Notes from Montpelier
by Rep. Bill Frank

     Now that the legislative session has ended I’m happy to report I’ve settled into finishing some projects on my “to-do list” at home. I have been asked by many of you how I feel about the session and what I thought was my major accomplishment. Yes, I feel it was a good and productive session that ended with major agreements and compromises between the legislature and the governor. This propelled us in passing many bills including worker’s compensation reform, Challenges for Change and a balanced budget without the threat of a veto. The governor took a less conciliatory approach when he vetoed the Current Use bill. This bill was a positive way forward to define the best current use policy. The current use program is used extensively throughout the state and is a real win-win program for the state, for landowners and for all of us. However, many of us are sensitive to the abuses of the program as it currently exists and the people who only use it to avoid taxes during development of their property. The bill would make three major changes to the program: assess a one-time $128 fee on all property owners in the program; eliminate the tax break now available to people who buy land that's already in current use by requiring them to pay the standard property-transfer tax of 1.25% (they now pay 0.5%); and substantially increase the penalty for those property owners who have enjoyed the current use benefit but take some or all of their property out of the program. By vetoing the bill the governor also “unbalanced” the budget, creating a $1.6 million hole without a way to fill it. The legislature decided it was best to leave the conciliatorily nature of the end of the session and not schedule a session to vote to override the veto. Restoring the current use program to its intended purpose of promoting the working Vermont landscape rather than acting as a subsidy for development will be a top priority of the next legislature.
     I am very pleased with the advances in access to Palliative Care that we have made in the last couple of years. I co-chaired a summer legislative study on Palliative Care in 2008. I used this information to create and get passed a bill on Palliative Care in 2009, Act 25. This includes a Patient Bill of Rights for Palliative Care and Pain Management. I am proud of this act. There was one major need that was not included, providing palliative services to children with life-limiting illnesses while still receiving curative care. I feel Vermont should move forward to address this issue and ensure that these children receive the best care possible to enhance quality of life for both the ill child and their families. For the Dr. Dinosaur program to provide this service we need a waver from the Medicaid program. This was major goal of mine to accomplish this year; but getting new projects approved that cost money was next to impossible. In March the Vermont Ethics Network hosted a conference of over one hundred professionals and community members. Paving the Way to Real Progress: A Statewide Summit on Palliative Care and Pain Management made this their number one recommendation. I then had my House Human Services Committee host a Palliative Care day. We heard from the Office of Vermont Health Access on the cost of providing this service and the process of applying for the Medicaid wavier; from a Palliative Care nurse, a Palliative Care doctor and four parents. With the momentum of these sessions I succeeded in getting a section added to the budget’s Medicaid program allocation directing the Agency of Human Services to apply for this waiver. Several other states have already received this waiver so we are not breaking new ground with Medicaid. Sometimes your major accomplishment is a small step; I will continue to work on this.
     I am available to hear from you during the summer and fall either by email: Bill@RepBillFrank.com, phone: 899-3136 or mail: 19 Poker Hill Rd, Underhill, 05489.