Mark your calendars

Feb. 8 looks to be the next big day in the health-care debate. That’s when the Shumlin Administration plans to deliver its single-payer bill to lawmakers, according to some of the governor’s advisors.

Shumlin’s legislation will finally put some teeth behind what has so far been a more academic discussion about the merits of a single-payer design.

The bill won’t have all the answers, but it will include a design for the so-called “health-care exchange” through which the single-payer system would be run.

“It will establish a multi-year plan for making that exchange as close to a single-payer as it can be,” Anya Rader Wallack said Thursday.

It’ll be hard though she said to create what she calls “real single-payer” without an exemption from federal “ERISA” rules. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act exempts self-insured companies from state insurance regulations. Rader Wallack said the administration wants to pass single-payer “architecture” this year so that it can make a better case for an ERISA exemption in Washington, D.C., later this year.

Rader Wallack and Kimbell have been busy meeting with various “stakeholders” –Statehouse-speak for people with vested interests (often financial) in proposed legislation. On Thursday, Bea Grause from the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems could be seen heading into Rader Wallack’s Pavilion office. Joel Cook, with the Vermont teachers union, was on deck for a meeting with the health-care czar.

“Depending on the group, we’re talking about the concerns highest on their list and getting input from them on areas where we think it might be helpful,” Rader Wallack said.

Consultants on Vermont Yankee call for new decommissioning study

Consultants to the Legislature on Vermont Yankee issues, Maggie and Arnie Gunderson, testified before a House committee Wednesday and called for a new study to look into the decommissioning of the nuclear plant in Vernon.

The last study was done in 2007, they told the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, and has a host of problems, including that it was performed by a company owned by Entergy, which also owns Vermont Yankee.

"Our basic recommendation is that this 2007 survey should not be used for making policy decisions about what to do about Vermont Yankee," said Arnie Gunderson, a nuclear expert who believes the plant should be shut down in 2012 when its license expires.

The Gunderson's think the cost of decommissioning could be cheaper than what is outlined in the 2007 report, which means it could be done sooner.



 

Budget link

Check out the details of the Shumlin budget proposal at http://finance.vermont.gov/state_budget/rec

Shumlin proposes increase in broadband, wireless spending

Gov. Peter Shumlin proposes increasing investments in broadband and wireless infrastructure, despite calling for budget cuts in other areas of state government on Tuesday.

Shumlin proposes spending $13 million from the capital bill for telecommunications investment, which would also help leverage $40 million in unused bonding capacity at the Vermont Telecommunications Authority. 

"These investments will expedite the build out of fiber optics lines and wireless networks across our state, including the most rural areas that for economic reasons are least likely to attract private providers," Shumlin said in his budget address.

 

 

Numbers game

Last January, Vermont was supposedly staring down at a $120 million shortfall in the fiscal-year 2012 general fund. By summer, administration officials and legislative accountants revised the number downward to $112 million. In the fall, the gap suddenly widened to $150 million. And after the latest revenue forecast earlier this month, the number was recalculated at $111 million.

Shumlin’s people though say the real shortfall in next year’s general fund amounts to $176 million. And Shumlin says lack of success with Challenges for Change is one major reason for the new number.

The fiscal-year 2012 budget had previously assumed $26 million in savings called for in the Challenges for Change legislation.

“While Challenges for Change was a well-intentioned initiative, we simply cannot budget $26 million in savings that may not be realized, and I won’t,” Shumlin said in his budget address.

Shumlin’s budget uses cuts at the Agency of Human Services – $110 million in all – to close that lion’s share of the gap. His budget also uses $12 million in labor savings, a $23 million reduction in the genera-fund transfer to the education fund, and $26 million in unexpected revenue from fiscal year 2011 to help balance the budget.

Budget=Health care, health care=budget

Peter Shumlin has long said that Vermont can’t talk about solving its budget problems without talking about health-care reform. With his budget proposal Tuesday, he has ensured those conversations will be one and the same.

Administration officials cite rapidly rising health-care costs as one of the chief reasons for the $176 million shortfall in next year’s general fund. And they say hospitals, doctors and other health-care providers will have to help close it.

Shumlin’s budget proposal uses new taxes – the administration uses the term “revenue enhancements” – on hospitals, doctors, dentists, nursing homes and private insurers to solve about $36 million of the $176 million problem.

Secretary of Human Services says the emphasis on health care in Shumlin’s budget reflects its impact on general-fund spending.

“It’s an acknowledgment that health-care costs are going up at unsustainable rates,” Racine said. “We cannot continue business as usual in health care, so yes, providers are going to be taking hit in this budget.”

