Gov. Peter Shumlin's first State of the State address on Thursday was a homily on the lessons of Tropical Storm Irene.
One year into his first term as governor, Shumlin celebrated the state's triumph over the many adversities posed by the natural disaster, which destroyed 500 miles of state highways, dozens of bridges, 700 homes and the state office complex in Waterbury. Under his leadership, the ship of state has righted itself in just four months after the storm dealt a devastating blow to hundreds of families, crucial highway infrastructure, local businesses and municipal resources.
About two-thirds of the governor's speech, which he read from teleprompters at the podium in the House Chamber at the Statehouse, was dedicated to the Irene recovery effort. Shumlin praised Vermonters' ingenuity, pluck and fiscal prudence, and he declared that “the state of our state is strong. Vermont strong!”
Members of his administration packed the balcony, and lobbyists, advocates and officials filled the downstairs gallery. Outside the Statehouse, about 20 protestors representing Occupy Vermont handed out fliers calling for fair taxation. Shumlin's speech, which lasted about 37 minutes, was punctuated by at least 10 standing ovations from House and Senate members.
Shumlin acknowledged that many Vermonters have lost their homes, belongings and land as a result of the storm, and he pledged to help victims of the floodwaters “close the gap between your hopes and dreams that were washed away and the paltry $30,200 maximum reimbursement afforded you by our federal government.”
The governor thanked Vermonters who helped to raise millions of dollars for Irene victims. He announced to spontaneous applause that Tony Pomerleau had pledged $1 million to the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund.
In a plea for donations to the fund (“we have many miles to travel before we rest and many dollars to raise before we sleep”), Shumlin announced that the state would be selling a new “Vermont Strong” license plate and the proceeds would go toward the fund. “So buy one and put it on the front of your rig,” he said in an off-script aside from his written speech.
Shumlin also thanked VTrans workers, the Vermont National Guard, mayors of the worst-hit communities, recovery czar Neale Lunderville and Vermont's congressional delegation. He talked about one Rutland family's personal tragedy when two Rutland municipal employees, Mike Garofano and his son “Little Mike,” were swept away by Mendon Brook as they “braved the storm” to ensure Rutland's reservoir wouldn't be polluted by floodwaters.
“Today on behalf of our state, we honor two Vermont heroes, Michael Garofano and Michael Garofano Jr. with a promise we will never forget,” Shumlin said as Sally and Tommy Garofano, the widow and son of Michael Garofano, rose to a standing ovation.
Sally and Tommy Garafano, the widow and son of Michael Garafano, a Rutland City employee who lost his life along with their son Michael Jr. while checking a city water supply inlet during Hurricane Irene. VTD/Josh Larkin
Shumlin emphasized that “There are two Irene lessons we must seize from our experience over the past four months.” Those lessons include “breaking down silos” between government agencies and getting capital to entrepreneurs when they need it most.
Shumlin praised the “partnership” that the post-Irene emergency created between VTrans, the Agency of Natural Resources, private contractors and municipalities. He gave a shout out to Agency of Transportation workers and the heads of contracting firms who helped to restore damaged roads - “Team Casella, Belden, Wilk, Mosher and Markowski” who stood for a standing ovation.
“Contracting procedures were modified, access to stone and gravel was expedited; dangerous debris was removed from brooks and streams as engineers worked together with environmental experts to get the job done,” Shumlin said. “Projects that pre-Irene would have taken years got done in months; environmental quality was preserved; taxpayer dollars were saved; and roads and bridges were built to withstand the assault of extreme weather that looms even larger in our future.”
He rattled off a list of 11 businesses impacted by the storm that had reopened, thanks to his “simple” strategy of “getting credit to entrepreneurs when they need it most.” He cited the emergency low-interest loan program through the Vermont Economic Development Authority that distributed $15.3 million to 340 businesses and farms as the key to the post-Irene business recovery with “minimal bureaucracy and maximum effectiveness.”
