other facilities: NorthWest State Corrections Facility (NWSCF) in Swanton, Chittenden Regional Corrections Facility (CRCF) in South Burlington, Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex Junction and the  Middlesex Therapeutic Community Residence in Middlesex.

The proposed 925 beds are for the use of existing inmates. We would not be expanding capacity. The estimated cost is $150 million but how that money is found has yet to be determined. It could be a private/public partnership. It could be bonded money and over a ten year span. All this has yet to be determined. The immediate problems identified in the Agency of Human Services' report are:

• The replacement of the temporary Middlesex Therapeutic Community Residence
• The replacement or renovation of Woodside
• The construction of a building or reconfiguration of an existing building for those entering or within Corrections who require a higher level of care than that which can be offered within the existing Corrections system. This is the Forensic Mental Health Unit/Hospital/Center mentioned above.
• The expansion or replacement of the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital

Rumors of Education Funding Changes

At a dinner Thursday night I heard first mention of these proposed changes to how public education is funded. The chair of the House Ways & Means committee described some of the details that may well result in a 40% decrease in the statewide property tax rate. Considering that Colchester is looking at a possible 10% increase in that rate, I am interested. So is the press.

Voters have been crying out for the State government to do something about the confusing current system that has several loopholes and is really understood by few.

There is no bill as yet, but several people I spoke with seem to think there's a good chance of this being a bill and coming to the floor for consideration by the House. That will be interesting.

Next Week

• I'm hoping for more details on Ed Funding
• The Clean Water Workgroup is going to start interviewing representatives from other committees.
• On Tuesday there's to be a gun violence related hearing. The State House may be chaotic
• My Committee will have some sort of work session on the proposed Corrections Campus

Onward and Upward