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Saturday, May 8th, 2010
It has been said for several weeks now that this would be the final week of the session. As I sit here and wait for the House to reconvene for the fifth time today, I am starting to doubt that this will come to be a reality. We were on the floor at 9:30 AM for one hour and then told to return at 1PM. Upon our return we were again postponed until 2 PM and then 4 PM. At 4:30 PM a new sign was placed on the podium telling us to return at 8 PM. It is now 8:10 PM and we have finally begun to take action on a bill that deals agriculture issues. This down time is caused by the moving of legislation back and forth from the Senate and House. This is definitely a sign that the end of the session is near but, it is also very boring and frustrating for many legislators. Many of us serving in the Legislature have other jobs to get back too so, sitting around for several hours at a time doing nothing drives us crazy.
One very important bill that passed this week will help to restore the unemployment trust fund. The fund which is currently depleted requires the State of Vermont to borrow money from the federal government to meet its obligations to unemployed workers. We currently are borrowing $4.6 million dollars per week to meet these obligations. The total borrowed to date is in excess of $30 million dollars. If we had continued to borrow money and made no attempt to correct the problem, Vermont employers could have been subject to penalties and higher contribution rates in the future. The measure, which passed the House and Senate, is now awaiting Governor Douglas' signature. While the bill is not the balanced approach business groups had advocated for, failure to act would have likely increased penalties and costs for employers even more. The bill includes: Raising the taxable wage base upon which employer contributions are taxed from $10,000 to $13,000 in 2011 and $13,000 to $16,000 in 2012. The maximum weekly benefit a claimant can receive will stay at $425 per week until the fund balance is positive, projected to be in 2015. Starting in 2012, claimants will have to wait one week after they are laid off to collect benefits. A change to how benefits are calculated for workers who do not work a full year. Persons fired for misconduct will be subject to additional penalty weeks. The definition of gross misconduct is expanded to include actions that were previously considered simple misconduct. Claimants will no longer be able to receive unemployment benefits while receiving severance pay. This is another example of legislation that is not great for any of the stakeholders. However, all parties realized the importance of the bill and compromised in good faith to achieve an acceptable product.
On Thursday several members of the Milton High School Theater Company accompanied by director Paul Curtiss and John Lindsay visited us at the Statehouse. They were present to be recognized for their accomplishments at the New England Regional Drama Festival. The MHS theater company along with a group from Thetford Academy represented Vermont at the festival held in Maine a few weeks ago. I understand that there performances were excellent and that they represented our state very well at the festival. As a result, I wanted to make sure that they were recognized for there efforts by having a resolution drafted on their behalf. The resolution was read aloud and adopted on the floor of the House. As always it was a pleasure to host these very talented young people and their leadership here at the Statehouse.
One of the things I enjoy most about serving in the legislature is hosting friends and constituents here at the Statehouse. 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 e-mail address is dturner@leg.state.vt.us. My web-site address is www.donturnerjr.com. Thank you and have a great week.