Shumlin then launched a summary of seven, one-paragraph policy statements organized around Irene-related rhetorical flourishes. If, for example, Vermont could “rebuild our transportation infrastructure at 35 cents on the dollar, we can lead the nation in arresting the skyrocketing cost of health care.”
On the issues of education, agriculture, crime, economic development, health care, and broadband access, he implied that if Vermonters and his administration could rise to the very difficult challenge of Irene recovery, together they could accomplish politically difficult reforms.
The policy meat came six pages into the 10-page speech and included a promise to close the “connectivity gap,” build a health care system that arrests costs, make investments in higher education and specialty agriculture, win the “war on recidivisim” and require an “affordable and achievable” renewable energy portfolio standard “that sets a goal to obtain 75 percent renewable electricity in 20 years.”
He also said he would propose changes to the Prescription Drug Monitoring System that will enable law enforcement to fight the epidemic of opiate abuse.
The rest of the speech was dedicated to jobs. Shumlin took credit for Vermont's slow economic recovery and then ticked off a list of companies that are hiring workers.
“My administration and I commit ourselves every day to attracting entrepreneurs and growing jobs, one job at a time, as we slowly but surely grow our way out of the painful recession in our nation's history,” Shumlin said.
The end of the speech was punctuated by rhetoric about the fairness of Vermont's progressive income tax structure and a from-the-podium tweak of Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, who has proposed a tax on the wealthy and didn't join in the applause that greeted the governor's by-now familiar “no new taxes” line.
“Rep. Pearson isn't clapping because it's his birthday,” Shumlin quipped. The off-the-cuff remark generated titters from the audience.
Pearson said in an interview that it's nice to know that policies he's advocating for are getting attention “at the highest level.”
Absent from the speech were references to the replacement of the state offices for 1,500 workers who were displaced when the Waterbury state office complex flooded, plans for the new state psychiatric hospital, long-term infrastructure repair, the state's ongoing budget woes, protections for the most vulnerable or fallback plans for possible federal cuts to state-funded programs.
Climate change, which was a central issue for Shumlin when he served as President Pro Tempore of the Senate, didn't warrant a mention.
Sen. Anthony Pollina, D/P-Washington, said the governor painted a rosy picture and he “ignored the fact that there are many, many Vermonters who are struggling to make ends meet.”
“His perception is that because … we pulled together during Irene … that we're on the upswing,” Pollina said. “It's almost like he forgot about the 99 percent who were not included in the things that he mentioned.”
Louis Porter, Lake Champlain Lakekeeper for the Conservation Law Foundation, said Vermonters are grateful that the state's highways and bridges were repaired rapidly. But the stream management must be done carefully to protect rivers and streams and state infrastructure, he said.
“We need to make sure we don't simply cause more flood damage later,” Porter said. “Having to rebuild these same stretches of road time and time again because we aren't taking the science of river management seriously is not cheaper, it is more expensive. Hopefully, that is not what we will see at some of these sites where significantly more work was done than was necessary.”
The Republican candidate for governor, Sen. Randy Brock, R-Franklin-Grand Isle, said Shumlin's performance during the Irene crisis was “fine.”
“He did what governors are supposed to do,” Brock said. “Part of the response was successful because of the hundreds, if not thousands of Vermonters, private contractors, state employees and so on who did their jobs well.”
Brock didn't appear to appreciate the governor's centrist-to-right leaning rhetoric on tax and jobs policies, and the senator was critical of Shumlin's single-payer health care initiative.
“The single-payer health care system and the move towards it creates grave uncertainty that employers, even some of the ones he mentioned, who are concerned about the potential effect it has on their business, on their ability to respond,” Brock said. “That is also a program that I believe will represent an extremely large tax increase that will be spread throughout Vermont.”
As for the governor's promise not to raise taxes, Brock said, “One of the things that's very important when you listen to the governor speak on this subject, is watch not what he says, watch what he does.”