Shumlin expects to win primary
Brattleboro Reformer
By CHRIS GAROFOLO /Reformer Staff
Posted: 08/20/2010 03:00:00 AM EDT
Friday August 20, 2010
BRATTLEBORO — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin is making one final sweep of the Green Mountain State in his pursuit of the party’s nomination next Tuesday.
Shumlin, the outgoing Senate president from Putney, expressed excitement about his campaign earlier this week to the Reformer, crediting Windham County voters for their support during his political tenure. He is one of five Democrats vying for the party nomination on Aug. 24 to square off with Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Dubie, Vermont’s current lieutenant governor.
“We are optimistic that we’re going to win the nomination and beat Brian Dubie in November,” he said. The county has not produced a governor in about 40 years, and Shumlin said he will “never forget who brought me to the dance” when he sits in the governor’s chair.
“I made a decision early on in this race that resulted in a lesson that I learned from the voters of Windham County, who have been so good to me for so many years, and it is — stand up for what you believe in and get tough things done and the voters will stand by you.”
According to Shumlin, he has the action plan to make the infrastructure changes within Vermont to create jobs and recover faster than the other 49 states while moving away from an oil-based economy.
“I think my vision for job creation is catching fire because I have a very specific plan to get Vermont back to work,” he said.
He lays out five points as part of his campaign:
– A single-payer health care plan where coverage follows the individual and is not a requirement of the employer.
– Broadband Internet access and cellular phone service to every last mile by 2013.
“I will do for the Internet what our last governor from Putney, George Aiken, did for electricity,” he said.
– Establish a block grant for early childhood education for parents of 3- and 4-year-olds so (predominately) women do not have to make the choice between a job and affordable, quality child care, he said.
– Generate a tax structure that grows wealth and jobs.
– Retrain Vermont’s work force to do the jobs of the 21st century.
Calling himself a social liberal but fiscal conservative, Shumlin said only two of his platform programs (health care and early childhood education) will cost money during a fiscal year that is expected to have a $120 million budget shortfall.
“With health care, our challenge as a state is that we’re spending $1 million a day on health care. That’s both unsustainable and unaffordable. It is also the fastest area of growth in the state’s budget, which is also unsustainable,” he said. Shumlin pointed to a study done 12 years ago that examined the fiscal impact of a single-payer system for Vermont, and said it would save the state an estimated $110 million ($250 million in today’s money) in administration savings alone.
“I’ve never known an insurance company to make Vermonters healthier. I will get it done, and it will cost less, not more,” he added.
The second fastest growing area of the state budget is corrections, Shumlin said, and he has found a way to save $40 million annually to provide community-based care for offenders and grant money for children’s early education. In statistics he said were from appropriations at the state level, 69 percent of female and 45 percent of male offenders are nonviolent. Of those figures, 90 percent have difficulty reading and more than 90 percent have drug or alcohol addictions.
“Vermont has the distinction of locking up more nonviolent offenders per capita than any other state in the country,” he said. And putting millions toward early education will pay off tenfold in the future and break this destructive cycle, he added. “I will be the governor with the courage to provide community-based drug and alcohol consulting, mental health consulting, adult education, life skills and housing through the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and stop this madness of spending almost $40 million a year of taxpayer money incarcerating people who we’re not scared of, but mad at. I want to lock people up we’re scared of,” he said.
Democrats will choose between Shumlin and four other candidates in the statewide primary next Tuesday.
State Sens. Susan Bartlett of Hyde Park and Doug Racine of Richmond, Secretary of State Deb Markowitz of Montpelier and former state Sen. Matt Dunne of Hartland are also vying for the party’s nomination. But Shumlin points to his track record of “making things happen” in the Statehouse, such as the Legislature approving same-sex marriages in 2009 and the vote not to allow Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to continue operations once its license expires in March 2012.
“I get it done. I think people are moving to our campaign because, as the Burlington Free Press said in its endorsement — I stand above the other four in my ability to get things done and have the vision for where Vermont needs to go,” he said.
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