Shumlin for governor

The Burlington Free Press editorial board recommends Peter Shumlin, the Democrat from Putney, for governor of Vermont. The critical characteristic is that he will get things done. Shumlin’s promise to run state government in the most open way possible is the precondition for anyone who seeks the state’s highest elected office.

Vermont continues to struggle to rise above the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. A steady hand to maintain the status quo is no longer sufficient to move this state forward — socially and economically. This state can no longer afford a governor who would see blocking legislation as the major accomplishments of his tenure.

As Senate President Pro Tempore, Peter Shumlin has displayed considerable legislative skill in bringing about results on the biggest issues, an advantage he holds over his main competitor, Republican Brian Dubie of Essex Junction.

Shumlin was a driving force in Vermont becoming the first state to grant marriage equality to gay and lesbian couples without being told to do so by the courts.

Shumlin was a legislative leader in the 2009 budget fight with Gov. Jim Douglas that led Douglas to veto the budget and the Legislature to override that veto — both a first for a state budget in Vermont.

Shumlin can claim credit for the 26-4 vote this year that led the Senate to deny Vermont Yankee a chance to seek from the Public Service Board an extension of its operating license for 20 years beyond 2012.

Regardless of whether you agree with Shumlin’s agenda, there is no denying the senator from Windham County has built a record of bold action in the Legislature.

Shumlin’s platform is equally full of bold initiatives — from his proposal to reduce Corrections costs by focusing on keeping nonviolent offenders from returning to prison, to his push for a single-payer health care system for the state.

Shumlin’s platform shows a politician unafraid of controversy in his search for solutions to challenges facing Vermont. To shy away from trying new approaches to the state’s fiscal problems is to go back to simply cutting services the state provides to Vermonters to bridge the budget gap.

Shumlin will bring his experience gained in the Senate helping to build state budgets in an environment of reduced revenues to work with the Legislature on solutions that are fair to Vermonters.

In politics, the safe route is to stick to generalities and avoid leaving a public trail that could come back to haunt a candidate. In the general election campaign, Shumlin’s willingness to speak out on contentious issues and talk about specifics of his platform leaves him open to equally specific criticism. He has been direct. Again, this is part of being open and accessible as a representative of the people.

Shumlin exposes some weakness when delving into details of some of his proposals. He stumbles to make himself understood on his Corrections plan. He reached too far in claims of cutting taxes. And people will argue about how realistic his plan is to pay for his agenda without raising taxes, especially when he will face a $110 million-plus budget gap on day one as governor.

But throughout his campaign, Shumlin has been consistent on the issues and has remained the man Vermonters have come to know during his legislative career. With Shumlin, his legislative record and his willingness to delve deep into his proposals mean Vermonters know who they are getting as their next governor.

Shumlin pledges to look out for the interest of Vermonters who need help.

Shumlin offers a nuanced approach to Vermont’s budget challenges that avoids a simple-minded policy that more resembles hacking away at spending with a dull ax.

Shumlin’s platform recognizes the importance of investing in education as a way to boost the economy and tackle our social problems.

Shumlin has pledged to run an open administration, and work to reduce the barriers to public access that permeates Vermont laws. This is the only way to run state government, and the only way elected officials can be held accountable. Openness is the most important promise to Vermonters the next governor must keep.

Vermont needs a doer.

Peter Shumlin of Putney will be that governor.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20101024/OPINION/101023016/Voice-of-the-Free-Press-Recommendation-for-Vermont-governor

By John Flowers

MIDDLEBURY — U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont’s senior senator, said if re-elected next month he will continue to work to secure a waiver for Vermont to enact more sweeping health care reforms sooner than the 2017 timeline mandated under current federal law.

“The way the law is written almost begs for some areas of experimentation, provided you still have the basic health protections that were written into it,” the Middlesex Democrat said during a recent interview at the Addison Independent.

Vermont’s small population makes it a good candidate for federal waiver consideration, Leahy added.

“If you had California coming in, then you get the question of ‘Is the tail wagging the dog?’ and it might be more difficult,” Leahy said.

Some provisions of the new federal health care law began taking effect this year. For example, starting Sept. 23, young adults were allowed to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they turn 26.

