by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business MagazineSenator Bill Doyle, R-Washington, released today his 42nd annual, and popular, Town Meeting Day Poll results. The 14 questions were answered by 12,300 meeting-goers in March and showed that Vermonters are just about split on whether the state should keep fighting Vermont Yankee and are still against cell phone use while driving. Also, Vermonters are optimistic about the state's future.
‘I call it the people’s poll,’ Doyle said, that while not scientific it goes out to 148 towns across the state and enjoys a large sample size of voters.
‘I get a lot of comments like, ‘You’re the only one asking me these questions’,’ Doyle said.
One thing that struck him was that the Vermont Yankee opposition has changed over time.
‘I think the Yankee question has narrowed,’ he said. Doyle said one contributing factor could be that people don’t want the state to keep spending money on fighting it. Both the NRC, which approved a license extension for Yankee, and the federal courts, which said Vermont can’t stand in the way of it operating, have sided with VY owner Entergy against the state. The state has appealed the court’s decision.
Another thing that caught his eye while looking at the results, Doyle said, was the divide between how optimistic people are about Vermont versus how pessimistic they are about the nation. Sixty-two percent of voters are optimistic about the state’s future, while only 35 percent feel the same about the nation.
While 48 percent of voters feel that Governor Shumlin is doing a good job, which Doyle said probably reflects the fact that he’s not really that well known statewide yet, more noticeable was that 44 percent thought the Legislature is doing a good job. The legislative number is a bit of a surprise, he said, because it’s usually in the 30s.
Doyle said support for alternative energy was strong, getting 58 percent for wind turbines.
Once again, there was strong support for prohibiting cell phone use while driving. He said that people have always wanted the ban. He joked that everyone seems to want everyone else not to use their cell phone while driving, but it might be difficult for individuals themselves to give up talking while driving. He sees that the Vermont law might change someday and be more like New York’s, where you must use a touch-less system. Vermont has a ban on texting while driving, but still allows for making handheld calls.
In retrospect, Doyle said he wishes the language in the marijuana question was worded differently. He said the key word in his poll is ‘legalize,’ whereas the bill before the Senate says ‘decriminalize.’ In his poll, 49 percent of voters supported the question. He speculates that if it said decriminalize instead, it probably would have found more support. He said the Senate bill will pass as such.
In other questions, voters supported a four-year term for governor (which will not happen any time soon); overwhelmingly supported expanding the bottle bill to all bottled beverages; and supported changing the high school drop-out age to 18 from 16.
Voters also supported, though less than a majority, to require all Vermonters having health insurance. Vermont is on course to mandate coverage and is ahead of the US plan, which has met with much opposition. The requirement is seen as the cornerstone to the current health care overhaul plans and is seen as necessary to other elements of the state and national plans, like insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions.
The results are below.
Yes No Not
Sure
1) SHOULD VERMONT CONTINUE ITS EFFORTS TO CLOSE YANKEE?
1
45
42
18
2) SHOULD DRIVERS BE PROHIBITED FROM USING CELL PHONES WHILE DRIVING?
2
76
18
6
3) SHOULD VERMONT HAVE A FOUR-YEAR TERM FOR GOVERNOR?
3
65
25
10
4) DO YOU THINK THAT GOVERNOR PETER SHUMLIN IS DOING A GOOD JOB?
4
48
28
24
5) DO YOU BELIEVE THE VERMONT LEGISLATURE IS DOING A GOOD JOB?
5
44
30
26
6) ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE OF VERMONT?
6
62
23
13
7) ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE OF OUR NATION?
7
35
39
26
8) DO YOU BELIEVE VERMONT'S BOTTLE DEPOSIT LAW SHOULD BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ALL BOTTLED BEVERAGES?
8
78
15
7
9) DO YOU SUPPORT THE FEDERAL LAW WHICH REQUIRES EVERYONE TO
HAVE HEALTH INSURACE?
9
48
38
14
10) SHOULD WIND TURBINES BE BUILT ON VERMONT RIDGELINES?
10
58
23
19
11) SHOULD STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS BE USED TO ALLOW VERMONT’S SCHOOL CHILDREN TO HAVE NUTRITIOUS MEANS?
11
79
13
8
12) SHOULD VERMONT LEGALIZE THE POSSESSION OF SMALL AMOUNTS OF MARIJUANA (2 OUNCES)?
12
49
40
11
13) SHOULD THE HIGH SCHOOL DROP-OUT AGE BE CHANGED FROM 16 TO 18?
13
57
27
16
14) SHOULD THE STATE OF VERMONT CONTINUE TO SUPPORT OUR WORKING FARMS AND FORESTS?
14
89
5
6
Montpelier,Vermont‘ 4.2.2012