Living and Working in Burlington Vermont

The Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission issued their report this morning with its examinations on our tax system and recommendations on tax reform. (Find details at http://www.vermonttaxreform.org/.)

The Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce was an early and enthusiastic supporter of convening a Blue Ribbon Tax Commission to review the antiquated and patchwork system that defines Vermont’s current tax code. We have followed the work and deliberations of the Commission, providing written and in-person testimony along the way.

We support the principles outlined by the Commission – fairness, competitiveness, simplicity, and ensuring that every taxpayer is paying something into the system. As the Commission releases its final report and the analysis commences, the Chamber will consider each of the recommendations proposed. Since the reforms will likely produce winners and losers among our members we anticipate assisting policymakers in understanding the diversity of their perspectives. Staff will ensure that those voices are heard in Montpelier as law makers consider various recommendations.

The Chamber is committed to ensuring that whichever reforms are passed do not have unintended consequences that place Vermont at a competitive disadvantage. The goal of this reform must be that our state is better positioned than it was before and that the changes are durable and can live well into the future.

Please contact me with any questions at tom@vermont.org or (802) 863-3489 ext 202.

State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan recently announced the appointment of a Special Deputy State’s Attorney to oversee his office’s investigation into the Burlington Telecom debacle. I applaud that decision.

First of all, the choice of Robert Simpson as the Special Prosecutor is a brilliant move. As a former prosecutor and regulator, Mr. Simpson is uniquely qualified to assume oversight of the investigation. Additionally, his reputation as a fair arbiter of facts is beyond reproach. While he held elected office as State’s Attorney, his tenure was non-partisan and the decisions coming out of his office were based on the rule and interpretation of law. Whatever the outcome of his review of BT, no one will be able to point to the decision and charge political motivation.

The second reason to cheer this move is that it is high time to put this issue to rest. This city and our region have been caught up in the morass of BT for far too long. It has dominated the press and the City Council and has hampered efforts to move forward on other critical issues facing the region. The Moran Plant, tax burden, broad-based economic development, and the city’s credit worthiness have all been touched by the lack of resolution on this matter. Reputations have been impugned and the cloud of mistrust that has emerged between elected officials has no place in Vermont or in the City of Burlington. On a related note, the employees of BT have worked diligently and with professionalism under the glare of an unflattering spotlight. Their fortitude has been incredible and they deserve better.

So, our thanks go out to State’s Attorney Donovan for moving this investigation along and we eagerly await the outcome of Mr. Simpson’s work. Whatever the result, we must be prepared to move on.

As we go about our holiday preparations and celebrate with family and friends, please take time out to consider those who are without the support systems that many of us take for granted. Consider those who live out on the streets, cold and without shelter in the worst of Vermont’s winter. Homeless shelters are at critical mass; food shelf programs are stretched; more Americans than ever are on food stamps; the food line at the Salvation Army extends around the block. On my way to work earlier this week with the thermostat hovering around 20 degrees, I witnessed a homeless person huddled and trying to sleep in the doorway of a vacant office building.

Vermont has always prided itself on the depth of its private sector philanthropy. We have stood tall even in the toughest of economic times ensuring that the most needy had basic services to survive. It is more important now to give than ever before.

I forgot who said it, but to paraphrase: "A society is measured by how well it takes care of its most needy." So, during this season of giving, let’s prove once again that the Lake Champlain Region will be judged well by those that come after us. For if we do, our holidays will be most certainly joyous.

As noted in a recent article in The Economist, the French author and philosopher Victor Hugo remarked that “nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.” Prophetic words as we contemplate what the Vermont legislature has before it this year. In fact, there are a few ideas whose time has arrived and we will all be watching and participating in the debates. First and foremost, state government will need to return to a sustainable spending trajectory. Unless we significantly increased the presence of value-added businesses and the tax revenues that are derived from them, programs near and dear to someone will have to be curtailed or cut. We have many promises to keep to our most needy, to our civil servants, to our youth, and to the elderly. Keeping those will require tough choices on other fronts. We cannot tax our way out of this situation.

