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

“Peter has the leadership skills, business experience and vision to get our economy moving again and put Vermonters back to work,” said Senator John Campbell.  “Time and time again I have watched Peter take on tough issues and bring people together to win. Whether it is taking on the prescription drug companies to lower prices for Vermonters or challenging Entergy Louisiana to tell the truth about our aging nuclear power plant, Peter takes on the tough battles with tenacity.”

In addition to Senator Campbell, Representative Mark Mitchell and former legislators, Cheryl Rivers and Ann Seibert stood in support of Peter.

“Peter is a real leader,” said former Senator Cheryl Rivers.  “There is no one in politics that I would rather go into a difficult situation with than Peter.  In these times, we need a strong leader who is not afraid to take bold action and that is Peter Shumlin.”

“Yes, Peter Shumlin gets tough things done,” said Representative Mark Mitchell.  “But I am also supporting Peter because he has compassion, a quality that I believe is critical in a leader.”

The leaders all spoke of Peter’s ability to not only get Vermonters back to work but to be the candidate who can beat Brian Dubie in November.

“All of the candidates in the Democratic Primary for Governor are good people,” said former legislator Ann Seibert.  “But Peter Shumlin is the only one with the skills, experience and vision to win in November.”

This week’s question for the major party candidates running for governor has to do with the social services safety net. As the recession forces Montpelier to cut spending, the budgeteers are faced with this  conundrum: People need help from the government most precisely when tax revenues fall and government has less money to spend. Read this week’s complete package here.

First up is Democrat Peter Shumlin.

After the series of budget cuts, does the state have an adequate social service safety net to meet the needs of Vermonters?

State government has been operating on an unsustainable track. As a Vermonter, I understand the importance of taking care of one another’s neighbor. But we must have the resources to do so. At a time when Vermont’s most vulnerable have needed services more then ever, the Douglas/Dubie administration has cut them to the bone. At the same time, Vermonters have hit their tax capacity. We cannot rely on higher taxes to provide the necessary social services. It is time for state government to reorganize our priorities.

As governor, I will focus on reducing costs in the top two areas of our budget’s growth — health care and corrections. By reducing the skyrocketing costs in both of these sectors we can lower costs for Vermonters and reinvest a portion of the savings into services.

Health care costs are consuming more and more of our economy. In the next two years, the cost of health care in Vermont is estimated in increase by $1 billion. That translates into a $7,000 annual increase for the average Vermont family of four. These costs are crippling our economy, hampering business growth, driving up property taxes and bankrupting too many Vermonters. As governor, I will bring these costs under control by implementing a single payer health care system. Such a system will get the private insurers out of the way, reward doctors for making people better, not ordering more tests and eliminate the millions of dollars spent on chasing money around.

The second largest area of growth in the state’s budget is our corrections system. We are spending $138 million a year on locking up Vermonters. We have the sad distinction of locking up more non-violent offenders than any other state — often locking up people for offenses like writing bad checks or for the crime of having no other place to go (on any given day, Vermont locks up 150 people for the lack of an appropriate place to live). As governor I will work with community providers to integrate these non-violent offenders back into society. Doing so will save the state $40 million a year. These savings will be reinvested into mental health and substance abuse, transitional housing and early childhood education to prevent future generations from such a fate.

Reorganizing our priorities will not be easy. I ask that you therefore look not only at my rhetoric but at my record. I am the only candidate who sponsored a single-payer health care bill. I worked with other Senate and House leaders to launch the Justice Reinvestment program — an initiative that has begun the process of moving our non-violent offenders into society and reinvesting the savings into services. I have a record of getting tough things done and as governor will ensure that Vermonter’s tax dollars reflect our values and are being invested as wisely and as efficiently as possible.

In a break from their union brothers and sisters, the Teamsters Local 597 — a 1,000-member union headquartered in Barre — endorsed Senate President Peter Shumlin in the Democratic primary for governor.

Three of the state’s largest labor unions are backing Sen. Doug Racine (D-Chittenden).

At a midday press conference in front of Champlain Cable in Colchester, Teamsters Principal Officer and Treasurer Ron Rabideau said the union chose Shumlin because the senate leader had been a true friend to labor groups throughout his career.

“Over the years I have personally appreciated Peter Shumlin’s leadership as he is a straight-forward politician. With Peter, you always know where you stand,” said Rabideau of the Windham County Democrat.

The Teamsters met with Shumlin about a month ago to talk about an endorsement. Rabideau said Shumlin’s support for a variety of labor issues — from worker misclassification to state-focused version of the so-called employee free choice act — were crucial to their members.

“I welcome this endorsement,” said Shumlin. “I am the only candidate in this race who has both business experience and as a leader for 10 years in the senate with a track record of getting tough things done.”

This past session, Rabideau noted, Shumlin helped shine a light on the fact that the administration of Gov. Jim Douglas didn’t want to sign onto a public “project labor agreement” as part of the Champlain Bridge reconstruction. The PLA gives preferential hiring to local, union workers and the unions estimated it would save taxpayers almost $3 million by helping to keep the project on schedule.

“He called for public hearings on the issue and even though we didn’t get the PLA, it did get people’s attention and put enough public pressure on the issue that we’ve recently signed a private PLA with the construction firm,” said Rabideau.

A private PLA means any of the savings realized from the contract will flow to the contractor’s bottom line, not to the taxpayers. But, it does mean that if the contractor — Flatiron Construction out of Lafayette, CO — has to hire skilled labor they must do so through one of the local unions, said Rabideau.

That said, the local workers who do get hired over the next 18 months will earn high wages and received top-notch benefits — and that money will stay local. The firm will not have to import much skilled labor.

“People have this impression that politicians at the statehouse are working for the ‘big labor bosses’, but there are lots of issues that we work on that help every worker in the state,” said Rabideau.

The Teamsters endorsement is Shumlin’s first from a labor group. The previous three major union endorsements have gone to Racine, who has picked up the backing from the Vermont AFL-CIO, of which Teamsters 597 is a member, the Vermont chapter of the National Education Association and the Vermont State Employees Association. Combined, those three unions represent about 30,000 workers.

Two other major unions — the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Professional Firefighers of Vermont — are also determining whether to endorse in the primary.

This week, too, Racine earned the endorsement of the Vermont League of Conservation Voters. The endorsement surprised political observers who thought Shumlin was a shoe-in for the support given his push to close down Vermont Yankee in 2012 and his legislative focus on climate change.

Shumlin has been endorsed by a number of “green” business leaders, including Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, Jeff Wolfe of GroSolar and David Blittersdorf of AllEarth Renewables.

This isn’t the first time the Teamsters have broken ranks with other labor groups when it comes to a gubernatorial endorsement. In 2008, the union backed Democrat Gaye Symington over Progressive-turned-Independent Anthony Pollina in the general election.

The Teamsters do plan on endorsing in other races, but not until after the primary.

In a five-way primary that may only lure 50,000 voters to the polls, union endorsements can provide candidates with needed volunteers as they ramp up door-knocking and get-out-the-vote efforts.