a republican victory | vermont times | apr. 6, 1995
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8/11/2019 A Republican Victory | Vermont Times | Apr. 6, 1995
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A Rep u b l ic an Vic to ry
F~fleen.yearsago when yours tru~y first caught Bernie Sanders
Inacuon, there was one arrow m his quiver that didn't seem
to fit in with the rest. 01' Bernardo regularly fired off his
shots at the "big monied interests" the "rich multinational corpo-rations" and the "military industrial complex," but there was one
target he repeatedly railed against which didn't fit into the big pic-
ture he painted - "the regressive property tax." Having never
experienced the joys of homeownership, I didn't understand why
he was 50 mad at such an innocuous tax.
Fifteen years later, the property tax is at the center of Vermont's
political storm. Bernie has gone on La Congress, but his successor,
Mayor Peter Clavelle, is still firing away as he did Monday night in
his inaugural address,
"At a lime w hen property tax reform rem ains elusive," said
Mayor Mennie, "1retain a commitment to a lax system based on
the ability to pay, IfMontpelier continues to abdicate its responsi-
bility, we must be allowed to fend for ourselves,"Ah, yes, big bad Montpelier - state government personified,
But it isn't fair to lump all those political eggs in one basket. For
two consecutive years the House (where the Democrats hold the
majority) has passed in a timely manner significant property tax
reform legislation that tackles the unfairness in the current way
Vermonters pay the education bills, Both times the Senate (where
the Republicans rule the roost), have sat on their hands, turnedaway, and raised doubletalk to a new level of acceptability, Few
people are buying it.
There were plenty of examples of that doubletalk on last week's
"Switchboard" program on VPR. Republicans Lieutenant Governor
Barbara Snelling and Senator Sara Gear faced off against Senator
Peter Shumlin and Democratic Representative John Freiden. A
caller declared, "What I see are some bickering Republicans stran-gling the process of this reform,"
Babs quickly replied, "I don't think it's bickering Republicans
who are squeezing off the opportunities for reform, l think they are
saying there is a different way to reform, and they're not saying
they're not in favor of reform, They're saying property tax relief is
very important, because that will enable people to spend more
money on education,"First of all, "they" is "you," Babs. And secondly, this sudden love
affair you and Sara and your cohorts are having with the property
tax rebate program is about as believable as 01' Bernardo stepping
up to the mike and screaming for tax breaks for the rich, It doesn't
pass the laugh test,Last year the senate Republicans under Senator John Carron
(who's gone on to a career in banking) had House Speaker RalphWright to blame, They diverted attention to Ralphie's bullying
style, which the press ate up, This year there ain't no Ralph
Wright to blame, and the press has managed to keep on the
point.Babs and Sara have raised every smokescreen they could come
up with: loss of local control, damage to the state's fragile economy,
failure to address educational quality, the need for further study,
(We've got more studies on property tax reform than the Pentagon
has on the 8-1 bomber," quipped Shummy on VPR.) The Sisters of
the Status Quo appeared delighted with the Vermont-style Balkan
War that has erupted between the well-off ski towns and their
neighbors, Swell.Governor Howard Dean has expressed his "shock" and "disap-
pointment" at the demise of property tax reform, and he has
squarely laid the blame on "the abrupt about-face by Republicans
in the Senate that shocked everyone, including me."
Ho-Hos a nice enough guy, but he's more of a follower than a
leader. When the going gets tough, Ho-Ho usually bails out. He
says the courts will finally reform Vermont's education funding
system, But one couldn't help but imagine how a Governor BernieSanders would have handled this battle, Bernie doesn't bail. He'd
have publicly shamed Gear and the senate Republicans into
action or else left them with decidedly questionable political
futures. But Bernie's not the gov, and once again the Republicans
won.Different Priorities - Down in Washington, Newt Gingrich
and Co, may be out to chop funding for the National Endowmentfor the Arts, but under the Golden Dome the arts gets a little more
respect. The senate Institutions Committee has put a $150,000
appropriation for Burlington's Flynn Theatre in the capital bill.
According to Amy Tarrant, chair of the Flynn'S capital campaign
committee, the grant would be key to reaching their target of $4.38
million to qualify for a $500,000 matching grant from the Kresge
Foundation, According to Tarrant and Flynn Executive DirectorAndrea Rogers, Senator Jack Barry was instrumental in getting
them before the committee to make their pitch, The Flynn asked
for $103,800, Republican Senator Vince Illuzzi, who chairs the
committee, told Inside Track, "We're at $150,000; the House is at
zero, Ifwe come in at $75,000, we've accomplished our goal." This
week a house-senate conference committee is ironing out the dif-
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