Chester Vermont News

CAPITOL LETTER, Rep. Kathy Pellett
Chester, Andover, Baltimore, N. Springfield

It’s barely two weeks since the 2007-2008 biennium ended and the legislature concluded its work in Montpelier. Though we no longer go to the State House to work, we’re still a busy working on constituent issues here at home. So this is a reminder that you can still call me – at home (875-1372) if you need assistance with a problem.

There were many accomplishments during this past session, but the greatest challenge we faced revolved around the weakening economy and the tough choices necessary to prepare a responsible budget – without raising new revenue. The legislature was able to complete a budget that did not shift costs onto property taxes or health care premiums.

In fact, the Transportation budget we passed in the late days of the session kept the burden off municipalities by directing more money to towns for local roads and bridges than had been proposed by the Governor. And we did convince the Governor to move ahead with boding for roads so we can begin to catch up in taking care of the state’s transportation infrastructure. We may not see all the necessary repairs made immediately, but the state is headed in the right direction.

We continued to contain the pace at which health care costs rise by removing barriers to insurance for many Vermonters. By investing in preventive care and information technology, we will improve care and lower costs. I’m concerned we haven’t done enough to make health care accessible to everyone, but this costs money – an upfront investment that not everyone was committed to making. Where we’ve only been able to take small steps, it is my hope that in the next session we can make some giant strides.

For families and children we revamped our entire juvenile justice system, improved how Vermont addresses domestic violence and took steps to protect children from lead poisoning.
We passed a bill which will create more affordable housing, provide incentives and eased state permit rules in community centers while protecting Vermont’s rural character. We increased investment in workforce training and made advances to build on our telecommunications initiatives from last biennium, working toward broadband access throughout the state. We took steps to protect the quality of our groundwater and to more effectively improve the water quality of Lake Champlain.

Our two-year effort to reorganize the state’s corrections system and to invest the savings in more substance abuse treatment and better support as inmates finish their sentences will pay off in safer communities and lower corrections costs over the next decade.

It’s unfortunate that so much of the media coverage of the legislature’s work focused on issues we spent little or no time on. Too bad the same coverage wasn’t given to the many initiatives we accomplished which affect our lives, help our economy and make Vermont the wonderful state it is.

I am preparing an END OF SESSION REPORT, highlighting more issues in detail. I hope to have this available early this summer and will have it on my website, www.kathypellett.org. I will also make it available locally in town offices, the library in Chester, and if you would like it mailed to you, please let me know. You can reach me at kathy4house@vermontel.net or 875-1372. Please keep in touch over the summer and fall.

CAPTIOL LETTER, Rep. Kathy Pellett
Chester, Andover, Baltimore, N. Springfield

This past week the House passed a new Transportation Bill, H. 896, authorizing a special program to deal with the impact of the harsh winter weather on the state’s deteriorating state and town highways and reallocates funds from the Governor proposed “Operation Smooth Ride.” The House Transportation Committee looked at this proposal and felt that since 80% of roads are the responsibility of towns, the $3 million should be reapportioned appropriately to town and state roads — $2 million to towns and $1 million for state road. The only way towns can raise the money for maintenance of their roads is through property taxes and this additional $2 million will help municipalities from having to raise property taxes.

Also passed this week was S. 345, Workers’ Compensation. The purpose of this bill is to reduce the cost of workers’ compensation insurance by rewarding employers who have safe and healthy workplaces by reducing premiums. It requires insurers to offer small deductible workers’ compensation insurance policies to all employers and permitting employers to pay single-visit, medical only claims out of pocket. The bill also has provisions to improve enforcement of workers’ compensation fraud.

