(Continuing our practice throughout the campaign, this candidate diary is promoted to the front page. – promoted by Sue Prent)

Green Mountain Daily Readers,

I wanted to extend a personal thank you for your engagement in the election process. I have enjoyed interacting with you all and also reading your posts. For those of you who have endorsed me or encouraged me or worked on my campaign, I thank you.

For those working on other campaigns, I thank you, too – it is important to participate and it has been inspiring to see so many Vermonters getting involved in this election at all levels.

My goal from the beginning was to run a grassroots, Vermont-style campaign, and that’s what I did. I am proud of that, and I know it was the right choice for me. Over the course of the last year, I have hosted or participated in over 200 events, houseparties, and forums, and I’ve had the chance to speak personally with thousands of Vermonters. Perhaps even more importantly, close to 600 volunteers have reached out to their friends, families, and neighbors through my campaign to ask what issues are important to them and to encourage them to get involved and to vote. This past weekend alone, we have called over 10,000 Vermonters – all with volunteer help. My campaign has not done any paid phonebanking. It has been Vermonter to Vermonter right from the start.

I know that together, we can make Vermont an even better place than it already is, and I look forward to working with all of you to turn that vision into action.

I hope that you will vote on Tuesday, and I would be honored if you would vote for me.

If you are still deciding, there is a lot of information on my website: http://dougracine.com/. You can also call my campaign headquarters at 802-655-1700.

I’d also like to extend an invitation to you all to join me at our Election Night Party at the Burlington Hilton in the Green Mountain Ballroom. All are welcome.

And, a reminder to join all of us at the Unity Rally at Noon on Wednesday at the Train Station – Main St. Landing in Burlington.

Thanks again,

Doug Racine

GMDers-

I thought you might be interested in this event. It should be a good time!

– Doug Racine

An Evening with Joe Trippi

Tales from the Trails & Forecasts for 2010

Monday August 2nd

7:30 pm – 9 pm

Burlington Country Club Banquet Room

568 South Prospect St, Burlington, VT  05401

$40/individual or $75/couple – http://www.actblue.com/page/tr…

Light hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Cash bar.

Joe Trippi – heralded on the cover of The New Republic as the man who “reinvented campaigning” – is widely recognized as one of America’s leading and most influential political strategists. In 2004 he won Wired Magazine’s Rave Award for his use of innovative technology in politics. Leading Internet companies, from Yahoo!, to Google, to Bebo invite him to speak to their employees and affiliates. Trippi is the author of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, the Internet and the Overthrow of Everything the story of how his revolutionary use of the Internet combined with an impassioned, contagious desire to overturn politics-as-usual grew into a national grassroots movement – and changed the face of American politics forever. He is currently consulting on the Racine for Governor campaign.

(Promoted pursuant to our policy of front-paging diaries from candidates for statewide office. – promoted by Jack McCullough)

I just got word that Governor Douglas has allowed S.88 to become law without his signature. Thank you to everyone who worked with me to get this bill to his desk and made into law.

I am pleased that S.88 has been allowed to become law today. It is the essential next step for health care reform in Vermont. I am proud that, as chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, I was able to craft this bill with the help of many legislators and advocates, and to achieve a non-partisan, strong majority vote in both houses. I made a promise in the fall to move Vermont forward in addressing our health care crisis, and I kept that promise.

I am disappointed that the governor pointed to the anticipated design work as a reason for his refusal to sign the bill. Jim Douglas should understand what most Vermonters do, which is that our health care costs are out of control and access to affordable health care is becoming more difficult every day.

S.88 offers hope that Vermont can lead the way once again by charting our own course and showing that quality, affordable health care can be available for all Vermonters.

I look forward to the process that will happen over the summer and fall, and as governor, I will implement the best design option.

–Doug Racine

http://dougracine.com/  

(Continuing GMD policy of promoting diaries by officeholders and officeseekers. – promoted by kestrel9000)

Today I voted against the budget that was presented to the legislature for approval. The budget as presented – along with “Challenges for Change” – still has an $8 million hole in it. The legislative budget writers chose not to address this hole, but rather to leave it for the administration to fill however they choose.

A few days ago the legislative leadership held a press conference to announce that they would include a mechanism in the budget to use rainy day funds if the administration could not come up with proposals that the legislature could agree to for the needed savings. However, this mechanism was not included in the final bill. Further, the governor may cut up to 1% of the state workforce at his discretion.

