THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY VOTER
Newsletter of the League of the Women Voters of the Champlain Valley
February 2007
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
Meetings alternate between noon and evenings on the second Wednesday of
each month, September through May.
Legislative Day
An opportunity to greet other LWV members, chat with your legislators, attend
committee meetings, and more!
Wednesday, Feb. 7,
9 am - 1 pm,
Vermont State House,
Montpelier
Openness in Government: Looking for Sunshine
In honor of Sunshine Week, Mike Donoghue, President of the Vermont Coalition
for Open Government, will talk about accountability and transparency in
government.
Mike is a Burlington Free Press staff writer and was one of three
journalists inducted in 2003 into "Heroes of the 50 States: The State Open
Government Hall of Fame," a joint venture between the Society of Professional
Journalists and the National Freedom of Information Coalition.
Please come to learn more about this issue and to ask your questions!
Wednesday, March 14,
Noon - 1 pm,
Pickering Room at
Fletcher Free Library,
235 College Street,
Burlington
Lake Champlain: Its Past and Its Future
Wednesday, April 11, 7 pm
Speeder & Earl's Coffee,
412 Pine St. Burlington
NOTARY APPLICATIONS ON-LINE! All notaries must reapply now, if they wish to
serve after February 10. Download the form and mail it in, along with your
$20 check to CHITTENDEN SUPERIOR COURT, 175 Main Street · P.O. Box 187 ·
Burlington, VT 05402.
TAKE NOTES AT YOUR TOWN MEETING! After your town meets on March 6, we're
eager to hear the highlights. Everyone is invited to share a 5-minute summary of
their individual Town Meeting experience at our March 14 member meeting on
Openness in Government.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT - Marge Gaskins
Hello everyone:
Our League year is well underway and going great with our new format--one
month at noon and the next an evening meeting. Our last meeting was dinner and
conversation with three of our legislators, each representing the major parties,
Republican, Democrat and Progressive.
The discussion and questions covered some of our issues, including education
funding, instant run-off voting, four-year terms for Governor and Lt.
Governor, health care and energy alternatives.
During the first year of the biennium, not much gets done, but we will be
watching and following all of these issues, plus others. In addition, there are
personal issues among us that many are interested in. The great thing about
Leaguers is that we care and we say so.
In February we have Legislative Day on the 7th. We do hope many of you can
be there and invite your legislators to join you for lunch at the Thrush
Tavern. There will also be an update that day on key issues and committees. We
will be carpooling, so let me or someone else you know of about getting together.
We can plan to take the shuttle from the station in Montpelier.
Then in March at our regular meeting we will be discussing the Right to Know
law (our "sunshine" law), what's working and what isn't. Have you read the
recent rulings in the court?
And looking ahead a bit, save the second Wednesday night in May for annual
meeting, a pot luck at Mabel Buttolph's. Bring your spouse and/or a friend for
the social and dinner, and let's talk about program and directions for next
year.
LEGISTLATIVE SESSION 2007 - Vee Gordon
The legislature has taken a couple of weeks to become acquainted with
procedures and "seminars" to help them govern more effectively. Now the bill time
begins. By the end of January, 212 bills had been introduced in the House and 69
in the Senate. Most of those have been assigned to various committees.
The League does not have much of interest going so far. I do suggest you look
at H.109, a bill to introduce an income tax. This will probably become the
first bill to be discussed in Ways and Means. There are bills dealing only with
the CLA, appraisal and reducing the number of supervisory unions. Reduction on
the number of unions will be a hot topic because of all the details
associated with such a measure (and a lot of folks think it means closing schools when
it doesn't). Testimony was heard from people who are part of Revolt and Repeal
and their arguments are good. They also offered solutions!!
Though there are bills covering renewable energy and other Educational
Quality areas, discussions are general, not specific. The same can be said for
voting bills and any involving good government. William Sorrell has updated the
Senate on the Campaign Finance lawsuit and Deb Markowitz has provided the
Government Operations committee a list of voting law changes, but work on changes has
yet to occur. We will follow and speak to any government issues. We will
testify on campaign finance. We will speak to changes in ed. funding. Hope to see
you at Legislative Day on the 5th.