S.304 - Groundwater Withdrawal Permit Program was also passed this week, which protects our water supply. The state currently lacks a comprehensive groundwater withdrawal program and does not significantly regulate groundwater withdrawal for commercial or industrial purposes. This bill amends the groundwater policy of the state by declaring groundwater to be a public trust resource. Vermont abolished the common law doctrine of absolute ownership of groundwater in 1985. Two esteemed law professors and the attorney general’s office have noted that designating groundwater as a public trust resources will not result in a taking of property. There are 24 states that have declared groundwater a public trust. All but 3 of the rest of the states have permitting programs for their ground water. Making ground water a public trust increases the idea that we are stewards of this precious resource and will “ensure that water is managed and used in the public interest to benefit all Vermonters” (from the Report of the Legislature Study Committee of Groundwater Regulation and Funding, January 2008).
We only have one or two more weeks left in this session and I will keep you informed as best. You can read previous “Capitol Letters” on my website, www.kathypellett.org. where there is also a link to the Vermont Legislature (you can check the status of all bills here). As always you can contact me in Montpelier Tuesday to Friday at 1-800-322-5616 or kpellett@leg.state.vt.us. On weekends and Monday I can be reached at 875-1372 or kathy4house@vermontel.net.

Hundreds of Vermonters shared gripping personal stories about the middle class squeeze

see: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/

Vermonters Talk About Economic Woes

see: http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=8123530

Both articles included below the graphic

The Week in Review - 04/04/2008

Hundreds of Vermonters shared gripping personal stories about the middle class squeeze in an outpouring of emails to Senator Bernie Sanders. They were, he said, “sad and depressing.” Nationwide, another 80,000 jobs vanished last month, the government reported on Friday. On Capitol Hill, Sanders pressed for a cap on interest rates that credit card issuers and other lenders may charge. The National League of Cities, meanwhile, praised Sanders efforts to help cities and towns help the environment and save energy. The environment, education, the economy all came up at a Burlington City Hall town meeting Monday when Sanders hosted Finland’s ambassador to the United States. — READ MORE

Also see WCAX story included below below ………

Source url: http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=8123530 Vermonters Talk About Economic Woes Montpelier, Vermont - April 5, 2008 There’s more evidence that the American economy is putting the squeeze on the middle class. Senator Bernie Sanders took personal testimony from many Vermonters who are concerned about their financial futures. Housing prices have skyrocketed over the last thirty years. But even this symbol of the rising middle class has a downside. ”The reality is that the middle class has been shrinking for many, many years,” Sanders told a gathering he convened at Montpelier High School on Saturday. “It’s not a new phenomenon, it did not happen two days ago with the foreclosure crisis.” To back up that claim, Sanders brought in Prof. Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law professor who says she studied the impact of economic changes over the last three decades. ”So it’s kind of one generation, what happened to the middle class,” she said. Warren listed several consumer expenditures that have actually gone down since the 1970s — items you might not guess — including cars. She said automobiles cost almost a fourth less because they last longer and quality is up, saving on maintenance. She said Americans spend a third less on clothing. But families are spending much more on housing. “In terms of their monthly outlay, they’re paying more than double every single month to be able to sustain that home,” she said. “What we have done in the housing area, and we can talk about the reasons this happened, but what we’ve done in the housing area has absolutely crippled the economics of the American family.” Ann Moore of Wheelock said, ”We worker bees toil away and try to make ends meet, and we’re feeling the squeeze.” Moore gave her own testimony to the squeeze, exemplified by the need in many families for both parents to work. She continued, “Neither one of us ever thought we would be here because we watched our parents’ generation work hard and move into this stage in life — you know, the empty nester thing — with some financial security.” Sanders said his web site was inundated with more than three-hundred responses to a request for personal stories about peoples’ economic situation. He said all the rosy economic forecasts in the world won’t change that reality. Andy Potter - WCAX News Articles shared by Diantha Schierloh, a Chester resident that is very passionate, and deservedly so, about what is happening to our local economy.

CAPITOL LETTER, Rep. Kathy Pellett
Chester, Andover, Baltimore, N. Springfield

It’s been a beautiful winter with an abundance of snow. Even as I write this week’s “Capitol Letter,” it’s snowing (April 4). It’s been the kind of winter Vermont needed to keep our ski areas, inns, restaurants and shops busy, stimulating the local economy. And I suspect a few days of school closings were happily met by younger folks. But the harsh winter also contributed to the deterioration of our roads. Now, with the arrival of spring, their poor condition becomes even more apparent. Frost heaves, potholes and crumbling pavement are worse than ever. But we can’t blame it all on this winter’s weather. Years of neglect due to under-funding allowed our roads to reach terrible shape they’re in today. We know that short-term fixes are not the answer. Recently we learned that due to declining transportation revenue and increased expenditures for winter road maintenance, the FY08 maintenance budget is already facing a $4.5 million shortfall. We are hoping to find some money — $3 million — through budget adjustment to put toward emergency “medium term” fixes for state highways and Class 1 town highways.