In terms of the budget hole, the budget bill gives unprecedented authority to the governor and his administration. Even if the legislature’s Joint Fiscal Committee does not agree to the proposals presented, the governor can go ahead with cuts.

I cannot support an unbalanced budget, and I do not support giving the legislature’s authority to set the budget to the administration.

http://dougracine.com/

(GMD’s policy is to promote diaries from officeholders and officeseekers. – promoted by kestrel9000)

Sent this press release out tonight….

Senate gives final approval to the health care reform bill

MONTPELIER, VT – The Senate gave final approval to S.88, the Healthy Vermont bill, and sent it to the Governor. The final Senate vote was 25-4. The bill calls for the state to hire an expert to create three design options for a health care system for Vermont, with one option being a single payer system and one being a public option. The third option is open, so the expert can explore different models and give Vermont choices.

The bill seemed to be tied up in political wrangling during the afternoon, but was brought to the floor for a vote late in the evening. Senator Doug Racine (D-Chittenden), chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, had ushered the bill through the legislative process. Reporting the bill on the floor, he reminded Senators of what they were voting on, saying, “This bill is about fundamental health care reform, so we can have universal coverage that is affordable for all Vermonters.”

Racine had worked to build consensus on the bill, and the strong vote reflected the coalitions that had been built. “This bill reflects good work by the committees in both the Senate and the House and productive feedback from interested citizens and groups,” Racine explained. “I am proud of our work and look forward to working to implement our new health care system next year.”

The bill will now go to the Governor, who can either sign the bill, veto it, or let it become law without his signature.

Just got S.88 done with a 25-4 vote. Now it goes to the Governor. Will have more details on my website soon. – Doug Racine

http://dougracine.com/

(Continuing our practice of promoting diaries by statewide candidates to our front page, here is the latest from Doug Racine: – promoted by Sue Prent)

Yesterday, the House passed S.88 – the Healthy Vermont bill – but they changed it from the Senate version one more time. Although they retained the Senate changes to get the bill back to its original intent of hiring an expert to design three options for a health care system for Vermont, they put language the Senate had voted to remove back into the bill. This provision requries the reporting of drug sample gifts to doctors. Sometime soon (it’s hard to tell exactly when), the Senate will have a final up-or-down vote to accept the bill. If we vote yes, it will go to the governor’s desk. If we vote no, the bill is likely dead for this year.

I am working to get the bill passed in the Senate because we need this fundamental health care reform work done this year. The bill now calls for 3 designs for the governor and the legislature to look at next year – one is a single payer design, one is a public option design, and the third is left open, so the designers can look at different models and be creative.

We have taken out the requirement that the House wanted that said that each design must have “ACO’s” (accountable care organizations) or “Community Health Teams” – the bill now says the designer may consider these, but they are not required.  

Last fall I made a promise to move Vermont forward on health care reform, and S.88 will do just that. Early next year, we will be looking at the design options and preparing to implement the best design for Vermont. I want one of my first acts as governor to be working to implement Vermont’s new health care system, so that all Vermonters will have affordable, quality health care whenever they need it, and we will be working to contain our costs so that we know we will be able to continue to provide health care to all Vermonters in the future.

I will be voting to support S.88, and I will be working to encourage my colleagues in the Senate to support it also.

Will you help? Many of you have worked for more than a year to build the momentum we needed to finally make progress on health care reform in Vermont. Now that we are so close, your action can make the difference. The vote will likely be close in the Senate. Please ask your Senators to support S.88.

-Doug Racine

http://dougracine.com/

(Doug, thanks for fighting for this one. Jack – promoted by Jack McCullough)

GMDers – thanks for the calls – Doug

MONTPELIER, VT – Senator Doug Racine (D-Chittenden) today offered an amendment to the budget bill on the Senate floor. Racine’s amendment proposed to use some of the state’s “rainy day funds” to fill the hole that exists in the budget as proposed to the Senate. On the floor, Senator Tim Ashe (P-Chittenden) proposed a slight change to the proposal – so the amendment as offered stipulated that if “Challenges for Change” did not result in the needed $38 million in savings for FY11, any remaining budget gap would be filled with the reserve funds.

“Let’s put this money into the budget, continue with the Challenges process, but make sure the expenses are covered and pass a responsible budget,” Racine urged.  

He explained his reason for offering the amendment by saying, “I have heard two different stories about how Challenges for Change is going to work. The first story is that we are going to find these savings before we go home, and it will all be worked out. I don’t believe that will happen.

