FW Vermont Report June 8 — Correction

In the June 8 edition of the Vermont Report, I wrote:

As campaign season in Vermont begins to heat up, it’s worth pointing out that 78 Vermont House members voted to continue allowing public school districts to raid the State Education fund to start up u-pre-k programs, not just for four year olds, but all three-and-four-year-olds! So, double your property tax paying pleasure!

To see how your legislator voted, go to:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/database/status/rcdetail.cfm?Session=2006&RollCallID=3778
A “Yes” [bold underline added] vote means the legislator voted to allow school districts to expand the public school system by two years at property taxpayers’ expense.

Actually, a “NO” vote means that the legislator voted to allow school districts to expand the public school system by two years at taxpayer expense. The Branagan Amendment would have stopped the school districts from taking money out of the Ed fund for new U-Pre-K programs by placing a moratorium on that practice. So, the 78 number is correct, but the 78 voted “no” not, yes.

Sorry for the error. For further clarification, here is how the final vote tallied:

The “Good Guys”
Those who voted in the affirmative are:
44 R, 5-D
Adams of Hartland R
Allaire of Rutland City R
Allard of St. Albans Town D
Baker of West Rutland R
Bartlett of Dover R
Branagan of Georgia R
Canfield of Fair Haven R
Chen of Mendon D
Dates of Shelburne R
DePoy of Rutland City R
Donaghy of Poultney R
Donahue of Northfield R
Endres of Milton R
Errecart of Shelburne R
Gervais of Enosburg D
Helm of Castleton R
Houston of Ferrisburgh R
Howrigan of Fairfield D
Hube of Londonderry R
Johnson of Canaan R
Kennedy of Chelsea R
Kilmartin of Newport City R
Koch of Barre Town R
Komline of Dorset R
Krawczyk of Bennington R
Larocque of Barnet R
Larrabee of Danville R
LaVoie of Swanton R
Lawrence of Lyndon R
Louras of Rutland City R
Marcotte of Coventry R
McAllister of Highgate R
McFaun of Barre Town R
Morley of Barton R
Morrissey of Bennington R
Niquette of Colchester R
O’Donnell of Vernon R
Otterman of Topsham R
Parent of St. Albans City R
Peaslee of Guildhall R
Reese of Pomfret D
Smith of New Haven R
Sunderland of Rutland Town R
Turner of Milton R
Valliere of Barre City R
Westman of Cambridge R
Winters of Swanton R
Winters of Williamstown R
Wright of Burlington R

The “Bad Guys”
Those who voted in the negative are:
R- 5, D -73
Acinapura of Brandon R
Ancel of Calais D
Aswad of Burlington D
Atkins of Winooski D
Audette of S. Burlington D
Barnard of Richmond D
Bohi of Hartford D
Bostic of St. Johnsbury R
Botzow of Pownal D
Brennan of Colchester R
Brooks of Montpelier D
Clark of Vergennes R
Clarkson of Woodstock D
Condon of Colchester D
Copeland-Hanzas of Bradford D
Corcoran of Bennington D
Cross of Winooski D
Darrow of Dummerston D
Deen of Westminster D
Dostis of Waterbury D
Edwards of Brattleboro P
Emmons of Springfield D
Evans of Essex D
Fallar of Tinmouth D
Fisher of Lincoln D
Frank of Underhill D
French of Randolph D
Grad of Moretown D
Green of Berlin D
Haas of Rochester P
Head of S. Burlington D
Heath of Westford D
Howard of Rutland City D
Hunt of Essex D
Hutchinson of Randolph D
Johnson of South Hero D
Keenan of St. Albans City D
Keogh of Burlington D
Kitzmiller of Montpelier D
Klein of East Montpelier D
Kupersmith of S. Burlington D
Larson of Burlington D
Lippert of Hinesburg D
Maier of Middlebury D
Malcolm of Pawlet D
Marek of Newfane D
Martin of Wolcott D
Masland of Thetford D
McCullough of Williston D
McLaughlin of Royalton D
Milkey of Brattleboro D
Miller of Shaftsbury D
Minter of Waterbury D
Molloy of Arlington D
Monti of Barre City D
Mook of Bennington D
Myers of Essex R
Nease of Johnson D
Nitka of Ludlow D
Nuovo of Middlebury D
Obuchowski of Rockingham D
Orr of Charlotte D
Partridge of Windham D
Pearson of Burlington P
Perry of Richford D
Pillsbury of Brattleboro I
Potter of Clarendon D
Pugh of S. Burlington D
Randall of Troy P
Rodgers of Glover D
Rusten of Halifax D
Seibert of Norwich D
Shand of Weathersfield D
Smith of Morristown D
Sweaney of Windsor D
Tracy of Burlington D
Trombley of Grand Isle D
Zuckerman of Burlington P

Those members absent with leave of the House and not voting are:
R – 11 D/P – 11
Clark of St. Johnsbury R
Donovan of Burlington D
Dowland of Holland P
Dunsmore of Georgia R
Flory of Pittsford R
Hosford of Waitsfield D
Hudson of Lyndon R
Jerman of Essex D
Jewett of Ripton D
Kainen of Hartford R
Leriche of Hardwick D
Livingston of Manchester R
Lorber of Burlington D
Marron of Stowe R
Martin of Springfield D
Miller of Elmore R
Pellett of Chester D
Peterson of Williston D
Severance of Colchester R
Sharpe of Bristol D
Shaw of Derby R
Young of Orwell R

Rep. Endres of Milton explained his vote as follows:

“Madam Speaker;
Our taxpayers have made it clear that they want the Education Fund used for K-12 public education. However, we need to answer the question of publicly funded pre-K education once and for all. This amendment simply suspends newly funded programs from being started until the study is completed and the next legislature acts. It is the fiscally responsible thing to do.”

Also FYI, the final tally on Prop 82 in California regarding was a crushing 61-39 landslide defeat for Universal Public Preschool.

If you have any questions regarding this issue, please don’t hesitate to contact me at rroper@freedomworks.org, or 802-999-8145.