Speaking of taxes, another idea ripe for coming to fruition is a restructuring of our tax system. It has served us well over the years and the cobbling done by administrations and legislators to meet immediate and exigent needs deserves our thanks and respect. But all systems mature and finally outlive their ability to be massaged. Such is the current reality. The Blue Ribbon Commission will release its recommendations soon and we will all find things to like and dislike among their suggestions. Every one of us has an affirmative obligation to consider the common good and put aside purely territorial imperatives. In the long run we will all benefit. The time has come to take the long view - one that extends beyond the two year election cycle.

Finally, the issue often described as the third rail, health care reform, cannot be ignored. Rates rising 20% per year, state sponsored programs that are not self-supporting, providers reimbursed at less than 50% of actual costs, and deductibles at $5,000 and above cannot be condoned in the greatest country and greatest economy in the world. Solutions will be elusive and no one can expect to be held harmless from change.

For the Chamber’s part, we commit to working towards a collaborative solution. We will have to compromise, whether it is on state budget issues, tax policy, or health care. We hope and expect that others bring the same openness to the debate.

In Vermont and across this great country we enjoy freedoms that others simply dream of. What we stand for brings legal immigrants to our shores and causes others to accept inconceivable dangers to cross our borders illegally. It is fitting that on Veterans Day that we take a moment to thank every person who has worn a uniform in defense of our country and in support of our freedoms. Without these folks willing to serve, our state and our country would be a very different place.

“Anyone who wants to go to war has not experienced it,” my uncle, a WWII veteran of D-Day, would say as I was growing up. That’s about all he would say about his service. The medals that he won…. we found out about those after his death. Those same sentiments were echoed by my father, a disabled veteran of that same era. Today, we have men and women fighting in the Middle East. standing guard on the borders of other hot spots across the globe, and still others serving proudly in our state in the National Guard and Reserve.

The Chamber recently lost a member or two because we support outfitting the Vermont National Guard with the newest planes and technology. While it is hard to lose members for any reason, I guess to lose a few in support of folks willing to stand watch on the walls of freedom until there is really a ‘war to end all wars’ is a small price to pay.

Thank you, American soldiers.

We have a new governor, Peter Shumlin. Whether you are a democrat, republican, progressive, independent or lean towards any other political party, we all must remember that he is our governor. Partisan differences, especially those fueled by a difficult campaign, have to be put aside. Vermont faces many hurdles: the budget deficit; youth flight; rising crime and drug problems; the high cost of living and on and on. We cannot address even one of these successfully if we conduct our politics and policy debates as if we were inside the Washington D.C beltway.

Gridlock is not an option. Vermont’s history has been to rise above petty differences and work for the common good. We need unity now more than ever. On behalf of the Chamber, I will commit to retain our focus on issues and substance rather than sound bites and personal affronts. Vermonters expect us to act this way and we will not disappoint.

It seems that not a month goes by without the actions of the US Chamber of Commerce causing a degree of consternation for some our members and, through them, for your LCRCC. While we staunchly support the rights of groups to express the views of their members, we do take exception with the recent style and tonal quality of US Chamber message. Their support for a particular candidate in an upstate New York Congressional race embodied what most Vermonters would consider the worst elements of negative campaigning. These types of ads serve only to cheapen the debate and to lower the level of intellectual discourse.

Your Chamber has always believed that through education and issue-based advocacy, the electorate will make wise choices consistent with their best interest. Our job is to provide information, interpret it when asked, identify fact from opinion, and let our members make their own choices. We have shied away from political endorsements, preferring instead to publish politicians’ answers to our candidate surveys. (We also let our members know who refuses to answer our surveys. Folks can draw their own conclusions.) Our government affairs staff do not engage in polemics, preferring instead to take a reasoned approach to discourse. Folks who prefer to hear screaming pundits can listen to MSNBC, FOX or any other the news and radio shows that operate in an overly caffeinated manner.

We wish that the US Chamber of Commerce would handle their government affairs work differently. However, as an independent association they have the right to conduct their work as they deem to be in their members’ best interest. They do it their way; we do it our way. As for our membership in the US Chamber I must point out that there are member-based associations in Vermont that can be characterized as being to our left and to our right where we have both stylistic and policy differences. We remain members of some of these groups. By being connected to all sides of the debate we more fully understand the many voices of the business community, of our members and of Vermonters. In turn, this helps us be the best advocates we can be for a thriving private sector economy.