“The second story is that we’re going to walk out of here having faith that the process will get us where we want to go. That would be abdicating our responsibility,” Racine insisted. “The fact is, the budget in front of us is not balanced, and it is our responsibility to pass a balanced budget. This amendment would get us there.”

The budget that was presented assumes an additional $38 million in savings from the Challenges for Change process, which will continue at least through the rest of the week, and possibly longer. “This budget has the potential to do serious damage to Vermont by cutting services for our most vulnerable neighbors, reducing funds to economic development programs, and shifting corrections costs to local communities.”

In addition to Racine and Ashe, nine other senators voted to support the amendment – not enough for it to pass.  Joining the two in supporting the bill were Senators Cummings, Hartwell, Illuzzi, Kittell, MacDonald, McCormack, Starr, and White.

Racine later voted against the budget on the Senate floor, explaining his final vote by saying, “This budget would have us take the easy way out. I cannot vote for a budget that is not balanced. It is our responsibility to balance the budget, and we are letting Vermonters down by giving that responsibility to the administration.”

The budget will now proceed to a conference committee, and the Senate will work on the Challenges for Change bill in the coming week.

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http://dougracine.com/

(Continuing site policy of promoting diaries by officeholders and office-seekers. – promoted by GMD)

(posted by Amy for Doug)

Today I voted against a provision of this year’s tax bill. The proposal to the Senate was to raise $10 million for the general fund through property taxes. Vermont decided several years ago to insitute a statewide property tax to pay for public education. We made a promise to Vermonters that we would not use the property tax to pay for general fund expenditures.

I intend to keep that promise. The proposal that was before us in the Senate today would shift part of our state’s budget problems to local property taxpayers. That is why I spoke up and voted against it. Five of my colleagues – Republican and Democrat – voted with me because they understand the implications of using property taxes to pay for things that have not been education fund expenses. This proposal would take money away from schools and put it in the general fund.

The result will be local property taxpayers blaming their schools for their rising property taxes. It is very difficult to balance the budget, and this is the easy way out, but it balances the budget on the backs of local communities.

I say we must instead face the situation that we are in and take a balanced approach to balancing the budget. We must balance the budget openly and fairly – with a combination of cutting where we can and using revenues that have already been paid by Vermont taxpayers – the rainy day funds.

-Doug Racine

http://dougracine.com/

( – promoted by JulieWaters)

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend the Farm to Plate summit, held in Rutland. This event was part of a process that began last year with legislative action that was part of the Recovery Act economic development stimulus bill. This bill was largely crafted in the Senate Economic Development committee, on which I sit, and the House Commerce Committee, with input from the House and Senate Agriculture Committees on this part of the bill. The bill included $100,000 for the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) to develop a 10-year strategic economic development plan for the agricultural sector in Vermont. Much work has been done to date, and Saturday’s event was both a report and an opportunity for Vermonters to offer their feedback on the plan as it is shaping up.

I was encouraged to see over 300 people at this event, and to find out that more than 800 have participated so far in the process led by the VSJF. I was further encouraged by the presentations by both Ken Meter, the keynote speaker, and Ellen Kahler, director of the VSJF.

Although Ken’s presentation had some distressing statistics regarding the decline of the agricultural sector over the past several decades, these same statistics showed the incredible potential that is right here in Vermont to both stimulate our economy and promote good health in our communities. Ellen’s presentation of the VSJF’s research further confirmed this great potential. I am looking forward to the VSJF’s final report, and I am looking forward to working to implement the recommendations they come up with.

In the jobs bill that just passed the Vermont senate, we again included funding to continue the VSJF’s work on the Farm to Plate initiative (as well as funding for farm-to-institutions and farm-to-school, and to get the Vermont Seal of Quality restored). Ellen also pointed out in her presentation that several private funders have contributed as well. This investment is critical for us to build a strong local food system in Vermont, increase our resilience and independence as a state, and get our economy growing.

Already in Vermont, there are over 54,000 jobs that are related to our food system. This is 20% of all private sector jobs in the state. The potential to increase the number of jobs in this sector is great. In order to do this, though, we must invest in infrastructure, and also find ways to allow more direct sales between farmers and consumers. Also, we must get more local food into our grocery stores, restaurants, schools, and institutions. We have done much already in this area, but we have really only scratched the surface of what is possible. With a good 10-year plan in place, we will be able to focus our efforts in this area, and I look forward to doing that as governor.

-Doug Racine