Leahy praised the new changes, though he acknowledged some states’ desire to take on more dramatic reforms than those prescribed under the law.

“I would have preferred a single-payer (system) anyway, nationwide,” Leahy said. “My guess is that’s what’s going to happen is people are going to find a lot to like about the (federal) health care bill.”

Leahy does not anticipate a groundswell of support for taking away the new health care rights now that some of those rights have taken effect.

“A lot of people are running around saying, ‘I’m running to go to Washington and repeal (the health care law),’” Leahy said. “That’s not going to happen.”

What will likely happen, according to Leahy, proponents of the health care law will come around to a willingness to consider some changes to improve its effectiveness.

“This is complex enough that in a nation of 300 million people, you are going to have to do some fine-tuning,” Leahy said. “You are going to have to have the flexibility so that if a state has a better idea, they can do it.”

Leahy cited Vermont’s Dr. Dynasaur program for needy children as an example of a state health care program that has proved itself outside of the federal government’s oversight.

“You’ve got to have some improvement to experiment, but the most important thing is: Have basic health care for everybody,” Leahy said. “We are the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn’t.”

Other topics Leahy discussed included:

• Don’t ask, don’t tell. Leahy reiterated his belief that Congress should repeal the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy with respect to gay, lesbian and bisexual people serving in the U.S. military. Congress was unable to garner enough votes to pass such a measure late this summer.

Leahy said the military, by not making its ranks open to openly homosexual citizens, is losing access to people with valuable skills — such as interpreters that could help troops fighting in the Middle East.

“Everyone who has served in the military for any period of time knows that of course they are serving with gays,” Leahy said. “Just ask (of soldiers) ‘Are they doing their job?’ If they are not doing their job, get rid of them. But not because of their sexual orientation.”

• Renewable energy. Leahy said he is concerned when he hears American entrepreneurs talk about erecting wind turbines they must now purchase from China and other big nations with which the United States is competing.

The federal government, according to Leahy, should provide economic incentives to domestic producers of renewable energy technology. He noted the federal government’s longtime subsidy of the oil industry and said it was time to divert some of those resources to renewable-energy technologies.

“We give huge tax breaks to the oil and gas industry,” Leahy said. “We even give it for the production of ethanol. Why don’t we do more for the development of wind, solar and various types of methane — whether it is at a landfill or a manure pond.”

Reporter John Flowers is at johnf@addisonindependent.com.

http://www.addisonindependent.com/201010leahy-tries-secure-health-care-waiver

BURLINGTON – The Democratic candidate for governor, Peter Shumlin, reiterated his promise to deliver a single-payer system to Vermont and said campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry have unduly influenced his Republican opponent’s stance on health-care issues.

Brian Dubie’s allegiance to health insurers and the pharmaceutical industry, Shumlin said at a press conference Tuesday, would stymie the kind of reform needed to decrease skyrocketing health-care expenses.

Since Dubie assumed public office in 2002, according to Shumlin, he has accepted more than $10,000 in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry.

“I will not and have not taken money from the pharmaceutical industry to fund this campaign, because we know what happens when politicians do – change does not happen,” Shumlin said. “I know that the person who I’m running against has accepted over $10,000 in public life from the pharmaceutical industry. I know given a choice of myself or Brian, they would choose Brian.”

The Dubie campaign said Shumlin has also accepted special-interest contributions, despite his claims to the contrary. Dubie campaign manager Corry Bliss said financial disclosures reveal contributions from groups lobbying for, among other things, the legalization of marijuana, right-to-die legislation and increased public investments in the renewable energy sector.

“We’ve heard Peter Shumlin claim twice in the last 48 hours that he doesn’t take special-interest money,” Bliss said in a statement. “Like most things with Peter Shumlin, the records prove he is not being honest.”

Bliss said Shumlin is also being “dishonest” about his plans to deliver a single-payer health-care system. Federal legislation passed earlier this year expressly prohibits states from adopting single-payer systems before 2017. Shumlin said Tuesday he’ll ensure Vermont makes the transition by the end of 2014.