NEW, IMPROVED WEB ACCESS - Here's our new, easy-to-remember web-address.e
Visit us on-line now at http://www.cvlwv.org for information on meetings, voting
and candidates.
FUNDING OUR SCHOOLS - Amy Bond
What should the Vermont legislature do to reduce school spending?
Vermont's administrative structure is cumbersome in some regions of the
state. We have tended to move toward more superintendents and separate
administrative offices. Vermont should look at each school district and supervisory unit
to find the most efficient structure. Administrative costs should be
allocated to each unit so as to fairly reflect their impact on per student costs.
The town of Essex is an example of these problems, with two K-8 administrative
offices, one supervisory district, one supervisory union, and one union high
school district. At most there should be one K-12 district and one supervisory
union.
One of the best ways of controlling school budgets is to make certain that
people who may be eligible to vote on the budget proposal are affected by the
outcome of that vote.
Residents, including renters, of each school district should pay at the
residential property tax rate. Non- residential property should pay only the state
property tax.
State education fund income must be carefully budgeted and the
non-residential property tax rate should be set each year to raise that share of the budget.
The education fund's share of school costs should include, but not be limited
to the cost of capital construction and debt service, transportation, special
education, vocational and technical education, school district equalization,
and income sensitivity. Income sensitivity must be proportional to the local
school budget and not simply a percentage of household income.
Why does our cost per student rise when we have fewer students?
Cost per student cycles depending on enrollment. When a grade level has all
of the seats filled the cost per student is at the lowest level. If the
enrollment increases or decreases, the cost per student increases. Only when we
get to the point where we can get by with one less teacher does our cost per
student decrease. If we have to add a teacher the cost per student increases
sharply. Cost per student should not be used to compare school districts.
It is important to have a fixed and logical definition of cost per student so
that state subsidies can be equalized fairly. Act 60 chose to equalize by
having the same local equalized tax rate to support the same cost per student.
However, Vermont did not have a clear definition of special education costs
at that time, so we were unable to factor out that portion of cost per student.
I believe it is now possible to redefine cost per student. Act 60 also had
a block grant which was hampered by these problems. If a block grant is to be
used it should be no more than 90% to 95% of the redefined state median cost
per student. Cost per student ought not to include those items which are the
responsibility of the state as suggested at the end of the previous question
above.
What are your questions? Mail or e-mail them to our bulletin editor Irene
Wrenner, 15 Thrush Lane, Essex Junction 05452 or imwren@aol.com.
THE ECONOMIC AND FISCAL IMPLICATIONS OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE
If our December 13th meeting got you more interested in the Economic Impact
of the Aging Vermont Population, consider attending "Vermont's Ticking Time
Bomb," a lecture by Arthur Woolf, UVM Assoc. Professor of Economics at 7:30 p.m
on Thursday, February 8 at Memorial Lounge, Waterman Building, corner of
Prospect St. and College Ave. on the UVM Campus.
SUBMIT YOUR STORY TO THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTER'S STORYBANK!
Do you have a League story to tell? There's no better way to explain the
benefits of membership to potential members than to share stories from current LWV
members -- and we want to hear yours. Submit a story now! (
http://www.lwv.org/Storybank/ )
For more information about the Storybank and how your story may be used,
click here: http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=League_Storybank&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=36&ContentID=7296, or contact
storybank@lwv.org with any questions.
To read some examples of stories already submitted, click here:
http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=League_Storybank&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=4&ContentID=7297.
SAVE A TREE! Due to the cost of postage and labor, we encourage members to
obtain this newsletter electronically. Please let the editor know if you can
make the switch from paper to (colorful) pixels. Reach her at imwren@aol.com.
Thank you!
###
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization,
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.
With more than 86 years of experience and 850 local and state affiliates,
the League is one of America's most trusted grassroots organizations.
© Copyright
League of Women Voters of Champlain Valley, Vermont. All rights reserved.
![[LWV]](images/lwv76.gif)