This week the House Transportation Committee presented the FY09 Transportation Budget. The committee worked very hard since January to “turn over every stone” to restore funding to town programs that the Governor’s budget reduced. Those funding reductions would have meant towns would have to increase property taxes to pay for local highway programs. The House budget increased funding of town programs by $6.3 million. The town bridge program is increased by $4.5 million to $23.4 million, but even at that amount it is just level funded to last year. Here are some additional highlights of the Transportation Budget:

Town highway state aid is increased by $560,000 to $25.6 million, a 2.2% increase over last year. This is a formula grant program that is divided among all towns based on lane mileage.

Town highway Class 2 roads increased by $1.2 million to $6.9 million, an increase of 2.3% over last year. This grant program rotates among towns within each maintenance district approximately every 3 years.

Town highway structures increased by $79,000 to $3.6 million, also an increase of 2.3%. This grant program for small bridges, culverts and retaining walls rotates among towns on a multi-year cycle the same as the Class 2 program.

The budget also includes $100,000 to the Public Transit program for serving the elderly and people with disabilities, including critical care transportation services.

The FY09 Transportation program also directs the state treasurer to examine bonding options to accelerate spending on critical transportation infrastructure needs. He will then issue a report on the funding options available to the state.

At our current rate of spending on paving, by 2010, the percentage of the state highways in “very poor condition” will double from 21% to 43%. That’s just two years from now! The federal government is not coming to the rescue. Current federal spending on transportation has been artificially pumped up by spending down accumulated surpluses in the Federal Highway Trust Fund. The Congressional Budget Office projects that in Federal FY-09, which starts October 2008, federal outlays will have to decline by 20% unless taxes are raised. Just to keep federal outlays at their current level would require an 8 cent per gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax.

I don’t like to end my weekly “Capitol Letter” on a negative note, but the situation is serious. Just this past week, the five major U.S. oil companies explained to Congress why they need to keep their profits so high – to continue their research and further exploration for oil. They’re reaping huge profits – at our expense. They’re getting richer and we’re only getting higher prices at the pump. Something is just not right. In Vermont our fuel tax is tied to the gallon – not the price of gas. So when we drive less – as we are doing now with the high cost of fuel — gasoline tax revenue in Vermont goes down. I am not specifically advocating a tax increase — I am just explaining why our fuel tax revenue is down and the way our tax is configured in Vermont is different from other states.

Tuesday to Friday I am in Montpelier and you may reach me at 1-800-322-5616 or kpellett@leg.state.vt.us. On weekends and Monday I am at home in Chester at 875-1372 or kathy4house@vermontel.net. Please check my website, www.kathypellett.org for previous Capitol Letters and a link to the State Legislature where you can check the status of all bills.

Well, it took awhile, but it finally happened to us. After finding out that our bank account was suddenly in the negative over the weekend, we finally figured out what happened.

In hackerz sp33k, we were pwned.

Looks like someone took out at least $1400+ dollars out of our account and bought themselves tickets on Russia’s premiere airlines, Aeroflot! Having worked in the industry for so long, I would have to be in serious trouble to fly on Aeroflot…

The bank even had trouble tracking down where the money was spent. After calling into the main office, they finally tracked down that one transaction for $1400, and other misc. transactions for smaller amounts, all went to the Russian airliner. I’m assuming that they did a number of small transactions to see if the debit card was good, and then went for the whole shebang.

What a nightmare! First, I had to cancel both our debit cards. Hopefully we should be getting new ones by the end of the week, but who knows! And who knows how long it’s going to take to get the money back into the account.