“Peter Shumlin can talk up his plan for health care all he wants, but that does not make it more true,” Bliss said. “It’s all smoke aimed at covering up the fact that pursuing a single-payer system before 2017 would violate federal law, and there is no evidence that any of the promises Peter Shumlin is making have any basis in reality.”

Shumlin, who picked up an endorsement from the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals on Tuesday, said he’ll work with Vermont’s congressional delegation to secure the federal waivers Vermont needs to enact a single-payer system.

A supportive delegation, combined with the good graces of President Barack Obama, Shumlin said, will compel the federal government to look favorably on Vermont’s request.

“I am convinced that with a Democratic governor that got on board with President Obama long before it was fashionable, and best congressional delegation in country, I’m confident we’ll have the qualities to get the waivers we need,” Shumlin said. The senior member of that delegation, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, has accepted significantly more than Dubie from pharmaceutical companies.

Between 2005 and 2010, according to the website opensecrets.org, Leahy accepted more than $72,000 from individuals or political-action committees representing the pharmaceutical and health-products industries. The contributions include $15,000 from Mylan, Inc.; $10,000 from Amgen, Inc.; $10,000 from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and $9,000 from Pfizer.

Leahy’s campaign manager, Carolyn Dwyer, said the contributions have not influenced his stance on health-care reform.

“Sen. Leahy has worked with pharmaceutical companies and many other companies like IBM on patent reform and intellectual-property rights. Brian Dubie needs to explain the nature of his relationship with pharmaceutical companies,” Dwyer said. “The larger issue is who has worked to improve access to and delivery of health care. Peter Shumlin and Sen. Leahy are strong supporters of health-care reform, including single payer. Brian Dubie is not.”

Shumlin said the single-payer model will eliminate profit motives and lower administrative costs, two factors he blames for driving up insurance costs on businesses and families.

Shumlin’s health-care plan is also the centerpiece of his economic-development platform.

“I think that whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat … you understand that the rising costs of health care in America and Vermont will bankrupt our small businesses and bankrupt our families,” Shumlin said.

A single-payer model, Shumlin said, will be especially alluring to businesses struggling to keep pace with the rising cost of employee benefits. When Vermont adopts single-payer system, Shumlin said, “businesses will be asking one question – how fast can we get to Vermont?”

Shumlin said containing health-care costs will take time. His plan, he said, will offer no savings in the fiscal year 2012 budget.

peter.hirschfeld@timesargus.com

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100929/NEWS02/709299895/1003/NEWS02

Peter Shumlin is pushing for a single-payer health care system.

The Democratic candidate for governor of Vermont says the current health care system is broken. Vermont spends $1 million a day on health care.

Shumlin says a single-payer system would better control costs. He also wants to use technology more to reduce administrative waste.

But to pass single-payer– the state would need a special waiver from the federal government. Shumlin says he’s confident Vermont would get the waiver and says implementing single-payer would take about four years. So he’s not counting on immediate savings.

“I’m not going to judge what we can get done when I think we’re being overly pessimistic on the time frame and I would not bank any savings on the budget for this first year,” Shumlin said.

Republican candidate Brian Dubie’s campaign says it does not think the federal government will grant a waiver, and instead supports reducing health care costs through prevention and better management of chronic diseases.

Bianca Slota – WCAX News

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=13232851

Tuesday, 09/28/10 5:50pm and Wednesday, 09/29/10 6:34am

Bob Kinzel – Montpelier, Vt.

(Host) Peter Shumlin and Brian Dubie have very different visions for how Vermont can control health care costs.

As VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports, the contrast underscores their differing view on the role of government.

(Kinzel) In the past decade, health care costs in Vermont have more than doubled. It’s a situation that has had a big impact on individuals, businesses, schools and municipalities.

Democrat Peter Shumlin wants Vermont to adopt a single payer health care system – a system where a person’s health care coverage is no longer dependent on their place of employment.

Shumlin argues that the time has come to make major reforms because the current growth rate is out of control.

(Shumlin) “It’s not sustainable so we must find a way to contain costs while still delivering quality care. I believe you get that savings through getting the insurance company profits out of the picture, reimbursing providers based on healthy outcomes instead of the number of tests they run through and getting the 12 to 14 cents on the dollar that we’re spending chasing money around out of the system. There are huge savings there.”

