Ethan Allen Institute

1. Ethan Allen Institute Did Your Representatives Vote for You? Holding Your Legislators Accountable

2. Who is representing me in Montpelier?

3. Looking up your legislator’s roll calls.

4. Tracking the bills.

5. Reading the bills.

6. Reading the journals.

7. EAI Roll Call Report – Simpler!

8. The House

9. 4.7% STATE SPENDING INCREASE (H.530) Passed House 91-49March 29, 2013Those members voting YES on the House version of the “Omnibus Appropriations Bill” voted to increase state spending by 4.7%. This is nearly 2 and a half times the rate of inflation, and continues an unsustainable pace of spending.

10. 4.7% STATE SPENDING INCREASE (H.530) Tom Burditt(R) - NO Bill Canfield (R) - ABSENT Stephen Carr (D) - YES Larry Cupoli (R) - NO Dennis Devereux (R) - NO Andy Donaghy (R) - ABSENT Peter Fagan (R) - NO Doug Gage (R) - NO Anne Gallivan (D) - ABSENT Bob Helm (R) - NO John Malcom (D) - YES Dave Potter (D) - YES Herb Russell (D) - YES Butch Shaw (R) - NO Tom Terenzini (R) - NO

11. $50 MILLION PROPERTY TAX INCREASE (H.265) Passed House 96-45February 19, 2013Those who voted YES on this bill voted to increase the residential property tax rate by $.05 per $100.00 of assessed value, and $.06 cents on non-residential property to $.94 and $1.44 respectively. The total impact to Vermont taxpayers is estimated at over $50 million.

12. $50 MILLION PROPERTY TAX INCREASE (H.265) Tom Burditt(R) - NO Bill Canfield (R) - NO Stephen Carr (D) - YES Larry Cupoli (R) - NO Dennis Devereux (R) - NO Andy Donaghy (R) - NO Peter Fagan (R) - NO Doug Gage (R) - ABSENT Anne Gallivan (D) - YES Bob Helm (R) - NO John Malcom (D) - YES Dave Potter (D) - YES Herb Russell (D) - YES Butch Shaw (R) - NO Tom Terenzini (R) - NO

13. $21.8 MILLION GAS TAX INCREASE (H.510) Passed House 105-37March 20, 2013Those who voted YES on this bill supported a $21.8 million tax increase on gasoline – a roughly 7.5 cent per gallon increase by 2014. This represents the largest gas tax increase in Vermont history.

14. $21.8 MILLION GAS TAX INCREASE (H.510) Tom Burditt(R) – ABSENT Bill Canfield (R) - NO Stephen Carr (D) - YES Larry Cupoli (R) - NO Dennis Devereux (R) - NO Andy Donaghy (R) - NO Peter Fagan (R) - YES Doug Gage (R) - NO Anne Gallivan (D) - YES Bob Helm (R) - NO John Malcom (D) - YES Dave Potter (D) - YES Herb Russell (D) - YES Butch Shaw (R) - NO Tom Terenzini (R) - NO

15. $27 MISCELLANEOUS TAX INCREASE (H.528) Passed House 85-55March 27, 2013Those who voted YES on this bill supported a number of tax increases on income, sales, tobacco, and rooms & meals totaling $27 million.

16. $27 MISCELLANEOUS TAX INCREASE (H.528) Tom Burditt(R) – NO Bill Canfield (R) - NO Stephen Carr (D) - YES Larry Cupoli (R) - NO Dennis Devereux (R) - NO Andy Donaghy (R) - NO Peter Fagan (R) - NO Doug Gage (R) - NO Anne Gallivan (D) - NO Bob Helm (R) - NO John Malcom (D) - YES Dave Potter (D) - YES Herb Russell (D) - YES Butch Shaw (R) - NO Tom Terenzini (R) - NO

17. STOP “RAIDS” ON TRANSPORTATION FUND(Koch Amendment to H.510)Failed in House 49-88March 27, 2013Those voting YES on this amendment voted to assure that no transportation funds will be appropriated for the support of government other than for true transportation purposes. This would have reduced or negated the need for a gas tax increase.