So what nefarious web site did this to us? Actually, the bank seems to think it was a grocery store! Seems that they had some breach of security a few months back. I never heard of it. What was more upsetting was that the bank didn’t seem particularly surprised, either!

Here’s looking forward to getting a new pin number, changing all the automatic transactions that we have for “convenience”, and hoping that this doesn’t happen again for awhile!

CAPITOL LETTER, Representative Kathy Pellett
Chester, Andover, Baltimore, N. Springfield

This week the House Judiciary Committee began hearing testimony on S. 357 – An Act Relating to Domestic Violence. Domestic violence is a pervasive community problem which requires a comprehensive approach by the state, the public and community providers to prevent, respond to and remedy its devastating effect. Domestic violence is consistently the leading cause of homicides in Vermont each year. This bill proposes a number of measures:
Increases the penalty for domestic assault from one year to 18 months;
Allows a court to issue a relief from abuse order when a defendant who has been convicted of domestic assault is released from prison;
Makes it a crime to interfere with access to emergency services;
Establishes the Vermont council on domestic violence.

The Committee’s first day of testimony included four witnesses – each one talking about their experience of domestic violence from a different perspective: a wife and mother who suffered years of abuse from an violent, alcoholic spouse who also sexually abused their daughters; a young woman who witnessed domestic abuse as a young child and how she terrified was of her father; a woman who was in a 20-year relationship, suffered not only physical abuse but became a convicted felon as a result of crimes committed by her husband; and finally a woman who suffered severe emotional abuse from a man who stalked her. Domestic violence is not limited to women and has no socio-economic barriers. Anyone can be affected – men as well as those in same-sex relationships.

One of the problems we heard is that in trying to get help, victims discover that domestic violence cases are not handled consistently throughout the state. While some local police departments have no policy on domestic violence or stalking, others have zero tolerance. The personal attitude of individual police officers also affects how the victim and their case is treated, and not all police are able to make a referral to a social service agency. As our committee continues with this bill, I will provide you with updates.

The House Appropriations Committee finished the Budget – better known as the “Big Bill” and the House will receive it next week. The budget is actually made up of six separate bills and all are inter-related: Appropriations Bill; Transportation Capital Bill; Health Care Bill (H. 887); The Pay Act; The Miscellaneous Tax Amendments Bill (H. 888) and the Capital Bill (S. 365).

Here are some highlights of H. 888 – Miscellaneous Tax Bill, voted on March 27 in the House:
Sets FY 2009 Education Property Tax Rates: Homestead rate @ $0.87; Non-Residential rate@ $1.36; and the Household Income Percentage @ 1.8%.
Property tax adjustments at the time of closing will be allocated to the seller.
Clarifies that property tax adjustment amounts are public.
Repeals property tax exemption for Spanish & Civil War veterans!

If you have any questions or concerns, here is how to reach me: Tuesday to Friday in Montpelier at 1-800-322-5616 or kpellett@leg.state.vt.us On weekends and Monday you can reach me in Chester at 875-1372 or kathy4house@vermontel.net. Please visit my website, www.kathypellett.org for previous Capitol Letters and a link to the Vermont State Legislature where you can check the status of all bills in the House and Senate.

Thanks to Diantha for pointing this article out. She writes,

“Chester Vt will soon be singing Vt’s hit song “I got the reappraisal blues”
(So much for affordable housing)”

I’m not sure how I feel about this. For one, as a homeowner, I along with everyone else, want to pay as little taxes as possible. Seriously, who doesn’t? However, taxes or not the rate of increase on just purchasing a home is astronomical. I don’t know what the mean price of a house is in Chester, though it shouldn’t take too much work to find out. I can’t imagine it being under $180,000 though – and even that figure boggles my mind. The first house my wife and I bought was bigger than the one we are in and came in at a whopping $22,000! (OK, it was many many years ago.)

Here is where I have mixed feelings. I do think that a fair tax should be levied on the fair value of the home. Anyone who has owned a home for any length of time knows that unless a reappraisal was recently done, your not going to pay taxes anywhere near the amount that the home is actually worth. We all know it. It’s part of the game. And if you can buy your home for $80,000, pay taxes on $50,000, and sell it 10 years later for $200,000 still paying taxes on 50, well then we feel like we won. We not only got a huge capital gain, but feel a little like we “screwed the man.”

