Adjournment Address

GOVERNOR JAMES H. DOUGLAS
Adjournment Address
May 30, 2003
Governor's Ceremonial Office

As some of you know, my older son is getting married tomorrow and I'm hosting his rehearsal dinner this evening. We all have to establish priorities, and I know what mine are, so should you adjourn before I return to Montpelier I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your hard work this session.

I want to congratulate you all on a remarkably successful session.

When I stood in the House Chamber less than five months ago, I expressed a vision for positive change in Vermont.

I asked you to join me in achieving that change in a new spirit of civic virtue. Finding common understanding in a government of people with diverse interests and philosophies is difficult, and in recent years it has been particularly challenging. But civic virtue has been the practice in the past, and I was determined that it should be again.

It is with great satisfaction that I can stand here with you today and say that progress has indeed triumphed over partisanship, and the change that the people called for is underway.

Thank you Lt. Governor Dubie, Senators Welch, Bloomer and Campbell; thank you Mr. Speaker, Majority Leader Houston, and Minority Leader Symington for your leadership and to all the members of this body for making all this possible.
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When I spoke with you here in January during my inaugural address and later during my budget address, I proposed the most significant investment in job creation in the history of Vermont.

Republicans and Democrats alike embraced this proposal, and as a result over $100 million in low interest loans will be available to job creators seeking to grow Vermont's workforce.

We provided an additional $2 million for workforce training, tourism promotion and economic development programs. And we raised the minimum wage to give our lowest paid workers the boost they need to better afford child care, school supplies, everyday bills, and just to take the edge off difficult times.

In addition, I commend the hard work of the transportation committees to restore Vermont's roads, bridges and rails - the critical infrastructure that keeps commerce and people moving.

We renewed our focus on projects to improve the safety and reliability of our transportation network, and on projects critical to job creation.

To meet that goal, our transportation budget appropriated $33 million to pave and repair roads, a 56 percent increase over last year.

And I'm proud that we've held firm in our commitment to finish vital transportation projects like the Misissquoi Bay Bridge, Bennington Bypass, and the CIRC highway.

Our increased investment means better, safer roads and more jobs for Vermonters.
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My primary regret of the session is that it appears the Assembly is unable to reach agreement on the other major job creation bill -- permit reform.

Permit reform is a challenge unfamiliar to no one. It is a problem that received great attention during the campaign and for the most part, everyone seemed to acknowledge what the nature of the problem was.

I am disappointed that as the session wore on, the consensus that was reached in theory did not produce a consensus for action.

We did make great progress on the substance of permit reform, but none of this progress will be felt by Vermonters who are desperate for the opportunity to go back to work and earn a paycheck to support their families.

Permit reform is simply too important to job creation and retention to allow it to linger on into next year's political season.

Therefore, should an agreement not be reached before final adjournment, I will urge the conference committee to continue to meet over the coming weeks and find an acceptable solution. When you do, I will call a one day, single issue special session of the Legislature in order to pass meaningful reform.
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I came to office determined to end six years of gridlock and find a better system for funding education in Vermont.

The stifling burden of property taxation is crushing working families. Anyone who could not see it must have been convinced when a record number of school budgets went down to defeat earlier this spring.

We came together, without regard to political party, and came to a historic consensus. The result is not a perfect plan, but it is a significant improvement over the current system and it will reduce the average Vermonter's school tax rate by 22 percent while eliminating the notorious and divisive sharing pool that pitted town against town and neighbor against neighbor. I want to thank Chairman Marron and Rep. Rusten for their leadership and dedication to a viable solution.

But there is more work to do. The tax relief that Vermonters will receive will be short lived unless we return to finish the work of addressing the rampant increases in the cost of education.

Next year we must return to make greater progress on this front, so that the good work we have accomplished this session is maintained.
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I began my campaign last year warning of the insidious influence of hard-core drugs and those criminals who peddle them in our neighborhoods and near our schools.

These drugs rob our youth of their ambition, they foster dependence, they devastate the body, and they destroy the mind.