18. STOP “RAIDS” ON TRANSPORTATION FUND Tom Burditt(R) – NO Bill Canfield (R) - NO Stephen Carr (D) - YES Larry Cupoli (R) - NO Dennis Devereux (R) - NO Andy Donaghy (R) - NO Peter Fagan (R) - NO Doug Gage (R) - NO Anne Gallivan (D) - NO Bob Helm (R) - NO John Malcom (D) - YES Dave Potter (D) - YES Herb Russell (D) - YES Butch Shaw (R) - NO Tom Terenzini (R) - NO

19. STATE OVERRIDE’S LOCAL CONTROL, MANDATES PRE-K (H.270PassedHouse 95-43May 1, 2013Those voting YES on H.270 voted to saddle Vermonters with an estimated $10 million tax increase over the next five years, and to override local control regarding the decision of whether or not to offer publicly funded pre-kindergarten in the first place. When the legislature established publicly funded pre-k in 2007, it did so with the assurance to communities that funding pre-k would remain voluntary.

20. PRE-K MANDATE Tom Burditt(R) – ABSENT Bill Canfield (R) - NO Stephen Carr (D) - YES Larry Cupoli (R) - YES Dennis Devereux (R) - NO Andy Donaghy (R) - NO Peter Fagan (R) - NO Doug Gage (R) - NO Anne Gallivan (D) - YES Bob Helm (R) - NO John Malcom (D) - YES Dave Potter (D) - YES Herb Russell (D) - YES Butch Shaw (R) - YES Tom Terenzini (R) - NO

21. FORCE NON-UNION WORKERS TO PAY FEES TO UNION (S.14) PassedHouse 85-43April 26, 2013Those voting YES on S.14 voted in favor of forcing non-union workers to pay a fee equal to 85% of the dues unionized workers pay to the union, effectively using government power to require citizens to make payments to a private organization that they want nothing to do with. S.14 affects roughly 2,600 education, state and municipal employees, mostly low-wage support staff who can least afford the payment.

22. UNION FEES Tom Burditt(R) – NO Bill Canfield (R) - NO Stephen Carr (D) - YES Larry Cupoli (R) - NO Dennis Devereux (R) - NO Andy Donaghy (R) - NO Peter Fagan (R) - NO Doug Gage (R) - NO Anne Gallivan (D) - YES Bob Helm (R) - NO John Malcom (D) - NO Dave Potter (D) - NO Herb Russell (D) - YES Butch Shaw (R) - NO Tom Terenzini (R) - YES

23. The Senate

24. $50 MILLION PROPERTY TAX INCREASE (H.265) Passed Senate 17-10May 13, 2013Those who voted YES on this bill voted to increase the residential property tax rate by $.05 per $100.00 of assessed value, and $.06 cents on non-residential property to $.94 and $1.44 respectively. The total impact to Vermont taxpayers is estimated at over $50 million.

25. PROPERTY TAX INCREASE Peg Flory (R) - NO Eldred French (D) - YESKevin Mullin (R) - NO

26. $21.8 MILLION GAS TAX INCREASE (H.510) Passed Senate 23-5April 19, 2013Those voting YES agreed to increase the gas tax payed by Vermonters by roughly 7.5 cents per gallon via a 4% sales tax on the price of gasoline. They also voted to raise the tax on diesel fuel by 4 cents per gallon. It’s worth noting they voted to implement this tax in May of 2013 rather than use the usual July “effective” date in order to wring an extra $1.6 million out of taxpayers’ pockets.

27. GAS TAX INCREASE Peg Flory (R) - YES Eldred French (D) - ABSENTKevin Mullin (R) - YES

28. $9.49 MILLIONMISCELLANEOUS TAX INCREASE (H.528) Passed Senate 24-5May 1, 2013Those who voted YES on this bill voted to increase miscellaneous taxes on Vermonters by $9.49 million. Specifically, they voted to require Vermonters with adjusted gross incomes of $125,000 per year or more to pay a minimum tax of 3 percent, and placed a $12,000 cap on mortgage deductions. They voted to expand the state sales tax (6%) to bottled water. This legislation also included a $75,000 tax credit for the wood products industry, and a $500 tax credit for investing in the Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan.

29. MISCELLANEOUS TAX INCREASE Peg Flory (R) - NO Eldred French (D) - YESKevin Mullin (R) - YES

30. BLOCK PUBLIC SCHOOLS FROM “GOING INDEPENDENT”(COLLINS AMENDMENT TO H.521) Failed Senate 12-14May 9, 2013Those voting YES on this amendment voted to strip local control away from communities in regard to their current legal right to open an independent school in place of their local public school. The amendment empowers the State Board of Education to deny approval to any such independent school, regardless of whether or not that independent school meets all requirements for approval, and mandates that the Board do so.  

31. STOP TOWNS FROM CHOOSING TO TAKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS “INDEPENDENT” Peg Flory (R) - NO Eldred French (D) - YESKevin Mullin (R) - NO