(Kinzel) Under the new federal health care law, individual states can apply for a waiver to implement a single payer system beginning in 2017 – although Vermont’s Congressional delegation believes it can happen by 2014.

Republican Brian Dubie doesn’t support the single payer approach and he says the waiver timetable is a problem.

(Dubie) “I’m a realist – the law says, I don’t say…the federal law says that we’ll entertain no waivers until 2017. That’s what the law says, I’ve read it.”

(Kinzel) Shumlin says Vermont has been able to get special health care waivers in the past and he says there’s no reason why it can’t happen in the future.

(Shumlin) “As Governor, we’re going to write and design the bill together with the health care community, business community and others. We’re going to pass it, we’re going to go to Washington…to appeal to the President of the United States to get us the waiver as quickly as possible. You don’t get anything done in government by saying there are obstacles in our way.”

(Kinzel) Dubie has his own plan to control health care costs. He wants to standardize insurance forms, accelerate the use of a computerized medical records system and expand Vermont’s Blueprint for Health chronic care initiative.

(Dubie) “That’s not a wild idea but it could save money some people say significant money. We could also reform medical malpractice reform. Vermont has frivolous lawsuits from taking to the Vermont Medical Society this would be an area that could help bring down costs. There’s another idea – incentives for wellness, you know I’m open minded about people, for people to watch their weight and to stop smoking.”

(Kinzel) Dubie and Shumlin do agree on one key issue. Both believe it’s critical to move away from the current fee for service system and replace it with a financing plan that’s based on quality outcomes for patients.

For VPR News, I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/88877/

Editor’s note: Dr. Deb Richter practices medicine in Cambridge, Vt.

Is this our last best chance to get single payer in Vermont? If it is, then look upon it as a political and health policy emergency.

Outside my hours as a physician, I’ve worked for 20 years on health care reform. In all that time I’ve never seen better conditions for real and sensible reform than right now here in Vermont.

The conditions won’t last long. In my view it is now or almost never. Our window of opportunity is not even a year’s time. More like 10 months.

By 2010 the window will have started closing. That’s when important provisions of the federal health reform kick in. By 2014 the window will be all but shut. It will stay shut until at least 2017.

The federal bill does some good things for Vermont. But the rest of the good provisions will only bring the rest of the nation up to Vermont’s standards. The bad stuff is what the federal bill doesn’t do: it doesn’t have any way to manage or control health care costs and it does not do enough to help many of those struggling to pay for their health care.

Since rising health care costs is Vermont’s biggest problem now, the federal bill isn’t going to help us much.

What it will do in less than a few years is end Vermont’s opportunity to call its own shots at controlling and managing out-of-control health care costs.

There is a way, though, and that brings us back to the conditions that might allow real reform. The first condition is, of course, broad based public support for a publicly funded system that creates universal access and controls costs. In Vermont, this condition has already been met. But there are three more conditions that must be met to allow for real reform.

These conditions are wrapped up in Senator Bernie Sanders, Dr. William Hsiao and Peter Shumlin.

Let’s take a closer look starting with this. Five years ago we had a process bill that would have led to the design of a fiscally responsible health care system when the legislature passed a single payer health care bill. Gov. James Douglas vetoed it. As a result we veered down the side road of incremental (think tiny) changes. Costs have risen more than $1.5 billion since then ($2600/Vermonter).

Fiscally responsible means there is some kind of sensible management of overall costs and fairness in the way we pay for health care. And system means all the health care facilities are tied together and coordinated to the benefit of everyone.

The 2005 bill, a fatality of politics not policy, might have eventuated in a single-payer system. Single payer health care systems are proven to be the most cost-efficient.

This year legislation was passed that asks next year’s legislature to consider one of three systems currently under design, one of them being single payer.

Sen. Sanders favors single payer and has worked for years on the issue. Dr. Hsiao has stated that in order to cover everyone for less money, you need a single-payer system. And Peter Shumlin has never wavered in his support for single payer.

Dr. Hsiao is well known to everyone in the health care policy field. He is a world renowned health economist from Harvard who designed Taiwan’s spectacularly successful health care system in the 1990s.