Racine said the proposal will bring providers even closer to the table as the state begins a landmark debate over the merits of a single-payer health-care system.

“We hope the providers taking hits here will see where we’re headed with this, and the possibility to bring costs out of the system and reimburse providers at an acceptable rate,” Racine said. “But we need health-care reform to accomplish that.”

Shumlin on the NGA

The National Governor's Association has announced the leadership and committee assignments for the coming year, and Gov. Peter Shumlin has been named to the Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee. He'll be serving alongside Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, and Tea Party favorite Nikki Haley of South Carolina.

The NGA calls itself the "collective voice of the nation's governors" and is a powerful lobbying force on behalf of states. According to the NGA press secretary, this committee, like the other three standing committees, "develops policies and provide a forum for governors to address key issues." and "regularly provides governors and their staff members with information on legislative or regulatory actions, status reports, strategic guidance and other assistance related to federal policy activities."

Governors are in a tough position this year, with some states like Illinois considering bankruptcy as a way to solve fiscal a massive fiscal crisis. Vermont's budget gap for the next fiscal year is projected at about $140 million right now. Illinois? A structural deficit of about $13 billion.

Press Bureau staff change

As many of you know, we've been looking for reporters for our Press Bureau, after naming Pete Hirschfeld the new chief in December.

We have hired Thatcher Moats, currently the Montpelier reporter for the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, to be a Vermont Press Bureau reporter. Thatcher has been with the Times Argus since the summer of 2008, when he replaced Pete as the cops and courts and general assignment reporter for the Times Argus. He moved to the Montpelier position last spring, replacing Sue Allen.

He will be moving into his new duties this coming week, while keeping an eye on Montpelier (the city government, not the state) until we can get him replaced. And, the third position will be filled soon...

-Rob Mitchell

Leahy picks new state director

John Tracy, an aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy, has been tapped to serve as the senior senator’s new state director.

The prestigious slot opened up when Chuck Ross left the post to serve as Peter Shumlin’s secretary of agriculture. Like Ross, Tracy began his political career in the Vermont House of Representatives, where he served as leader of the Democratic caucus during the historic debate over civil unions.

Tracy, who will oversee Leahy’s Vermont staff and spearhead some of the senator’s congressional initiatives, ran for lieutenant governor in 2006 but lost in the Democratic primary to Matt Dunne.  

In a written statement, Leahy touted Tracy’s “experience and leadership skills.”

“With health reform topping agendas in both Vermont and the nation, John is perfectly suited to help advance our work in improving health care in Vermont,” Leahy said.

Tracy has spent the last five years working as a field representative for Leahy, traveling the state and helping Vermonters navigate federal programs and agencies.

A Vietnam veteran whose son just returned from a deployment to Afghanistan with the Vermont National Guard, Tracy has also been active on military issues.

“As the father of one of Vermont’s own in Afghanistan, John and his family have been touchstones for us and for others through a difficult and dangerous deployment.” Leahy said.

Want syrup with that?

After running afoul of the Agency of Agriculture’s strict marketing regulations, McDonald’s has agreed to offer pure Vermont maple syrup for the “Fruit and Maple Oatmeal” on the franchise’s breakfast menu.

Turns out MickeyD’s oatmeal isn’t flavored with “maple” at all, but the pulverized bark of a “bush remotely related to maple tree,” Gov. Peter Shumlin told reporters this morning.

The settlement applies to Vermont franchises only, though Shumlin said he intends to push McDonald’s to use some of this state’s signature agriculture product in restaurants nationwide.

It’s unclear exactly how much syrup the franchise will buy, or what sort of windfall it might bring to Vermont sugarers. Shumlin also didn’t know if customers will be charged a premium for the amber gold.

The news comes as Shumlin pushes a health-care reform bill aimed at lowering medical costs in the state. Asked if he wants Vermonters to start frequenting the Golden Arches, he said “if they have Vermont maple syrup in their product, I would certainly hope more people go there, at the expense of other fast-food restaurants.”

Besides, Shumlin said, maple syrup is good for you.

“There’s a health benefit to this,” he said. “Maple syrup is a much healthier product for Vermonters and Americans than is raw sugar. So there a lot of reasons this makes sense.”

The syrup will be available in Vermont franchises beginning Feb. 1. Shumlin said he’ll be there to partake.

“I will go to McDonald’s on Feb. 1 and have oatmeal,” Shumlin said, “if I can get an extra heaping of maple syrup.”