On a recent trip I had to good fortune to be seated with three foreign-born executives, two who make their living in the United States and another who hopes to leave the European banking world to work here. Each was from a different country, countries we read about almost daily, but that remain for many of us an enigma if not a mystery: Pakistan, India and Turkey. As the evening unfolded, our conversation moved into the potentially touchy territory of how the United States is perceived in developing countries and in rapidly emerging economies. Each person was quick to differentiate their views on specific U.S foreign policies from their affection for American people and, interestingly, from what our country offered them and continues to offer the rest of the world. One line “It is not who you are it is what you represent” crystallized for me that America remains the beacon of light for the rest of the world. It was spoken by a woman who, while she loves her country, has applied for American citizenship. She noted proudly how in the United States she can hold on to her cultural heritage (much in the same way that my immigrant grandparents did) but fully participate in commerce, community and policy. She is a very senior executive and she openly practices her Muslim faith at work. She encounters no ill will or discrimination. Another, the CFO of a major international financial institution, noted to me that in the United States “education equals equality." Here, he said, it isn’t about where you are born or the socio-educational status of your parents, it is about the quality of your brain and your innate desire to get ahead that propels your success. Not so in his country. The third member of our dinner circle was an aerospace engineer. He came to this country to work, saw a market niche, started his own small business and now heads a globally recognized company. His life, he pointed out, would have taken a very different path had he not come to the United States to work. Three very different people, all of whom love their native countries, but three people for whom America embodies the spirit captured in the lady that stands in New York Harbor.

I tell this story to remind all of us that, having come through this past brutal and sometimes distasteful political season, we cannot allow ourselves to forget that the United States stands, in the words of President Kennedy, to all of those seeking a better life “as watchmen on the walls of freedom” and that Vermont still remains that place described by Calvin Coolidge: “…If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the Union, and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont.” We are better than our dialogue, better than our political ads, and better than our seemingly feckless policy. Just ask those who yearn to come here.

Thanks. Your comments are always welcome.

It is always difficult as a non-partisan organization such as ours to talk about legislators who have stood up for the principles that our membership views as important without appearing to endorse someone’s candidacy. However, in fairness, there are legislators from our region who, consistently over the years, have advocated for the fundamental proposition that healthy businesses grow healthy communities and have demonstrated such by their advocacy of our platforms.

Within this year’s Chittenden and Grand Isle Senate contests, there are incumbents that deserve to be so noted. Year in and year out the Lake Champlain Chamber government affairs team has relied on Senators Miller, Snelling and Mazza to forge legislative solutions that promote a thriving private sector economy while ensuring that Vermont’s troubled and disadvantaged are protected. We have not always agreed with their every vote on every piece of legislation. However, each has taken the time to listen and to find common ground.

Senator Miller is a former Chair of the Chamber Board; Senator Snelling currently serves on the Board and Senator Mazza has served as a personal mentor to many in the business community. Our region would be a far different place, one not so well off, without their continued support and guidance.

Last week I wrote about the Senate Economic Development Committee’s work to restructure the Unemployment Insurance fund in the face of push back from all sides.

This week it would inconceivable not to write about the work of the Senate Appropriations Committee and their support of the Vermont Convention Bureau. Some may question why supporting an enterprise that brings thousands of room nights to Vermont that otherwise would go to other states takes courage. Well, the unexplainable reality is that the Department of Tourism and Agency of Commerce have for the past two years refused to provide any support to the Bureau making Vermont the only state that, in some way, does not support its Convention Bureau.

Last year the legislature appropriated the money requested by the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber for the support of the VT Convention Bureau. This year, Representative Heath of Westford, who is the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, once again got the ball rolling by putting in half of the necessary funds. Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee led by Senators Shumlin and Bartlett, in the midst of the toughest recession that this state has ever seen, found and added the remaining money. These Senators understood that the ability to fill hotel beds, to fill seats in restaurants and to fill tourist venues directly returns real tax money to the state coffers. These Senators did this in the face of opposition from the administration and in light of the many others who were clamoring for money.

Please take the time to drop each member of the Senate committee and Representative Heath a note of thanks. Far too often we only take time to tell them when we disagree with their actions. Fair is fair. They really deserve kudos this time.