Peter Shumlin is known to some Vermonters as president pro tem of our Senate but to most Vermonters for having faced down strong opposition to same-sex marriage and for taking down Vermont Yankee’s corporate powers for publicly lying to the Vermont public.

Why is this important?

Shumlin is a candidate for governor in the Democratic primary (Aug. 24 this year). He has been unequivocal in his support for a single-payer health care system. Sen. Sanders has been unequivocal in his support and has said he will go right to President Obama to get any necessary federal waivers. Dr. Hsiao is the man designing the three systems (emphasis on systems) for next year’s legislators to consider. His wide knowledge, practical experience and gentle sophistication is just what the doctor ordered for our legislature.

Hsiao is at work as we write. Sen. Sanders has pledged his part. That leaves
the governor’s chair. As we learned five years ago, you can have the right legislation but you need the right governor.

There are a lot of reasons for electing someone governor. Reasons that applied two years ago, six years ago, ten years ago may not apply today. Fiscal reform of Vermont’s health care will have the single most beneficial impact on our economy. That’s big. It demands someone smart and tough. Peter Shumlin is smart and tough.

He was smart to seize on Dr. Hsiao’s expertise and to introduce him to our legislature. He took on same-sex marriage, a tough issue, and Vermont Yankee’s shutting down on schedule, a tough issue. He navigated both and won.

After 20 years of disappointment I can’t help but think this is our best chance to do the right thing. Shumlin, Hsiao and Sanders make the best combination anyone could hope for to get the right thing done. We don’t have much time. We can’t wait.

This Op Ed was posted on vtdigger.com: http://vtdigger.org/2010/08/12/richter-single-payers-last-chance/

MONTPELIER — With Vermont health care costs
expected to rise by $1 billion during the next two
years, all five Democrats running for governor
say this issue is high on their list of things to
tackle as governor.

The candidates admit they sound an awful lot
alike on the issue. The phrase “quality,
affordable health care for all” reverberates as if
they’re in an echo chamber. They all put a lot of
weight on a pending report the Legislature
commissioned about how to solve the problem.

Burrow down, though, and voters will find
differences among the Democratic candidates,
and much greater differences between them and
the Republican that the winner of their primary
will face in November.

Democrats all say they would push the federal
government to offer coverage to more
Vermonters and to control costs. Meanwhile,
Republican Brian Dubie of Essex contends the s
tate’s hands are tied until 2017 by recently
passed federal legislation, and candidates who
say otherwise are being unrealistic.

“The best thing I would do is work to leverage
the federal law,” Dubie said, citing a requirement
for states to establish health insurance
exchanges by 2014 that would allow consumers
to shop for health insurance as one place he
would focus his energy. “I’m realistic. I’m going
to focus on where I can make a difference.”

Democratic candidate Matt Dunne of Hartland,
in a view echoed by his fellow Democratic
candidates, said the next governor can’t afford
not to pursue health-care reform, even if the
federal government has said it won’t grant
permission — in the form of waivers — for states
to experiment.

Read the entire article here: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100725/NEWS03/100724013/Health-care-and-the-governor-s-race#ixzz0uhC92fQ0

By Daniel Barlow
Vermont Press Bureau – Published: July 20, 2010

MONTPELIER – More than 60 House members and 12 senators received perfect 100 percent rankings on the first legislative scorecard issued by the organization Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.

The progressive business organization, which has more than 1200 members, ranked lawmakers on seven key legislative votes, such as Vermont Yankee’s relicensing, the establishment of same-sex marriage, health care reform and the fix for the state’s unemployment fund.

The scoring on those votes indicated strong support for the business group’s agenda at the Statehouse, with 62 House members receiving 100 percent rankings, meaning those lawmakers voted with VBSR on all the main issues the group identified.

Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, was one of the 12 senators to have a perfect record with VBSR. She said she doesn’t consider rankings such as these when casting her votes, but she appreciates the support afterwards.

“I’m proud to have 100 percent ranking,” Cummings said. “It’s always a bit of a surprise. I vote my conscience. But Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility have been a very positive and proactive organization at the Statehouse.”

Will Patten, the executive director of VBSR, said the organization will do these scorecards every two years now for each Legislative biennium. Starting the scorecard was in response to member businesses that wanted to see how local lawmakers were voting on business issues the company’s cared about, he said.