I proposed a program I called DETER that would address Vermont's growing drug problem not just with rhetoric, but with resources. You embraced my vision and helped make it reality. On behalf of Vermont's families and children, I thank you.

My DETER program offers a compassionate and comprehensive approach to combating the influence of drugs like heroin, crack and cocaine. We have invested in education, prevention and treatment by increasing the number of substance abuse counselors in our schools, offering more after school programs, funding for a new opiate treatment center, a program to get prisoners clean, and we have begun the process of establishing Vermont's first ever on-site treatment center.

We have also sent a clear signal to drug dealers that Vermonters will not tolerate those who poison our children for profit. By significantly increasing the penalties associated with drug dealing and putting more cops on the beat, we can ensure that dangerous criminals who threaten our children can be dealt with severely.

I'm proud of the work of the Vermont State Police for their role in combating drug dealers and keeping our communities safe, and I'm pleased that we approved filling a total of 16 vacancies in the State Police force.

I'm also very pleased that we kept our commitment to the people of Springfield by funding the timely opening of the Springfield correctional facility. This facility will not only provide much needed prison space, but it will also be a boost to the regional economy by creating approximately 135 jobs.

And during my campaign I called for Vermont to adopt the AMBER Alert system to notify and activate the community to assist in the search and rescue of abducted children. While we hope and pray that we never need to put this system to use, our preparedness brings Vermont in line with other states who have already realized its life saving potential.
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I also called for a new look at how government is organized to ensure that our services are delivered in the most efficient and effective way.

We are only still at the beginning stages of assessing state agencies, but already we have agreed on legislation to reorganize the Agency of Human Services to deliver better service to clients.

We are reorganizing the Agency of Transportation through administrative means.

We are reorganizing the state's IT efforts under the umbrella of a new Department of Innovation and Information; and as part of the Jobs Bill, we approved a sales tax holiday on personal computers to help Vermonters bring their families online.

We also agreed to accept credit card payments for government services and digital signatures to make all online transactions easier. These are important measures that will help transition Vermont into the 21st Century.
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Importantly, we have begun to take serious steps to address the crisis that is facing our family farms.

We gave farmers a seat at the Cabinet table by elevating the Commissioner of Agriculture to the level of Secretary.

As part of the Jobs Bill, we gave farmers access to low interest loans and we ended the property tax on farm buildings in the Current Use program.

And we came together in an unprecedented way to pass a farm relief bill that is already helping scores of farmers get the money they desperately need to put seeds in the ground for this coming season.

Nothing we do will be able to prevent the loss of some farms, but we can be certain that because of our actions, more farmers will be working the land next year than would have been otherwise.
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The biggest challenge facing the Governor and Legislature each year is passing a responsible budget.

This year tough economic times made our job particularly difficult, and required us to make tough choices. Collectively, the states face the biggest financial crisis since World War II.

If all goes as planned, despite flagging revenues, you will have passed a balanced budget that protects our most vulnerable, increases our commitment to public safety, economic development and higher education. And we would have done it all without raising taxes.

Remarkably, we will have limited the increase in General Fund spending to less than one percent, the second smallest increase in a decade.

We will have funded the state's capital investment needs without exceeding the recommended debt ceiling. This means we can continue to reduce the burden of state debt on Vermont's taxpayers.

And instead of depleting our rainy day fund to cover new government spending, we are replenishing the fund to protect us from even more difficult times.

I want to thank the chairs of the appropriation committees, Rep. Rich Westman and Sen. Susan Bartlett for all of their hard work.
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So, as you return to your everyday lives, you have a great deal to be proud of. I want to thank you again for making this session more successful than I think anyone could have envisioned five short months ago. The Jobs Bill, DETER, Act 60 reform, government reform, farm relief, and a balanced budget with no new taxes - all in all, a pretty good record.

That we have accomplished so much in so little time speaks well of your commitment to your constituents and all Vermonters.

There is still much work to be done in order to address the challenges affecting Vermonters, but we have made great progress and I thank you especially for your generous welcome during these first months of my term.

Thank you.