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By Timothy McQuiston. Governor Douglas today avoided a veto of H446, the renewable energy bill, by letting the it become law without his signature. The governor opposed the bill because he said it gets government in the way of what already is a competitive and growing private marketplace for the development of renewable energy. He and his administration have told Vermont Business Magazine that they also opposed the Legislature setting de facto electric rates, which has been the purview of the Public Service Board. A governor must either sign or veto a bill within five days of it being sent to him. If he does not act, it becomes law regardless.
Below is a portion of the governor s written statement:

Week Ending May 23, 2009. There were 958 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, a decrease of 422 from the week before. Altogether 15,386 new and continuing claims were filed, 951 less than a week ago and 7,809 more than a year earlier. The Department also processed 2,629 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 162 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 1,095 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program which is a decrease of 284 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced today that he secured $500,000 for Vermont public schools to install solar panels, the latest development in the senator s ongoing campaign to transform Vermont s energy system.
We must move, as aggressively as possible, to become energy independent, to address the crisis of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming and, in the process, create millions of new jobs over a period of years in the clean-energy field, Sanders said. In my view, this is one of the transformational issues of our time and I very much hope that Vermont will be a national leader in this area.

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) says Vermont will receive $30 million under an innovative and proven economic development program New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) to spur economic growth and affordable housing in the state. The funds, included in the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will be formally announced by Secretary Timothy Geithner at noon today. The New Market Tax Credit Program, created in 2000, offers incentives to private investors to invest in economic development projects that primarily benefit low-income Americans, by offering them 39 percent of their investments back as a federal tax credit. As a result, the developer can pay investors below-market interest rates, resulting in the equivalent of a federal grant to help buy down the developer s borrowing costs.

TD Banknorth, through the TD Charitable Foundation, recently donated a total of $20,000 to local organizations in Chittenden County as part of the bank s commitment to giving back to the community. Included in the gifts are Recycle North, Shelburne Museum and Nordic Spirit Soccer Club.
The following organizations received a donation from the TD Charitable Foundation:

Governor Jim Douglas today signed into law H. 152, An Act Relating to Encouraging Biomass Energy Production. The Biomass bill creates a biomass energy development working group to investigate and recommend fiscal and regulatory incentives for biomass energy, as well as guidelines and standards for maintaining forest health, procurement standards and other policy considerations for biomass development in Vermont.
H. 152 will help keep Vermont at the head of the pack when it comes to the development and use of renewable energy, Governor Douglas said. Vermont has the cleanest energy portfolio in the nation thanks to an array of renewable sources like biomass energy and we will continue to do all we can to promote clean, local sources of energy, he added.

As the nation debates health reform options, Governor Jim Douglas today announced that Vermont was chosen to participate in Transforming Care for Dual Eligibles, a national initiative that will test innovative models for people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid . Vermont will join six states in developing and implementing strategies to improve care and control costs for dual eligibles, a high-need population with individual health care costs nearly five times those of other Medicare beneficiaries. The program is designed by the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) and supported by The Commonwealth Fund.

Ahead of a June 2 special legislative session, legislative leaders and the Douglas Administration will hold public forums to inform the public about the budgetary issues. Douglas vetoed the $4.5 billion budget and has offered his own alternative. Before the Legislature would take up Douglas' changes, it will first have to vote to sustain or override the veto. As with the gay marriage veto that the Legislature overrode in early April, the budget showdown could come down to a single vote.
Public Hearings to Address Budget
Wednesday, May 27

Appearing at a Memorial Day weekend event here today, Senator Bernie Sanders announced that $237,500 will be awarded for monuments in four communities throughout Vermont.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Sanders (I-Vt.) secured funding for memorials in Derby, Weathersfield, Concord and Bennington.
Derby will receive $67,500 to expand the town s Veteran s Memorial Park by adding monuments to honor those who fought in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq. Another $80,000 will go to Bennington. Weathersfield will receive $45,900, and Concord about $44,000.

Pizzagalli Construction Company of South Burlington started work this week on a new Radiation Oncology facility on the Medical Center Campus at Fletcher Allen Health Care. The $8 million project, designed by Cannon Design, will include approximately 23,000 square feet of new construction. The total cost of the project, including the structure and new medical equipment, is $19.3 million. It will be built into the hillside on the east side of the Ambulatory Care Center.

Governor Jim Douglas today issued a veto of H436, An Act Relating to Decommissioning Funds of Nuclear Energy Generation Plants. The legislation sought to guarantee that Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Corp ensure that it would have sufficient funds to close up the plant once it stops producing electricity. Entergy had counted on investments to cover the cost, but the stock market retraction has resulted in those funds suffering. The original license expires in 2012.
Entergy has applied to extend the license to 2032. Legislative leaders have vowed not to approve the license extension until Entergy offers a power contract. A new contract was expected last March. The Public Service Board, which must also approve the license extension, recently began hearings on it.
The governor is concerned, however, that forcing Entergy to set aside sufficient founds immediately upon decommissioning would result in the company raising electric rates to cover the costs.

Officials in the tourism and hospitality industry said they were pleased that the alternative budget approach proposed by Governor Jim Douglas contains an additional $850,000 to market the state. With the summer tourism season unofficially kicking off over Memorial Day Weekend, Tourism and Marketing Commissioner Bruce Hyde said the money couldn t come at a better time.
Tourism is one of the largest industries in our state, and spending on promoting Vermont is an investment in job creation and retention, Hyde said. Our recent economic impact study showed that visitor spending in Vermont supported approximately 37,000 jobs for Vermonters.
He noted that there were roughly 60,000 jobs in the hospitality and entertainment sector in Vermont, spread out in literally every county of the state, and visitor spending contributed $206.9 million in tax and fee revenues to state coffers in the General, Education and Transportation Funds.