“I think there are a lot of couragous legislators who are pro-business, but don’t neccesarily get acknowledged for that,” he said. “It’s worth pointing out their longterm support for businesses in Vermont.”

VBSR’s ranking is a lot different than the scorecards put out by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the other major business group in the state.

That organizations 2009-2010 rankings have not yet been released, but in its 2007-2008 rankings, for example, the Chamber gave Cummings a 50 percent score. Lawmakers with high scorings for the Chamber tend to be Republican; high scores for VBSR tend to be Democrats or Progressives.

Rep. Pat McDonald, R-Berlin, had a VBSR scoring of 17 percent – one of the lowest in Washington County, where she lives.

McDonald, who is retiring from the Legislature this year, said votes at the Statehouse on key issues are not always as cut and dried as the scorecards make them out to be. For example, she said she voted against S.88 – the health care reform bill – after the House added in new provisions.

“Small businesses are the backbone of Vermont and the votes I took supported small businesses in the state,” she said.

The VBSR scorecard ranked several lawmakers seeking higher office this year.

Senate President Peter Shumlin of Windham County and Sen. Doug Racine of Chittenden County got 100 percent rankings and Sen. Susan Bartlett of Lamoille County got 83 percent. All three are Democratic candidates for governor in the Aug. 24 primary.

Sen. Ed Flanagan, D-Chittenden, a candidate for state auditor, scored 83 percent. Sen. Phil Scott, R-Washington, a candidate for lietenant governor, scored 33 percent. Rep. Steve Howard, D-Rutland, also a lieutenant governor candidate, scored 83 percent.

Rep. Chris Bray, D-New Haven, a candidate for secretary of state, had an 83 percent score.

Full Article: http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100720/NEWS02/707209909/1003/NEWS02

Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com

The professionals spoke of how they see, firsthand, the dysfunction of our current health care system and   how desperately we need change.  The group of Doctors and Nurses stated clearly that Peter Shumlin is the candidate best suited to address the system’s problems.

“We are appalled at the excessive profits earned by the insurance companies and the drug makers, said Dr. Deb Richter.  “Peter Shumlin is the candidate for Governor who is best suited to address these problems.  He is the only candidate who has shown unwavering support for a publicly financed universal health care system in Vermont.”

“While other candidates have spoken of the need for change, Peter Shumlin has gone further,” said Dr. Marvin Malek.  “He has repeatedly pledged himself to the task of enacting a state single payer system.”

The health care professionals spoke of their support for Peter due to his record of getting tough things done.

“Peter Shumlin has proven that he is not afraid of taking political risks in the interests of furthering the public good,” said Dr. Sue Deppe.  “He is the person we need at the top of the executive branch if we are to enact meaningful health care reform.”

The following health care professionals endorsed Peter:

Deborah Richter, MD (family physician)

Jack Mayer, MD  (pediatrician)

Bill Eichner, MD (ophthalmologist)

Bruce Talmadge, MD (retired internist)

Peggy Carey, MD (family Physician)

Alice Silverman, MD (psychiatrist)

Marvin Malek, MD (internist)

Sue Deppe, MD (psychiatrist)

Adam Sorscher, MD (family physician)

Joseph Lasek, MD (psychiatrist)

Dorothy Malone Rising, NP

Patricia Towle, NP

Augusta Wilson, RN

Maggie Newton, MD  retired internist)

Paul Bertocci, MD (family physician)

Richard Norman, MD (family physician)

Laura Norris, MD  (family physician)

Jim Greenleaf, APRN

Ellen Chrisman, NP

Alma Mueller, NP

Suzie Lynn, LPN

John Gundy, MD  (Pediatrician)

Richard Kast, MD (psychiatrist)

By Terri Hallenbeck, Free Press Political Reporter

7 July 2010

PUTNEY — Down a winding dirt road on the outskirts of Putney is the business Peter Shumlin’s parents started that he now runs with his brother. Over the ridge is the dairy farm Shumlin bought and turned back over to the farmer to run. Nearby are acres of trees Shumlin owns where a friend runs a sawmill. In the center of town are several buildings filled with commerce — a restaurant, offices, apartments — that Shumlin owns and has had renovated.

