THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY VOTER
Newsletter of the League of the Women Voters of the Champlain Valley
December 2006
CVLWV Board, 2006 - 2007
President - Marge Gaskins, 879-0003
Vice President - Irene Wrenner (Voter Editor), 879-0011
Treasurer - Amy Bond, 879-0628
Secretary - Sue Golden, 985-9524
Director - Barbara Bowen, 985-9754
Director - Mabel Buttolph, 863-3990
Director - Jean Hopkins, 878-9326
Director - Margaret Ottinger, 985-5896
Director - Bonnie Scott (Website), 372-9512
Director - Keri Toksu (Membership), 658-0962
Calendar of Events
We sponsor meetings and events for the public and League members.
Champlain Valley LWV Monthly Meetings
We alternate between noon and evening meetings on the second Wednesday of
each month, September through May.
Economic Impact of the Aging Vermont Population
As the population ages, how does that ripple through society and the economy?
What changes can we expect in Vermont? How will the aging Vermont population
impact the cost of health care, education and property taxes? Our speaker,
Jeffrey Carr, is an economist who provides forecasting in such areas as housing
studies and forensic economics. He is also a member of the Town of Essex
select board.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 7 pm,
Speeder & Earl's Coffee,
412 Pine St.,
Burlington
Legislative Preview
Dinner meeting with elected officials. Please save the date!
The Eagles Club has plenty of parking and is handicapped accessible.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm,
The Eagles Club,
194 St. Paul St.,
Burlington
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT - Marge Gaskins
Hello everyone:
I hope you all have looked at the new website (
http://champlainvalley.vt.lwvnet.org/) and are thinking of the ways we can use it to expand the membership
and activities of the Champlain Valley LWV. I recently looked at some of our
historic reports of the League goals in the past, and using and expanding our
accomplishments promises to be exciting with this new medium.
Alternating noon and evening meetings seems to be working pretty well, but we
hope more of our membership will be able to attend them all. Winter and the
earlier sunset is difficult for many of our members who do not like driving
late, but hopefully with carpools and shorter meetings at night, most of them
will be able to attend. As for those who have problems with the noon meetings
because of jobs or other conflicts, we hope some of our night meetings are
accessible.
Our January meeting will focus on the new legislative session. We are
inviting members of the three major parties and both Houses to share their
perspectives on some of the upcoming issues with which we are concerned. These include
many issues that just don't seem to have resolutions without major overhaul,
such as funding education, health care for all and instant runoff voting. And
with this new session, the Constitution is once more open for amendment, such
as the 4-year term for Governor and Lt. Governor, a position we have held
since the 70's.
So there is plenty to work on for all of us. If you have ideas or expertise
to help us plan the year, give us a call, and be sure and attend the meeting.
FOUR-YEAR TERM FOR GOVERNOR - Vee Gordon
Did you miss it? Tuesday evening, November 28th, was the show of shows as
Madeline Kunin and Frank Bryan dueled on the issue of length-of-term for
governor.
The Snelling Center provided this forum for the former Governor and the UVM
Professor to discuss term-lengths. Moderated by the editor of the St. Albans
Messenger, Emerson Lynn, who did a superb job by the way, the two sides of the
issue were given a good airing.
Kunin cited such disadvantages of two-year terms as: arriving under the
previously-passed budget and only having one year to formulate and work with one's
own budget; the panic to get staff up and running in a very short time and
finding people willing to commit to the two years; only being able to start a
plan that could take over a year to implement and then having to start running
for office again one year after the election.
Professor Bryan believes the two-year term gives the people a chance to see
how a Governor is doing in a brief time and to get rid of him/her in a timely
fashion, if necessary. He thinks the four-year term would need a recall
provision - the ability to remove a poor performer from office before an election.
Money, money, money was also a very large topic. Today, millions are being
spent in pursuit of the Governor's office regardless whether the term is two or
four years.
Statistics were cited as to gubernatorial term-lengths in other states.
(Vermont and New Hampshire are the only states with two-year terms). Also cited
were terms for House and Senate members, which vary across the country.
There are rumblings in the State House to have four-year terms for the
constitutional officers and four-year terms for Senate and House members. The
league can only speak to the four-year term for Governor, and that is what we
will
work for in the next session.
FUNDING OUR SCHOOLS - Amy Bond
What costs do local school districts have that they cannot control?
In October we briefly mentioned the very complex issue of health insurance
costs. We pay for health care for our local school district employees through
our local property taxes. Our local, state and national taxes also pay for
health care for all governmental employees. We pay for health care for college
and university employees through increases in tuition payments. We pay for the
cost of Medicare through payroll deductions and/or deductions from our social
security income. Increased costs of goods and services help to pay for health
care for any number of productive employees in other cities, other states,
and other countries.
It is mind-boggling for the average person to appreciate the full cost of
health care. These costs should be isolated, clear, and easy to work with so
that we can find efficiencies, eliminate duplications, improve fairness and
simplify administrative processes.
Local schools need to pay for heat, electricity, and transportation, all of
which are dependent on the uncontrollable cost of oil. We need to start now to
find a way to harness nuclear fusion so that we can end the cost of eternal
storage of radioactive wastes generated by atomic energy from nuclear fission.
Since this goal will take many years of research, we also need to start now
to increase our use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and
biomass. These are issues that our state must address now.
Will it work to cap local school budgets?
It is naïve to think that a cap on local school budgets will solve these
problems. The costs of textbooks, teaching materials and teachers are all
affected by the above uncontrollable costs. Well qualified teachers are not a
plentiful commodity. If we can't find the funds to pay them, they won't be there.
We are in competition for people who have many other options for earning a
living. Shortchanging the education of the future citizens of our country is not the answer.
What are our responsibilities?
As a state we have it in our power to improve how and what we pay for health
care; to find other sources of energy; to question what we pay for "no child
left behind"; to find better answers for special education. Finding ways to be
more efficient and cost effective involves using state services when and
where they can provide assistances not available to local districts. This may
occur in areas such as transportation, special education, capital construction
and debt service, and regional vocational and technical education.
VOTER REGISTRATION: Thank you to everyone conducting voter registration
drives in recent months, including Edith Sanderson, who should have been mentioned in our last issue.
###
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encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government,
works to increase understanding of major public policy issues,
and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
Membership in the League is open to men and women citizens of all ages.
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the League is one of America's most trusted grassroots organizations.
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