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Vermont Governor Pushes for Public School Choice
MONTPELIER - Gov. James Douglas today will call on the General Assembly to pick up where it left off last year, admonishing the 180 returning legislators to join him "in achieving change in a new spirit of civic virtue that values cooperation over contention."
Despite the conciliatory tone he is expected to strike when he takes to the floor of the House at 2 p.m., Douglas nonetheless will propose some initiatives that will receive anything but a warm welcome from his political opponents.
The speech, Douglas' second State of the State address, is equal parts politics and posturing, and will be the governor's opening salvo in his re-election efforts.
One of the governor's biggest priorities this year will be the enactment of a public school choice program that will allow any Vermont child to attend any school in the state's nearly 260 school districts, according to administration officials.
In what the administration claims is the first time in Vermont history that a governor has taken the lead on the fight for school choice, Douglas' plan would essentially allow the annual $6,800-a-pupil block grant to follow the student from school to school.
And while his position isn't new - he's been an advocate for public school choice since taking office - his desire to expend considerable political capital in an election year is a dramatic departure from the generally cautious, measured approach he took for much of the first half of Vermont's 67th biennium.
The governor also is expected to announce new initiatives in economic development, energy policy, environmental regulation and increased funding for two key areas that have suffered "shameful neglect" for years, the Vermont State Hospital and the Department of Corrections.
He will admonish the Legislature, in _which his party holds 85 of the 180 seats, to remain above the political fray, despite a looming election in which voters will be asked to judge whether Douglas successfully delivered on his pro-jobs platform of two years ago.
"The people of Vermont will recall that this past year, the administration and the General Assembly were partners for positive change," he is expected to say, according to administration officials. "It is with great satisfaction that I stand before you and say that progress has indeed triumphed over partisanship."
He will point to job retention "in every corner of the state," an increasingly more vibrant economy and an overall lowering of the statewide property tax. He will continue a call for the Legislature to "resist the temptation to create or expand expensive government programs" and will ask for a state budget that is sustainable without the need for additional taxes.
"He's going to express his desire for continued fiscal and social responsibility," an administration official said.
For their part, Democrats are expected to give Douglas a cordial working relationship, but only to a point. Senate President Pro Tem Peter Welch, D-Windsor, will give his party's response to the State of the State speech immediately after its conclusion.
"There is plenty of room for vigorous debate and disagreement," Welch said Sunday, adding that the governor's approach to health care, the environment and energy are not vigorous or innovative enough. "When you're debating policy differences, you need to be strong but courteous, but that's not to say that we won't have substantial disagreements with the governor.
One of the disagreements is likely to be health care, Welch said.
"The glaring absence of this administration is a strong, coherent health care policy," he said. "There isn't a single bigger problem for all of our employers in this state. Health care is marred by increasing costs and diminishing access."
The governor is also likely to face opposition from Democrats on his school choice initiative, Welch said.
"Frankly, I think that's misguided," he said. "It's presenting as a solution something that really isn't one. The fundamental concern that we have is the quality of all of our schools."
Welch also said that the governor's approach on utilities and economic development are not effective, and he said that despite a pledge to look at the viability of renewable energy, Douglas' proposals will come up short.
"The approach he's taken, that lower electric rates are better than higher rates, is the same old economic development agreements that have been tried before," Welch said.
One such agreement between Green Mountain Power Corp. and IBM recently won the blessing of the state's Public Service Board, even though the accord doesn't call for any new jobs.
Despite his disagreement with some of Douglas' agenda, Welch conceded that his assessment of the state was on target.
"Vermont is in reasonably good shape," Welch said. "Whether he's right or not, when you're governor, you get credit when you don't deserve it, as well as criticism when you don't deserve it."
The governor expects to outline an agenda similar to the one during his first year.
He will ask the Legislature to expand drug enforcement efforts beyond the heroin task force established this summer, and to enable greater drug treatment.
He will seek to expand on the prescription drug reimportation efforts made in recent months in an effort to lower the cost of drugs for thousands of Vermonters.
And he will continue to push for further economic development efforts, including a second jobs bill that has more targeted tax relief for companies doing business in Vermont, as well as help for family farms.
Missing will be a big push for reform of the state's environmental permitting process, mainly because the governor believes that he and legislative leaders are close to a compromise that could make reform relatively easy to enact early in the session.
Contact Darren Allen at darren.allen@rutlandherald.com.
— Darren M. Allen
Douglas pushes for public school choice
Rutland Herald
2004-01-06
http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/News/Story/76919.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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