Monday, May 5
As we came down the homestretch of the legislative session last week, several significant pieces of legislation still needed to be finalized -- the "Big Bill" or budget, the Transportation budget, the Capital Bill and the Corrections Bill to name a few.

Also, added into the mix and being considered is the "economic stimulus package" announced by the governor last month.

Negotiations on all the bills mentioned above took place in Committees of Conference, and the differences were ironed out.

There were some areas of disagreement between the House and the Senate on the Transportation bill. The House proposed that the $3 million the governor earmarked for "Operation Smooth Ride" to fill potholes in state highways be reallocated so that $2 million would go to the towns and $1 million to the state. Some Senators preferred the governor's plan, so we need to reach an agreement on that.

The Corrections Bill was in negotiations over the reorganization of three of our prisons. A proposal was made to close the Dale women's prison in Waterbury and move those inmates, as well as the women in the Windsor prison, up to St. Albans. The men in the St. Albans prison would either

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be moved to Windsor, which would become a work camp, or they would be sent out of state.

The projected savings that would result from this move would be enough to fund the Justice Reinvestment plan, which, once implemented, is estimated to save $10 million per year for five years. The House proposed to delay the reorganization for a year, so details needed to be worked out there.

Speaker of the House Gaye Symington, and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, appointed the Economic Recovery and Opportunity Committee (EROC) to take a look at the governor's economic stimulus package.

There were questions as to why the governor chose to wait until the very last weeks in the legislative session to introduce the package. There was also concern that there may not be time to develop legislation for any worthwhile ideas that might be contained in it.

The EROC "kicked the tires" on the plan to determine what is included, and made recommendations to the House and Senate on what actions to take.

State economist Tom Kavet studied the package as well, and offered some initial thoughts. He believes that a more realistic estimate of the stimulus effect is in the neighborhood of $40 million, rather than the $214 million projected by the administration. In fact, many of the provisions included in the plan have no stimulus effect at all.

The EROC has put together a proposal of its own that focuses on short and long term goals. It included more money for workforce training, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, downtown development, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, the Vermont Housing Finance Authority for credit counseling and weatherization.

The problem we really need to solve is how to close the gap between the rising costs Vermont families are facing and their incomes that are stagnating or losing ground. Our goal was to put together a package that makes a real difference for Vermonters.

In fact, provisions in the budget already have significant initiatives to stimulate the economy and reduce costs to families.

At this point, we don't need election year gimmicks that sound good. We need good sound policy and solid ideas that will help Vermonters pay their bills, put food on their tables, and buy the fuel they need to get to work and heat their homes.

Rep. Carolyn Partridge, D-Windham, is majority leader in the Vermont House of Representatives.