Multiple kudos to the road crews for their stellar work after a winter season of snow storms and a spring of road washouts. I have seen the results of the storms on many of our roads, and also have seen that they were fixed and passable in record time. I’m proud of the road crew’s work. Let’s make sure we all give them our thanks when we see them and be sure to slow down when they are we pass them working.

     The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is in Vermont to access the damages done by the recent rain and flooding and they want to hear from anyone who has been affected – even if things have dried out, been repaired and everything seems okay. FEMA can use this information to advocate for increased aid for Vermont communities, including grant funds for individual households. They can also make connections with long-term recovery groups who can bring teams of volunteers to a community to assist in making needed repairs or remediation. The more information they get, the better Vermonters needing help will receive it. If you have had any damage you should call 211. Even if you don’t think the damage was very much or you have already repaired it, please call to be sure that FEMA can gauge the full extent of the impact of the weather. If your furnaces or water heaters are not working, your driveway was washed out or your bridge damaged, you should obviously call in. Even if things seem to be okay now that water has receded, you should call in to FEMA! The FEMA representative said that oftentimes, floods have impacts that take a while to be noticed, such as furnaces that ‘rust up’ and cease to function after being shut down for the summer; mold that begins to grow slowly and doesn’t have a noticeable effect for several months. If you have had any problems with water damage or flooding you should contact 211 and document your story. This is how FEMA can get the information that they need. I have posted a flyer from FEMA on my web site; feel free to share it with anyone who may have had damage.

     The Jericho Highway Department received a Healthy Air Award from the American Lung Association for adopting a written policy to eliminate unnecessary diesel idling. Congratulations and thank you for improving the air we breathe. The award presentation was held at the State House the morning after the big rains so legislators from seven towns had to accept the award on behalf of their busy road crews. I posted a picture of the award on my web site. Let’s all work to have idle-free fleets in Vermont.

     The legislature has ended its 2011 session and we finished a week earlier than anticipated. I feel we accomplished an ambitious agenda and did so very smoothly with everyone working together in the best interest of Vermonters. In some of my prior years the last week has been hectic, tiring and very long. This year I only characterize it as being tiring. I feel that is a tribute to strong leadership as well as to the fact that we really are a group of average citizens with every reason to finish the business and return to our everyday lives, and I enjoyed being in the garden a week early. There were many significant accomplishments, some will affect all Vermonters and some that will affect far fewer people but are all equally important. I wanted to list all the accomplishments here and write briefly about them, but being such a productive session the list is long. I will mention two here and direct you to my web site for about 40 additional reports.

     I first ran for the legislature because of the need for health care reform, especially a single and unified administrative structure with universal coverage for all Vermonters. Health care should be considered a right in our society. I feel this belief is shared by most Vermonters. We believe there is potential for significant savings to be achieved in such a system. This year we took a significant step forward in this effort, a reform that will take a number of years to fully implement. But the process of building a new health care system for all Vermonters has started. We created the Green Mountain Care Board and charged it with overseeing the implementation of health care reform efforts. This board ensures that important decisions related to our health care system will be made through a process that is transparent, democratic and open to the public. The legislature also established the health benefit exchange required by federal law. The exchange creates a more convenient way of comparing and purchasing health insurance. Finally, the legislature established a plan to implement a universal health care system called Green Mountain Care. Green Mountain Care would provide every Vermont resident with comprehensive health care. Health insurance premiums would be replaced by a more equitable public financing plan. This is historic legislation and I am proud to have been a part of it.

     Even though we started the session with a $176 million budget gap, we passed a balanced budget. In order to close the gap, we used about $60 million in one-time revenues, about $87 million in budget cuts and transfers, $9 million in higher revenue projections from existing revenues and about $24 million in new revenues (provider taxes and an increase in the cigarette tax). Most of the budget cuts were in the Department of Corrections. In addition, we were able to put aside almost $17 million in anticipation of next year’s likely budget shortfalls and possible federal funding reductions. This is real “rainy day” money and it will be used for next year’s budget.

     The bottom line for the budget is similar to the number proposed by the governor, but there are important differences in priorities. The governor proposed the elimination of the student assistance program, SAP. The Chittenden East Community Partnership has received a SAP grant for many years to support their mission to collaborate with youth and adults to encourage healthy decisions while promoting substance abuse prevention within our community. My wife and I attended their annual dinner meeting and recognition ceremony last week and I was pleased to report that we were able to find sufficient money to restore half of the SAP funding.

     In my last column I wrote about hospice and palliative care and the bill I introduced this year. I’m happy to report the bill passed both the House and Senate and is its way to the governor’s desk.

     As always I like to hear from you, by email: Bill@RepBillFrank.com, phone: 899-3136
or mail: 19 Poker Hill Rd, Underhill, 05489.