Gov. Peter Shumlin’s first term has been characterized by historic challenges and accomplishments. There is still much work to be done on the numerous projects he has initiated, and he deserves another term.

His most notable accomplishment has been the initial stage of his administration’s work on health care reform. Shumlin effectively built support for his program, leading to legislation creating the Green Mountain Care Board and laying down a foundation for what could be the nation’s first-ever single-payer system.

A single-payer system is still at least five years away, and for the interim the new board is working to put together the health care exchange that will offer insurance coverage choices for Vermonters. The exchange is in line with the demands of the federal Affordable Care Act and is meant to provide reliable and comprehensive coverage for all Vermonters who need it.

Shumlin’s Republican challenger, Randy Brock, has brought a skeptical view, not only to Shumlin’s health care plan, but to his style of governance and his credibility. On health care, Brock, like many Republicans, is critical of the fact that voters won’t know about the financing of the new health care system until after the election. He also cites instances where he says Shumlin has played fast and loose with statistics and facts in support of his proposals and his accomplishments.

Shumlin has trumpeted the good news about new jobs in Vermont. Brock has pointed to the rise in unemployment. Shumlin touts the growth of renewable energy in Vermont and the importance of combatting climate change. Brock says forcing up electric rates to pay for renewable energy is “Robin Hood in reverse.” Brock has done a good job articulating an alternative view but has appeared frustrated that it doesn’t seem people are listening.

Shumlin has ridden a wave of good feeling following the ravages of Tropical Storm Irene and the part he took in bolstering the state’s morale and putting things back together again. Indeed, the work of his administration during and after the storm was exemplary. The policy choices he has made with regard to the reconstruction of the Vermont State Hospital and state offices have been bold and decisive. He seized on the crisis to enact long overdue changes in the state’s mental health system. In rebuilding the state’s highway infrastructure, the Agency of Transportation under his leadership achieved great things.

The good will created by his service after Irene has coated him with a kind of Teflon that has made it hard for Brock’s criticisms to stick. And yet Brock has touched on something that Shumlin should be aware of in a new term, or terms.

His breezy confidence has always been one of his strengths. But sometimes it becomes the kind of cavalier attitude that could lose him the support of Vermonters.

He has been an ardent advocate of wind power, supporting Green Mountain Power’s large new project on Lowell Mountain. But Lowell has been a sort of environmental tipping point, provoking strong opposition, and Shumlin’s dismissive words about wind opponents have provoked unnecessary enmity.

In a similar vein, his attempt to make light of the slaughter of Bill and Lou, the beloved oxen at Green Mountain College, was offensive to some people. There is nothing offensive about sustainable agriculture and the raising of animals for meat. But to treat the concerns of people as a joke will not win Shumlin friends.

Shumlin’s accomplishments and his relish in carrying out his duties as governor have brought him far. But Shumlin himself understands that governors tend to wear out their welcome after six or eight years. He ought to take care not to wear it out more quickly.

For now Vermonters can expect that in re-electing Shumlin as governor, the state will continue to move forward, completing unfinished business on health care, flood recovery, mental health, drug treatment and enforcement, and corrections reform. In another term, Shumlin could make progress in all these areas. Voters should give him the opportunity.

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20121103/OPINION/711039907/0/SEARCH

The Burlington Free Press editorial board recommends Peter Shumlin, the Democratic incumbent, for a second term as governor of Vermont.

A string of natural disasters — a massive snowstorm, record flooding and a tropical storm — tested the new governor in his first year in office.

The Shumlin administration passed the tough test managing disaster relief around the state as a strong advocate for Vermonters in seeking help from the federal government.

The state continues to face fiscal challenges with yet another budget shortfall expected for the coming fiscal year. The governor must meet the challenge while continuing to resist raising broad-based taxes.

Shumlin must lay out the details for the health care reform launched last year that seeks to extend access to all while tackling rising costs under a single-payer system. Vermonters need a full accounting of the plan before they can make up their minds whether to go ahead with this radical change.

Open government must remain top of mind for the man who ran two years ago with the promise to be the “transparency governor.” By his own admission, there’s much left to be done.

Shumlin must take the lead in making sure there is no backsliding in government transparency and accountability.

Shumlin has the right agenda. He has proved to be a skilled chief administrator. He has shown strong leadership. He deserves two more years.

www.burlingtonfreepress.com
November 1, 2012

Gov. Shumlin speaking at mental health conference

An annual Montpelier conference on mental health drew different political perspectives on a single-payer health care system.

Both Gov. Peter Shumlin and his Republican challenger Randy Brock addressed the gathering of the Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery.

Brock said he was concerned that a single payer system could limit a patient’s choice of health care providers.