Getting hit with a reappraisal during that time, and suddenly it’s not so fun anymore. Now your paying taxes on “approximately” what your home is worth, and that’s not cool. No one wants to do it! Sure, everyone always tells the city every time they upgrade their property, right? “Um, why yes Mr. Appraiser, that is correct! Still a cold damp unfinished basement! No family room down there, nope nope nope!”

The problem boils down to whether you think that the appraisal is a fair value or not. It’s definitely not when your living there, yet when it comes to buying and selling, it’s a lot easier to go with what the city said and not what it actually sells for! Unfortunately, if you want to live in the same household forever, well that’s when it hurts. Sometimes it hurts so bad that you wind up selling whether you wanted to or not, and that’s not cool.

So what’s the solution? There is only one.

Get involved in how it’s spent.

What you pay for taxes is going to go up whether you want it too or not. That’s just life. Everyone needs more money to live on these days, as do the workers for the city, the schools, etc. Everyone also wants the services, just doesn’t want to pay for them. (Just look at what it takes to pass a school budget!) However if you go to the town meetings, (something I’m guilty of not doing,) and making sure you vote on election day, (every time I’m proud to say,) than you won’t feel so bad when signing that check every year. It’s tough to swallow that it is the choice of a few hundred people that affect the thousands that live here, yet it happens time and time again at the polls. So few actually vote. It’s sad.

So that’s my editorial piece. I’m not going to like the appraisal and my taxes going up. I will like the fact that those that don’t spend the majority of their time here will pay a fair share, though. But it will put more money in the town coffers, and hopefully that will be put to good use benefitting us all.

And that is up to us!

This is taken from the following article.
Residents brace for reappraisal
Many properties could double in market value
By Dan Bustard, Staff Reporter
Eagle Times, March 27,2008
http://eagletimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=6638

CHESTER - A hefty increase in values awaits many property owners once Chester completes its reappraisal this spring. But don’t blame higher tax bills on the higher values.

Home visits have been completed by listers and Automated Property Assessment Services, the firm hired to help the town with its first reappraisal in 17 years.

Reviewing the data is the next step and should take four to six weeks. Then new values and a new grand list will be set in May, somewhere around twice the approximate $20 million grand list the town has now.

“You are going to see a lot of properties double,” board of listers chairwoman Wanda Purdy said.

The town is reappraising roughly 1,820 parcels.

With many residents and second home owners worried about their tax bills, Purdy said it is important to point out the amount of spending approved during town meeting will play a bigger role than higher property values this year.

“I think (any tax increase) will be based more on town meeting,” she said.

In recent years many southern Vermont towns have performed reappraisals due to the drop in their common level of appraisals, a comparison between recent property sales and assessments on their grand lists.

Chester’s common level of appraisal was below 80 percent in 2004 and sits at 56.28 percent for 2008.

The slump in real estate experienced across the country is a trend being followed closely in relation to the reappraisal. Listers have continued to post a sales board in town hall, showing property sales in the past few years, along with asking prices in local newspaper advertisements.

Sales made since the start of the year have not shown a drop in price, only more time needed to make the sales, Purdy said. Information shows New England has not seen a large drop in property values, she said, and with spring slowly starting people are beginning to look around.

“We are seeing a lot of properties changing hands again,” Purdy said.

The reappraisal is expected to hit large landowners for a simple reason.

“Land values have increased dramatically in the last three or four years,” Purdy said.

Generalizing beyond that is difficult at this point, based on the type of property and the part of town where it is, she said.

Dan Bustard can be reached at (802) 885-1707, or by e-mail at dbustard@eagletimes.com.

CAPITOL LETTER, Rep. Kathy Pellett
Chester, Andover, Baltimore, N. Springfield

Thousands of our tax dollars are spent annually on purchasing goods for the State of Vermont — bedding, safety shoes and boots, uniforms and hats are among some of the items.  H.338, a bill I co-sponsored, addresses the state’s code of conduct in relation to purchasing apparel, footwear and textiles. It will ensure that the state purchases products from businesses that do not engage in sweatshop labor or provide substandard work environments.

The Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) contract will state that vendors must certify that to the best of their knowledge their suppliers comply with all applicable wage, health, labor, environmental and safety law treaty obligations shared by the United States and the country in which the goods are manufactured or assembled. If it is discovered that a company is not in compliance with Vermont requirements, the company is contacted and may be allowed a reasonable amount of time to take corrective action or the contract can be terminated.

Vermont will be joining other states to help change sweatshops through the power of economic pressure.  As more states sign on to this type of legislation, a powerful message is sent to companies who engage in sweatshop behavior that it is time for them to change their practices.

Two major bills completed by the House Judiciary Committee this past week deal with the many changes in Vermont’s Juvenile Procedures Act (H. 615) – specifically those sections of the law that deal with delinquency and children in need of care and supervision. The objectives of H. 615 are to preserve constitutional principles of due process and family preservation consistent with a child’s safety and well being. The bill incorporates national best practices for early resolution of cases; preservation of family and family relationships important to a child; early identification and location of absent parents; standards for removing children from home are clearly delineated; recognizing kinship placement as an option for the court to consider early in the case; and addressing parent-child contact at every stage of the proceeding.

H. 635 – Child Abuse Registry deals with protecting children whose health and welfare may be adversely affected through abuse or neglect. The bill deals with ways to strengthen the family and make the home safe; reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect; assessment or investigation of reports; and provisions of services offered. Another section of the bill includes a child protection registry that balances the need to protect children and the potential employment consequences of being on a child abuse registry. Our committee has worked on both of these bills since the start of the session in January.

The House Judiciary Committee also completed H.636 – Embezzlement by a Public Official. This bill gives a court the authority to impose conditions of release that would suspend an official’s duties if necessary to protect the public.

If you have questions or concerns you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to call me. You can reach me Tuesday to Friday in Montpelier at 1-800-322-5616 or kpellett@leg.state.vt.us. On weekends and Monday, I am in Chester at 875-1372 or kathy4house@vermontel.net. Please visit my website, www.kathypellett.org, for past “Capitol Letters,” where you can link onto the State Legislature and track the status of all bills.

CAPITOL LETTER, Representative Kathy Pellett
Chester, Andover, Baltimore, N. Springfield

Everyone returned from town meeting “vacationâ€? week refreshed (at least I did) and ready to finish the bills that must be out of committees to meet the crossover deadline. This is when bills must be completed by the House in order to “crossoverâ€? to the Senate and completed Senate bills come to the House. It’s a very intense time — the stress level is high, long days spill into the evening — and finally and the bills we’ve been hearing testimony on for the past eight weeks, are ready to be voted out of our respective committees.

One of those bills, H. 636, Farm Fresh (Raw) Milk (which I sponsored along with 65 other representatives) reached crossover and will come to the full House next week for a vote. It will then go to the Senate. I have mixed feelings about the final version of the bill as passed by the House Agriculture Committee, but all the parties involved were not able agree on all aspects of the bill. The Ag Committee worked hard on this bill but the Agency of Agriculture was less cooperative. While we’re pleased with the increase in quantity of raw milk farmers are allowed to sell per day from 25 to 50 quarts, it still is clearly insufficient. And many other important aspects of the bill were not included in the final version as we were not able to reach agreement with the Agency. We consider this bill a first step and will continue our work. The bill does allow farmers to advertise (previously they were not allowed to) and they will be able to deliver milk to prepaid customers. Next session we will work to increase the quantity further. Our hope is that as demand for raw milk increases, the Agency of Agriculture to be less restrictive.

Another very important bill reaching crossover is H. 863 – Creation and Preservation of Affordable Housing and Smart Growth Development. The Natural Resources and Energy Committee worked diligently to craft legislation that strikes a careful balance between the need for more housing and respect for community values. In areas where communities want development, the bill provides tax incentives and relaxes development restrictions while adhering to the principles of smart growth and ensuring that our natural resources are not endangered.

The bill recognizes the need to provide housing for working Vermonters. As home prices and rents rise faster than Vermonter’s incomes, housing becomes out of reach for more and more people. As existing housing stock becomes unsafe, low income Vermonters lose access to housing they can afford.

Highlights of the bill: new houses and apartments for all income levels; incentives and eased state permit rules in community centers; protecting Vermont’s rural character with an Act 250 update; ensuring apartments meet basic health and safety standards; and property transfer tax reduction for some affordable home buyers. There has been a lot of misinformation published about this bill, so if you have any questions about it, please do not hesitate to call me.

If you have questions or concerns you would like to discuss, please call me. You can reach me Tuesday – Friday in Montpelier at 1-800-322-5616 or kpellett@leg.state.vt.us. On weekends and Monday, I am in Chester at 875-1372 or kathy4house@vermontel.net. The past couple of weeks, my “Capitol Letters,� have been in the Springfield section of the paper. If you missed any of my articles, you can find them all on my website www.kathypellett.org. There is also a link to the State legislature where you can check the status of bills. As soon as the Doyle Survey you completed last week when you voted is tabulated, I will report the results to you.

Capitol Letter, Representative Kathy Pellett
Chester, Andover, Baltimore, N. Springfield

This week, March 4 - 8, the legislature is on break for town meeting. We’ve been in session for about 8 weeks so far this year, and much of this time is spent in our respective committees — working on the nuts and bolts details of the bills we hope to pass this session. I am on the Judiciary Committee and we’ve been working hard on several pieces of legislation - most notably a revision of Juvenile Court Proceedings and Guardianship. We will have several more bills ready for passage after town meeting.

The town meeting break is a welcome opportunity to “come up for air,” and spend time with our families and talk at greater length with constituents about legislative priorities and how we plan to move them forward. I prepared a Town Meeting Report which I distributed at the Chester, Andover and Baltimore meetings. If you did not receive a copy, please contact me and I will be happy to send you one.

One of the bills we passed before break is an amendment to last session’s education bill. Last year (session ending June 2007), the legislature passed Act 182 - a cost-containment bill for education spending. A provision in this bill called for two votes on school budgets that exceed the previous year spending by more than 3.5% (the rate of inflation) plus 1%, and would have to be voted in two parts. This provision caused great confusion. I was not a supporter of this measure, as it would have had a negative impact on our local school budget.

The Education Committee listened to school board and administrators’ concerns about the two-vote provision and replaced it with a previous cost-containment measure passed in 2005, called a “threshold” (average statewide per pupil spending). Since passage of the “threshold” in 2005, the rate of increase in education spending has dropped steadily. The Education Committee heard from school board members and administrators that the threshold is very much in their minds as they build their budgets. It gives them a clear picture of what guidelines they need to meet; it’s predictable; and, best of all, it’s effective. Very few districts exceed the threshold, a clear indication that this mechanism works. The threshold is currently set at 125% of average per pupil spending for budgets voted in 2008 for 2009 FY; drops to 123% in FY 2010); and further lowers to 120% for FY 2012 budgets.

Another major bill passed this week will help protect many more Vermont children from exposure to lead in housing. H. 352, Reducing Lead Hazards in Housing, is vitally important to the health of our children and families. Current research confirms that there is no safe level of lead in the body. Children are extremely vulnerable to the effects of lead exposure - even small amounts can cause irreversible neurological damage such as decreases in IQ.

In Vermont, nearly 2,000 young children tested for lead have elevated blood lead levels. The majority of children tested are one and two year olds. Federal Medicaid law requires blood screening of all one and two-year olds and this bill mirrors that requirement, effective 2009. This bill?s focus is education, prevention and early intervention.

If you have questions or concerns, you may reach me in Chester this week at 875-1372 or kathy4house@vermontel.net. March 11, I will be back in Montpelier Tuesday to Friday at 1-800-322-5616 or kpellett@leg.state.vt.us. Please check my website www.kathypellett.org which has a link to the Vermont Legislature where you can check the status of all bills.