Just a few square miles offer evidence that the 53-year-old Shumlin has his hand in just about everything. One hundred miles up the highway in Montpelier, where Shumlin serves as Senate leader, legislative colleagues say it is the same with the state’s business.

“It’s amazing the subjects that man is aware of in any given day at the Statehouse,” said fellow state Sen. Richard Mazza, D-Grand Isle/Chittenden. “The guy just never stops.”

Shumlin showed drive for immersing himself in local issues early on. He was 24 years old — back home after college to work in the family business, Putney Student Travel — when he won election to the Putney Selectboard. He helped his hometown win a fight against a new federal prison being built on the defunct Windham College campus. Instead, Shumlin helped lure Landmark College to the site, where it remains today.

John Leader, who was chairman of the Putney Selectboard when Shumlin joined the board 30 years ago, remembers that even at the age of 24 he had a way of making things happen. “Peter was fairly dynamic in his approach to problems. He was not afraid to use his connections and he had quite a few,” said Leader, who runs the Pepsi distributorship in Brattleboro.

Friends and adversaries alike say Shumlin has the intelligence for grasping issues, savvy for knowing when to act and a charm for getting his way — all of which means he gets things done even as he sometimes generates friction along the way.

Local economy

Shumlin is equally at home whether at the Statehouse, where he is typically dressed in a sharp-fitting suit, or back home in Putney dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. He appears to be a man at home anywhere, as long as he is in the middle of the action.

In laid-back Putney, the action is Shumlin’s involvement in a broad cross-section of enterprises. Each one, Shumlin said, brings home the importance of local control and a local economy.

As he walked through the barn of the dairy farm he bought, Shumlin said he decided it would be better to invest his money here and support the local agricultural economy than in the stock market. Being involved with the farm has helped him learn more about milk pricing and the challenges farmers face, he said. The milk there is sold to a cheesemaker down the road, which pays better than the traditional milk market.

Over the hill and up a rutty logging road, a friend runs a sawmill on land Shumlin owns. On another part of the property, a sawmill employee plans to start a CSA — a community-supported agriculture farm – selling locally grown food to local residents.

Family business

If Shumlin has a lot of irons in the fire, he appears to have learned it from his parents, George and Kitty Shumlin, retired teachers who started Putney Student Travel 59 years ago and turned it over to their sons 20 years ago.

In the renovated barn where the business operates, employees jokingly thanked Shumlin for stopping by one recent day. Between the January-May legislative session and his campaign for governor, Shumlin doesn’t spend a lot of time here. His brother, Jeff, runs the day-to-day business of sending students on foreign trips from Australia to Uganda for language, cross-cultural and community-service experiences. The company three years ago began a partnership with National Geographic for a series of programs.

Jeff Shumlin, who is nearly four years younger than his brother, said the two of them have become accustomed to their roles. “I’m more of a behind-the-scenes detail guy,” Jeff Shumlin said. “Peter is really a visionary, a creative thinker. We’re a good team that way.”

Last year, the business helped Shumlin earn an annual income of nearly $1 million, making him the wealthiest candidate in the race. Shumlin reluctantly revealed his income in April after the other gubernatorial candidates released their tax records. Once he did, he defended it as the mark of somebody who understands business.

Born for politics

While business brings home the money, politics has long been in Shumlin’s blood, his brother said, describing a young Peter sitting in his closet listening to Martin Luther King Jr. speeches on reel-to-reel tape. He was in the closet, Jeff Shumlin said, because the rest of the family was so sick of hearing the tape. Shumlin said he still occasionally listens to the speeches in his car.

His interest in King’s speaking ability might have been driven by his own learning disability. Shumlin struggled as a child to learn to read and spell and was eventually diagnosed with mild dyslexia. Shumlin said he believes he compensated for his difficulty reading with his speaking ability. “I had to be the guy who was fastest with my tongue,“ he said. “I had to be funny, engaging, witty and irreverent to survive those spelling bees and still have my peers know I was OK.”

It has paid off for him in politics. He is known around the Statehouse as being quick with a sound bite, the envy of more tongue-tied legislators.