“I want to preserve that right for you to go some place else,” Brock said. “But I don’t believe that the government is in the position to do medical decision-making for you and for your doctor.”

Shumlin told the crowd that under the current system, insurance companies make health care decisions.

“It’s called under-insurance: the fear that if you go to the provider you won’t be able to come back and pay the bill. That’s standing in the way of you and your provider,” he said. “And that’s what we’re going to fix with the first single-payer sensible health care system in America.”

The biggest cheers of the day came for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

He told the conference that someday generations of Americans will look back with disbelief at a time when health care was not a universal right.

“We now are in a moment in a cusp of history when this state can play a profound and revolutionary way in moving America toward a new direction in health care, guaranteeing health care for all of our people in a Medicare for all, single payer system,” he said.

Sanders also said his office has helped double federal funds for regional community health centers. He said these centers provide primary care and mental health counseling.

By: JOHN DILLON
www.vpr..net

www.wcax.com

BOB KINZEL -

A tripartisan group of seven of Vermont’s eight mayors gathered at the Statehouse to endorse incumbent Democrat Peter Shumlin’s re-election effort.

The group includes Democrats, a Republican, a former Republican and an Independent.

Republican Thom Lauzon is the mayor of Barre City and two years ago he endorsed GOP candidate Brian Dubie.  He says Shumlin has addressed many of the concerns of his community and Lauzon says it’s a mistake for the Republicans to be running a candidate in the gubernatorial race this year.

“I felt the governor was doing a great job I thought we should be concentrating on other areas I felt we should be concentrating on the Senate and the House,” said Lauzon. “I think Randy is absolutely a fine man but I think quite frankly this was an ill advised campaign and people are going to spend a lot of money to try to replace a leader who doesn’t need to be replaced.”

Paul Monette is the Independent mayor of Newport City. He says he would never had considered endorsing Shumlin a year ago but he says he’s changed his mind because of Shumlin’s efforts to create jobs in his region of the state.

“Too long in our area people always felt, ‘Well, the state focused on the larger communities.’ Like no offense against Burlington but they always focus on Chittenden County,” said Monette. “But we really feel now that they’re really focusing on our area and so that’s why I’ve really turned around on that aspect. I feel he’s reached out to all communities.”

The only mayor not to endorse Shumlin is Michael Daniels of Vergennes. Daniels works for the state and he says it would be inappropriate for him to get involved in the gubernatorial race.

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/96006/mayors-seven-vermont-cities-endorse-shumlins-re-el/

Census: Vt. leads in income growth

MONTPELIER — Vermont is seeing a mix of economic news: Its unemployment rate jumped in August by 0.3 percentage point for the second month in a row, the state Department of Labor said Friday.

But at 5.3 percent, it remained the fifth lowest in the country and well below the national rate of 8.1 percent.

Meanwhile the U.S. Census reported that by one measure, Vermont was the lone bright spot on the national economic scene last year. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey said Vermont was the only state to see a rise in its median household income, which went from $50,707 in 2010 to $52,776 in 2011.

Art Woolf, an associate professor of economics at the University of Vermont and editor of the Vermont Economy Newsletter, said the census data paint a truer picture of Vermont’s economy than month-to-month unemployment figures.

In part, that’s because what the census based on survey estimates has been backed up by hard data on collections by the state Tax Department, Woolf said.

“If you look at income tax numbers, they show very healthy growth in personal income taxes for the state,” Woolf said. “It tells us people are earning more income.”

The Census Bureau also reported that poverty is declining in Vermont. The percentage of residents in the state living in poverty declined from 12.7 in 2010 to 11.5 in 2011, the census said. Vermont tied with Virginia with the seventh-lowest poverty rate in the country in 2011. Virginia and all the states with lower rates than Vermont’s saw theirs climb from 2010 to 2011.

For Vermont, “you have to see it as good news,” Woolf said. “Having lower poverty and higher incomes is kind of the idea of what you want the economy to do.”

Vermont also ranked low among the states for income inequality. The Census Bureau uses a “Gini index,” a complex formula that allows it to compare incomes distributed across a population, to estimate income inequality. Vermont’s was fifth lowest in the country.

Not everyone painted Vermont’s economy in a completely positive light.

Jack Hoffman, senior policy analyst with the Montpelier-based Public Assets Institute, said in a blog post that the new census data “bring to mind a book title from the 1960s: ‘Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me.”’

While Vermont’s poverty rate dropped in 2011, “it had risen in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as the Great Recession took its toll,” Hoffman wrote. “Despite the drop last year, Vermont’s poverty rate in 2011 was still higher than the 10.1 percent rate we had in 2007.”

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/viewart/20120921/NEWS07/309210032/Vermont-sees-income-rise-2011?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE