Legislative Update

April 12, 2008

Rep. Anne Donahue

 

This Friday is the House deadline for finishing work on Senate bills, and there is a flurry of activity on smaller bills that will only make it through this year if they are accepted back by the Senate before the big bills -- the general fund budget and the capital bill -- finish that course.

Both the House action on the Senate capital bill, and the Senate action on the House budget are imminent, and that will lead to the conference committee process (three Senators and three Representatives) to come to agreement over differences.

With even more bad revenue news expected this week, the budget in the House was a disappointment. Some difficult decisions were made for level-funding, but not nearly enough to balance the budget without using artificial numbers. The governor’s budget came out full of hidden gaps, and the House only shifted them around.

There is about $30 million, for example, as projected income from federal matching funds for projects that used to be all funded by the state. Some of the items even say that if we don’t get federal money, it will be paid for under the general fund...which has no money left.

For others, we will have no choice. The budget projects $7 million in federal matching funds regained for the state hospital. That assumes recertification in January. I spoke directly to the federal regulators, who confirmed to me that this was highly unlikely. In January, when we face this missing money, we don’t have the option to throw people from the hospital into the street.

We played this game two years ago in banking on the federal government’s generosity in funding Medicaid (through the Catamount program) for people with a higher income level that Medicaid usually ever covers. Surprise...the money didn’t come through, and we have had to provide millions of unbudgeted dollars into Catamount, which was supposed to be self-sustaining.

At the same time, parts of Catamount are expanded this year in the House budget -- though not as much as some had hoped -- and the cost shift to private insurance is increased.

I have been keeping a particular eye on two bills moving in other committees. An updated version of our guardianship bill in now in Senate Judiciary. Its original version would have permitted someone who needs help with some medical decisions to have all decision-making turned over to a guardian.

The House Judiciary Committee accepted my expertise in this area, and revised it to recognize that capacity to make a medical decision differs depending on the decision being made, and making such decisions for oneself is a significant civil right. A physician is the one who needs to make specific judgements about capacity.

It is important that the Senate, with only a few days left to review the bill, keep those provisions intact.

The House version of the capital bill is jam-packed with critical projects. Our new state health and forensic lab is short on funds to complete work already started, and is under the threat of decertification.

In this case, decertification would mean that physical evidence in criminal cases might be blocked from use in court.

Not a penny was requested by the administration to set aside to begin construction for replacing any of the services currently provided in our decertified state hospital. The administration has reported that it has plans under development to seek construction permits for a 15-bed rehabilitation center at the Waterbury office complex, at a cost of $15 million or more.

It has also already entered into an architectural contract for $500,000 to work on plans to replace Rutland Hospital’s existing psychiatric unit, adding new beds for Rutland but only six to replace current state hospital inpatient beds.

None of this has any of the finances planned out for the years ahead. I’ve been asked to help draft language for the capital bill to require a long term financial plan before starting on any piece of new construction.

In my own committee, Human Services is reviewing the final piece of the complete overhaul of the Family Court system. The sections on child abuse are now in the Senate, and we will be looking at the juvenile justice sections.

We have six other bills from the Senate that we are completing or have completed work on:

-- We voted out a bill banning internet sales of tobacco products. These sites are a source of cigarettes for minors, allow evasion of all state taxes, and sell products that are illegal under other state laws.

-- We are adding oversight authority for enforcement of Vermont’s mental health parity law, so that mental health treatment is as accessible as other health care. Regrettably, this still cannot cover companies that operate under federal law, so many Vermonters remain unprotected by their insurance.

-- A ban on sale of toys with lead content will bring uniform protection instead of the random recalls that occur under federal consumer law as new items are discovered.

-- Have you ever heard of a phthalate? Me neither. It’s a chemical used to make plastic -- including in items such as baby pacifiers -- more flexible, and it can cause reproductive defects. We are reviewing whether it should be banned in baby items, as the Senate unanimously recommended.

-- Finally, we are considering reviving a task force to recommend ways to strengthen how practices in the state address chronic pain, palliative care, and end-of-life care. This would change the Senate version of the bill, which only addressed the gathering of data.

It is expected that we will be voting on whether to override the two recent vetoes by the governor in the near future.

I remain opposed to a campaign finance “reform” law that favors incumbents by limiting what challengers are able to raise to try to become better known.

I support the test use of “instant run-off” voting, which saves the costs of repeat votes when one candidate fails to win a majority. With instant run-off, the second vote takes place on the same ballot as the first.

Please stay in touch. You can reach me by message any time at 485-6431 or at counterp@tds.net.