Shumlin entered state politics after seven years on the Putney Selectboard. In 1990, he was appointed to a seat in the House by Gov. Madeleine Kunin. He moved to the Senate in 1993, became minority leader in his second term, and was elected president pro tempore the next term after Democrats gained the majority. He lost a three-way race for lieutenant governor in 2002 to Republican Brian Dubie, the man he hopes to face in November’s election. After a four-year hiatus, Shumlin returned to the Senate in 2007, and his colleagues elected him president pro tempore again.

Doing battle

President pro tempore was a job Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor, very much wanted that year, after serving as majority leader under Peter Welch, who left the Senate to run for Congress. Campbell and Shumlin duked it out in a close race by secret ballot in a Democratic caucus meeting before the Legislature convened. When Campbell lost the higher position, he said he had no interest in returning to majority leader. Within weeks, Shumlin had lured Campbell back, promising him a key role in policy decisions. Shumlin stayed true to his word, Campbell said. “He and I were political adversaries,” Campbell said, “but I had no problem staying with him. He puts that aside.”

That is a recurring attribute for Shumlin: He does battle, sometimes there are hard feelings, but he has an uncanny knack for winning forgiveness.

“People stick with me because I think they know I’m going to get at least some of the results I promise,” Shumlin said.

Mazza, a 25-year veteran of the Senate, was angry that Shumlin pushed for a Senate vote in February against the continued operation of Vermont Yankee just as the nuclear power plant was mired in a public relations nightmare. Mazza was among a number of senators who thought Shumlin was unfairly taking advantage of Yankee’s troubles to defeat the plant instead of waiting for the results of an investigation into a tritium leak.

“My feeling was we were jumping the gun,” Mazza said recently. “I would not have handled it that way.”

Shumlin held the vote anyway. Mazza was among the few who voted for Vermont Yankee, but he quickly shrugged off his discontent with Shumlin. “I’ve been angry with him many times. The following day, it’s over,” Mazza said.

Months later, Mazza even defended the Yankee vote, saying Shumlin knew more about the issue than he did. Though Mazza said he is not endorsing any candidate for governor, he speaks highly of Shumlin, more than any of the other candidates. “He has a great ability to lead,” he said.

Beth Robinson, who led the fight for same-sex marriage through the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, said Shumlin’s willingness to vote on that issue showed both his savvy at reading the tea leaves and his power of persuasion in getting others to follow.

In 2009, many legislators who supported same-sex marriage said it wasn’t the right time to take on the issue, Robinson said. “It took a lot of vision to get outside the conventional wisdom that prevailed — that this was too scary to do even though it’s the right thing to do,” she said. “Peter had the vision where others did not to see where Vermonters really were.”

Then, she said, Shumlin persuaded reluctant lawmakers that they would not face the backlash they did with the passage of civil unions in 2000. “That’s where I think Peter was a game-changer,” Robinson said.

Not everyone’s a fan

While supporters see him as a man who makes things happen, critics question the way he gets there. Polls suggest that Vermonters have picked up on that. In a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, Shumlin had a higher percentage of people viewing him very unfavorably than did the other candidates.

“There’s a number of things he’s said from time to time,” said Sen. Randy Brock, R-Franklin, noting that Shumlin told a television talk show host that Germany drew 30 percent of its power from solar when it actually produced 1 percent. “That makes me scratch my head,” Brock said.

Brock pointed to another instance. At the beginning of the last legislative session, Shumlin had a vacancy on the Senate Finance Committee to fill after the resignation of the only Republican on the committee that would do the bulk of the work on Vermont Yankee. Shumlin passed over Brock, a first-term senator who had served as state auditor and executive vice president of Fidelity Investments and loaded the committee with seven Democrats. “It certainly had the appearance of being disingenuous,” Brock said.

Shumlin said he draws criticism because he’s willing to make tough decisions, something that would serve him well as governor. “Tough decisions make both friends and enemies. I’ll take on things other politicians won’t,” he said. “You can’t have good government if you are not a good politician. Bad politicians don’t annoy people because they don’t do anything.”
Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100707/NEWS03/100706006/-1/TOPICS0206/Peter-Shumlin-is-at-home-in-the-middle-of-the-action#ixzz0t86cbihK