BRATTLEBORO — With the second half of this year's legislative session revving up, Windham County's lawmakers addressed the perennial complaint of Windham County residents - poor Internet and cell phone service.
They responded to the concerns of more than 100 Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce members who attended a breakfast meeting at the Brattleboro Retreat on Monday.
“I have a cell phone, and it is not usable in any of the six towns I represent,” said Rep. John Moran, D-Wardsboro.
Rep. Richard Marek, D-Newfane, spoke of being in the middle of the Sinai Desert during a trip to Egypt last fall and watching his host use his cell phone to check on things back in his office, “while I can't use my cell phone to call Brattleboro from my house.”
Sen. Peter Galbraith, D-Windham, offered good news on the subject. He said that between federal grants and expedited permitting, Windham County is poised to “move from a situation where we have the worst service in the country to having the best service in the country.”
Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, said that with the state's economic situation still “precarious,” an improved telecommunications infrastructure is the key to creating more jobs in the state. He touted the proposed 4G wireless Internet network that VTel hopes to build over the next two years as the key to upgrading service.
Human services in jeopardy
Cuts to human services were also a concern. Mrowicki, who serves on the House Human Services Committee, said that there was little agreement on what programs should be subject to cuts to the Agency of Human Service's budget, estimated in January at $44 million.
“As lawmakers, we are the voice for people without a voice,” he said. “We are working hard for them, but at the same time, we want to also leave a sound economic house.”
Rep. Valerie Stuart, D-Brattleboro, who serves on the House Education Committee, said her colleagues are focused on “closing the achievement gap,” which has grown in Vermont as the poverty rate has climbed.
”The bad news is that we have a lot of poor, hungry kids in this state,” she said, “but with the right principals and the right teachers, we can help these kids out.”
One area of the budget that must be addressed is corrections spending, said Marek, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee.
“The crime rate in Vermont has been flat, but our prison population has doubled. If the prison population kept up with the crime rate, we'd now have an extra $50 million a year to spend on other things.”
While Marek admitted that no politician ever got voted out of office for advocating harsher treatment of criminals, he said that the key to cutting costs was to use the state's prison cells “for the people who should be there,” and diverting non-violent offenders from the corrections system.
Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, who is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that her panel is focused on improving and refining the open meeting law and improving access to public records.
She cited a recent report that ranked Vermont 49th of 50 states in terms of governmental transparency.
“It's embarrassing,” she said.
Net metering
Energy issues were also a hot topic. Rep. Sarah Edwards, P/D-Brattleboro, who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, along with Rep. Mike Hebert, R-Vernon, said that her committee is working on expanding what's known as net metering, where consumers who generate their own electricity can easily sell it back to utility companies.
Edwards pointed to 500 kilowatts of electrical capacity around the state from individual solar and wind generators.
Net metering will be one element of the state's new comprehensive energy plan, which she said the Department of Public Service will have ready by this fall.
Hebert said that renewable energy was a good thing, “but it should not be the sole focus of our energy plan. We're not going to have many base load energy sources soon.”
He reiterated his support for a bill that would strip the Legislature of its authority to decide whether Vermont Yankee should receive a Certificate of Public Good from the state Public Service Board [The Commons, March 9].
“It is hugely important that that the professionals make this decision,” said Hebert.
Rep. Mollie Burke, P/D-Brattleboro, a House Transportation Committee member, said that her committee is expected to complete work on a transportation budget for fiscal 2012 by the end of this week.
“The [federal stimulus] money helped us address the backlog of projects,” she said, “but we still have an aging transportation system.”
Burke said that her committee is working with the Agency of Transportation on a priority system to make repairs to roads and bridges in a timely way.
She was also excited about the ongoing upgrade to the rail line between St. Albans and Springfield, Mass., the route of Amtrak's Vermonter. Burke said that the goal is to again extend train service to Montreal as soon as possible.
“That would be a tremendous economic opportunity for Brattleboro and the rest of the state,” she said.
Referring to the discord seen in other legislatures around the country, local lawmakers said they were impressed with how well this session has gone.
“The governor is working well with the Legislature, with a sense of cooperation that I've never seen before,” said Mrowicki.
Hebert added that while he serves with Edwards on the same committee and usually disagrees with her, they still get along.
“I am proud to say there is very little animosity in our Legislature,” he said.