The legislative session - a brief review

This column originally appeared in the Williston Observer on May 22, 2008. This version includes a correction and information about a few more pieces of legislation that had to be cut for length.

The legislative session - a brief review

One of the biggest surprises of the 2008 legislative session was not in what passed or what was vetoed, but rather in who would not be back at the podium in the fall. Speaker of the House Gaye Symington announced that she would not be seeking reelection. Symington will, instead, focus her electoral efforts on winning the governor's seat.

Unless Governor Jim Douglas does something really stupid in the interim, however, I think it likely he will be reelected in November. This is nothing to do with Symington's credentials - she has garnered a lot of good will from her three years as Speaker and dozen as a representative. Instead, it has more to do with the built-in protection that incumbency gives Vermont governors, from Snelling to Dean to Douglas.

As I've mentioned in this column before, however, the splitting of the government between the parties, though frustrating at times, tends toward better law as the parties have to work together, to compromise, to get things done.

That sort of compromise was evident in much of the legislation that did make its way out of the legislature this year.

First, though, it was a busy year for action on suffrage issues which I, as a student of political science, found very interesting.

The effort to extend two-year terms to four years, of which I've written before, failed in committee, to my great relief.

A bill designed to help revamp the national Electoral College by mutual agreement between the states passed both houses of the legislature, but was vetoed by the governor. I have a certain fondness for the Electoral College, but after some soul-searching, I'm convinced it is time for a change.

The bill would have had Vermont join a coalition of states which vow to allocate their electoral votes according to the direction of the national popular vote. The compact would only take effect when enough states sign on to make a majority of the electoral votes. Adding Vermont's three votes would have been a drop in the bucket, but I think it would have been a nice boost to the effort.

One constitutional amendment that did make it through this session, and will come up for consideration by the next session. The amendment, if passed in the next biennium and by the people, will allow the Freeman's Oath to be self-administered. I support this amendment, which will make same-day registration and by-mail registration much easier.

Finally, the legislature passed, but the governor vetoed, a bill to authorize instant run-off voting for federal elections. I think IRV is a good idea and deserves to be taken up again.

The legislature did as good a job as they could to keep costs down, with compromises between the legislature and the governor allowing progress to be made in health care, transportation, and job retention and creation.

In these difficult economic times, it was heartening to see some belt-tightening which, even if relatively small, gave struggling Vermonters the feeling that they are not alone. The governor was able to get agreement to half million dollars.

One particularly short-sighted plan from the governor, to lease the lottery to a private interest, was widely and wisely lambasted by many and died a quiet death.

A few other highlights include an independent audit of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant; the creation of a new type of charitable organization, a hybrid between a non-profit and a corporation; a bill providing libraries with some backup when they refuse to release lending records to authorities without a court order; a law that closes a loophole in existing law that allowed some mammograms to be charged out at exorbitant prices; and a bill allowing students on maintenance drugs for allergies and asthma to administer those drugs themselves, without the need for a school nurse to become involved.

In the end, we got some good law, stifled some bad, and did it all on a balanced budget - going into election season, the legislators and the governor have much to be proud of.

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Note: the original column mentions a constitutional amendment that allows those not yet 18, but who will be at the time of the general election, to vote in the primaries for that election. This legislation was reported on a web page from the Burlington Free Press, but the page is mistaken. The proposed amendment is the "self-administered oath" amendment mentioned above. The following is the stricken text from the original column:

One constitutional amendment that did make it through this session, and will come up for consideration by the next session. The amendment would allow those who will be 18 at the next election, but who are not yet 18, to vote in the primaries for that future election. Any plan that gives young adults a chance to join the process is a positive step, and I encourage the next legislature to pass the amendment and for we, the people, to pass it also.