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Sunday, May 13th, 2007
The end of the session has arrived and things are happening fast and furious. We spent most of the week on the floor, working late into the night on Friday, all day and late into the night Saturday debating the most important issues of the session. The session ended with an encouraging speech from the Governor, expressions of gratitude from House leadership and the final fall of the gavel at 10:45 PM Saturday night.
Most of the bills pertaining to these issues passed the House several weeks ago but, have since been modified by the Senate. The house then promptly rejected the changes and a committee of conference was appointed to try to resolve the differences. In my opinion, this is where the entire lawmaking process is most vulnerable or flawed. The six conferees can essentially do anything they want to the bill as long as the issue is relevant and they all agree. Many interesting items, pet projects and conferee district priorities or pork as it is referred, get added at this point in the process. Upon coming to terms, the committee issues a report to each body for adoption. The bills usually contain some of the most important items of the session and the only thing we can do is vote yes or no on the committee report. As a result, I have had to vote yes on bills that contained items I seriously questioned in order to pass the main objective of the bill.
I have been including weekly updates about property tax reform all session. I have had very little good news to report on this subject. However, the last two bills to pass this session will have a positive impact. These two education bills contain many provisions that will have direct impact on education cost containment and property tax reform. Initially, the taxpayers will see an additional two cent reduction in their statewide property taxes. This is some immediate tax relief and a step in the right direction. Another important provision will cap the amount of rebate or credit an individual is eligible to receive at $8000. This will curb abuse and keep more money in the education fund directly impacting statewide property taxes. The bill does not contain a cap on education spending but it does call for school budgets to be voted in a two tier fashion if a district chooses to spend over a predetermined percentage. H.526 is a comprehensive bill with many parts, some were good and some were not so good but, I choose to support this bill. It addresses much more than just the way we pay for educating our kids, our most valuable resource. My hope is that this will be the foundation for change in the Vermont educational system.
On the final bill that passed S.93, was a provision that will save the town of Milton a substantial amount of annual tax revenue for the next ten years. The problem arose last year after the town re-appraisal was conducted and new language for tax increment financing districts was adopted by the legislature. I want to personally thank Representative Mitzi Johnson for using her experience and influence to get this passed this session.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns.
I can be reached here at the Statehouse by calling 1-800-322-5616 or by my cell 373-5960; My website address is Don Turner Jr.com or e-mail me at dturner@leg.state.vt.us. Thank you and have a great week.