Legislative Wrap-Up: Part Two

Here's the second part of last week's Legislative Wrap-up.

Over the last two years, I have been very concerned about our lack of focus on the growing and already burdensome cost of living in Vermont.  While the Governor will tell you that we didn’t raise broad based taxes, we did raise fees to the tune of nearly $15 million dollars, which is virtually unprecedented. 

We failed to restore the General Fund transfer to the Education Fund, which will translate into local school boards having to either cut budgets, or ask for a three-cent, across the board increase.

We passed consecutive budgets that increased spending, and did so with one-time federal money at a time when our business and families are doing more with less. To me, this is a failure of the public trust between our government and its citizens.  That’s not to say that there weren’t items in either of the fiscal packages that I would have supported as standalone measures, however, when Vermonters are struggling to find work and pay the bills, we need to set an example, not be the exception.

I was also very much against the super-majorities interpretation of the federally mandated "Healthcare Exchange," which I will explain at length in a later letter.

Permit reform died in the late stages of the session, thanks to the anti-growth environmental lobby, like those in our community who opposed Wal-Mart. I think that anyone who’s paying attention in Vermont understands that our system is unpredictable, unfriendly and unsustainable.

After all, it was Governor Shumlin, a Democrat, who floated the idea of modest changes to the Act 250 process that would have allowed for the same amount of input and appeal, but expedited the process.  This is the type of common ground we should all look for, but all too often in Montpelier, those on the furthest side of the spectrum control the conversation, and common sense compromise ends up falling to the wayside.

This brings me to the biggest disappointment of the session:  the failure of the House and Senate to agree on how best to increase access to the prescription drug monitoring system for the Department of Public Safety.

I fought for and sponsored prescription drug abuse legislation from the time I took my oath to the last fall of the gavel. In some areas, we made great strides. Thanks to our work, we will begin to see permanent drug take-back locations across the state. We will begin to set up a statewide network for opiate addiction counseling and rehabilitation. And we will start to close the market for stolen property, by reforming the way pawn shops, metal dealers and others record sales and purchases.

But these steps alone simply were not enough. In the waning days of the session, a stalemate developed between the House and the Senate as to how best allow the DPS to interact with the state Prescription Drug Monitoring System.  This is an issue that I will discuss in much further detail in a future letter, but the short version is this:

Currently, a law enforcement officer can walk into any pharmacy in the state and request drug records. It is information that the Supreme Court has ruled time and time again is privy to search, because the state regulates these dangerous drugs and many of them pose a serious public safety risk.

We’ve seen in St. Albans what can happen when these powerful narcotics are abused and diverted.  For two years, I worked side by side with Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn and members of the Governor’s office to grant the state’s four highly trained Drug Enforcement Task Force agents access to these same records via the state database.  This access would have cut the investigation time fivefold and increased patient privacy immensely, while giving the agents 21^st-century tools to do what is becoming an overwhelmingly important job across the state.

As I’ve said before, Governor Shumlin deserves ample credit on this issue. I was proud to stand with him and his administration, as well as those in the Senate, who understand the problem and the need to act and act now. 

The work I did in the Legislature was on your behalf. All public servants, as they end one term and consider another, should look back on the vows they made during the campaign and compare them to what they’ve actually done. 

I ran to work to keep spending in check, to advocate for responsible economic development and policies that would work toward that end, and perhaps most importantly, find ways to fight together against prescription drug abuse and the crime it has brought to our state and city.

With that in mind I’ll take a few weeks to consider the future and how I can best serve the part of our state that I love so dearly.  This fall promises to be a very important election and no matter where I throw my hat, I promise to fight for the common sense, moderate values that were instilled in me by our community, and which I brought with me to the state house every day.

Thank you again, for the support and encouragement.

Rep. Dustin A. Degree

St. Albans City