Latest News
<< Back
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
The legislature does not meet the week of Town Meeting. This gave me an opportunity to spend some time in town talking to friends and community members about the issues at hand. This break comes about mid way through the session. It is an opportune time to get caught up and re-energized for the remainder of what will be a very difficult session.
The topics discussed included: Vermont Yankee, Education and Property Taxes, the State Budget, Healthcare, Jobs and what I have accomplished this year. Some of these issues are much easier to talk about than others. I find that the most difficult question to answer is the "what have you done for us this session" question. I generally start out by saying that we have not accomplished a whole heck of a lot at this point in the session. I then go onto explain why this is the case. It is true because most of the money bills which include, the transportation, capital and appropriations or budget bill take most of the session to compile. Which usually means that we will not get a chance to review the proposals or to vote on them until late March or early April. However, we have passed several important bills that have already been signed into law such as the Military Family Bill, the Interstate Heavy Truck bill and the "E" Waste bill. These laws have the potential to help or protect many people.
Serving in the minority party makes answering some of the other questions a little bit easier. In regard to the state budget shortfall, I have a short and pointed response. The approved budget last year was unsustainable and I voted against it. I also voted against overriding the Governors veto of the budget. This override and subsequent budget was all about the flexing of political power by the super majority and not at all about what was best for Vermont or Vermonters. It now is proven that passing that budget was the wrong thing to do in the current economic climate. Creating a budget filled with one time Federal stimulus funds like the one last year has only made the problem worse. We are now faced with a $250 million dollar deficit. Further, we are slated to use another $100 million in one time federal money again this year and we still have to cut $150 million in services to balance the budget. I believe that some of this could have been avoided if we would have planned better last year.
In regard to Vermont Yankee, I feel very strongly that we should let the professionals (NRC and Public Service Board) investigate, manage and/or regulate them. The vote on Vermont Yankee by the Senate is just another case of political grandstanding. Much more research and analysis needs to be done before I would feel comfortable voting on its closure. I remain open minded on this very important issue however, should it be deemed safe and reliable I would vote to re-license the plant. If not, we should close it sooner rather than later.
Hosting friends at the Statehouse is one of the things I enjoy most about serving in the legislature. If you would like to visit the Statehouse please feel free to contact me to arrange a date and time.
As your representative, I look forward to representing you and your concerns in Montpelier. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns. I am very interested in hearing from you. During the session, I can be reached at the Statehouse by calling 1-800-322-5616 or by cell at 373-5960. My email address is dturner@leg.state.vt.us. My web-site address is www.donturnerjr.com. Thank you and have a great week.