Full article at the Addison County Independent
By John Flowers
ADDISON COUNTY — Local lawmakers hailed the 2012 legislative session as one of the most productive in recent memory, producing what they said were some major advances in fortifying the state’s roads and bridges, devising a new search-and-rescue policy and advancing health care reform.
It was a busy session that featured a lot of bipartisan cooperation in passing major legislation, according to Willem Jewett, D-Ripton and House majority whip. He cited, as an example, a reapportionment bill that made substantial changes to House and Senate district boundaries. That bill, which in part calls for the Addison County senatorial district to swap Brandon for Huntington and Buel’s Gore, passed with fewer than 10 “no” votes, according to Jewett.
“We passed the budget with 18 ‘no’ votes and the fee bill went through on a voice vote,” Jewett said. “The (fiscal year 2013) capital bill didn’t even go to conference committee.”
Democrats hold an almost two-to-one majority over Republicans in the House (and a similar majority in the senate), but Jewett said the cooperation between major parties this year was exemplary.
That cooperation was also in place for a search-and-rescue bill inspired by the tragic loss of 19-year-old Levi Duclos of New Haven. Duclos died of hypothermia during a trek on a Ripton trail in frigid weather last January. His family voiced concern about the lack of timely search response by the Vermont State Police, a criticism that was echoed across the state. The new law establishes an interim policy requiring state officials to immediately respond to such calls and work in conjunction with municipal and civilian search and rescue organizations. It also established a summer study committee to further evaluate the state’s search and rescue policy and make recommendations on how the state’s system could be improved.
“We are relieved that the search and rescue bill has passed the House and Senate and that Vermonters are assured a high level of search and rescue response from now on,” Kathy Duclos, Levi’s aunt, wrote in a statement on behalf of the family.
HEALTH CARE
Two Addison County lawmakers played significant roles in advancing a health benefits exchange, a requirement under the federal Affordable Care Act. The Vermont health benefit exchange will include a program to assist income-eligible residents and employers in enrolling in a qualified health benefit plan subsidized in part through federal tax credits.
“We took an important step forward in health care reform this year,” said Rep. Mike Fisher, D-Lincoln and chairman of the House Health Care Committee. “There will be significant tax subsidies to enable people to afford access to the care that they need, starting in 2014.”
The exchange, Fisher said, will also throw an important economic life preserver to small businesses now struggling to help their employees pay for health insurance.
“It is really important for our small businesses to have new options about how to make sure their employees are covered,” Fisher said. “I think there will be significant savings there as well.”
Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison, is chairwoman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, which also helped shape the benefits exchange bill.
“It was exactly what I wanted,” Ayer said of the bill. “It keeps insurance programs in the benefits exchange. If we are still in a situation where we have people using different standards and different kinds of administrative processes to do claims and so on, we are not going to be able to realize the savings.”
Ayer and Fisher are confident that Vermont could still proceed with health care reform even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The nation’s highest court is currently reviewing the law.
“It would be a setback, but not terminal,” Ayer said of a potential court ruling against health reforms. “We are just not going to have the same resources we hope are available to us through tax credits and that sort of thing. And remember, we have already gotten millions of dollars from the feds to help us with health information technology and computerization, which should improve access and make it more affordable.”
Ayer also cited, as accomplishments, passage of a “good renewable energy bill”; not having to raise broad-based taxes; and revamping the state’s mental health system and infrastructure.
“We did a little bit of belt tightening, but by and large, avoided big cuts that are important to people who need services,” Ayer said.
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Rep. Margaret Cheney explains the energy bill to Thatcher Moats of the Vermont Press Bureau. Amy Shollenberger/Action Circles)
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