8/11/2019 A Republican Victory | Vermont Times | Apr. 6, 1995

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A Rep u b l ic an Vic to ry

F~fleen.yearsago when yours tru~y first caught Bernie Sanders

Inacuon, there was one arrow m his quiver that didn't seem

to fit in with the rest. 01' Bernardo regularly fired off his

shots at the "big monied interests" the "rich multinational corpo-rations" and the "military industrial complex," but there was one

target he repeatedly railed against which didn't fit into the big pic-

ture he painted - "the regressive property tax." Having never

experienced the joys of homeownership, I didn't understand why

he was 50 mad at such an innocuous tax.

Fifteen years later, the property tax is at the center of Vermont's

political storm. Bernie has gone on La Congress, but his successor,

Mayor Peter Clavelle, is still firing away as he did Monday night in

his inaugural address,

"At a lime w hen property tax reform rem ains elusive," said

Mayor Mennie, "1retain a commitment to a lax system based on

the ability to pay, IfMontpelier continues to abdicate its responsi-

bility, we must be allowed to fend for ourselves,"Ah, yes, big bad Montpelier - state government personified,

But it isn't fair to lump all those political eggs in one basket. For

two consecutive years the House (where the Democrats hold the

majority) has passed in a timely manner significant property tax

reform legislation that tackles the unfairness in the current way

Vermonters pay the education bills, Both times the Senate (where

the Republicans rule the roost), have sat on their hands, turnedaway, and raised doubletalk to a new level of acceptability, Few

people are buying it.

There were plenty of examples of that doubletalk on last week's

"Switchboard" program on VPR. Republicans Lieutenant Governor

Barbara Snelling and Senator Sara Gear faced off against Senator

Peter Shumlin and Democratic Representative John Freiden. A

caller declared, "What I see are some bickering Republicans stran-gling the process of this reform,"

Babs quickly replied, "I don't think it's bickering Republicans

who are squeezing off the opportunities for reform, l think they are

saying there is a different way to reform, and they're not saying

they're not in favor of reform, They're saying property tax relief is

very important, because that will enable people to spend more

money on education,"First of all, "they" is "you," Babs. And secondly, this sudden love

affair you and Sara and your cohorts are having with the property

tax rebate program is about as believable as 01' Bernardo stepping

up to the mike and screaming for tax breaks for the rich, It doesn't

pass the laugh test,Last year the senate Republicans under Senator John Carron

(who's gone on to a career in banking) had House Speaker RalphWright to blame, They diverted attention to Ralphie's bullying

style, which the press ate up, This year there ain't no Ralph

Wright to blame, and the press has managed to keep on the

point.Babs and Sara have raised every smokescreen they could come

up with: loss of local control, damage to the state's fragile economy,

failure to address educational quality, the need for further study,

(We've got more studies on property tax reform than the Pentagon

has on the 8-1 bomber," quipped Shummy on VPR.) The Sisters of

the Status Quo appeared delighted with the Vermont-style Balkan

War that has erupted between the well-off ski towns and their

neighbors, Swell.Governor Howard Dean has expressed his "shock" and "disap-

pointment" at the demise of property tax reform, and he has

squarely laid the blame on "the abrupt about-face by Republicans

in the Senate that shocked everyone, including me."

Ho-Hos a nice enough guy, but he's more of a follower than a

leader. When the going gets tough, Ho-Ho usually bails out. He

says the courts will finally reform Vermont's education funding

system, But one couldn't help but imagine how a Governor BernieSanders would have handled this battle, Bernie doesn't bail. He'd

have publicly shamed Gear and the senate Republicans into

action or else left them with decidedly questionable political

futures. But Bernie's not the gov, and once again the Republicans

won.Different Priorities - Down in Washington, Newt Gingrich

and Co, may be out to chop funding for the National Endowmentfor the Arts, but under the Golden Dome the arts gets a little more

respect. The senate Institutions Committee has put a $150,000

appropriation for Burlington's Flynn Theatre in the capital bill.

According to Amy Tarrant, chair of the Flynn'S capital campaign

committee, the grant would be key to reaching their target of $4.38

million to qualify for a $500,000 matching grant from the Kresge

Foundation, According to Tarrant and Flynn Executive DirectorAndrea Rogers, Senator Jack Barry was instrumental in getting

them before the committee to make their pitch, The Flynn asked

for $103,800, Republican Senator Vince Illuzzi, who chairs the

committee, told Inside Track, "We're at $150,000; the House is at

zero, Ifwe come in at $75,000, we've accomplished our goal." This

week a house-senate conference committee is ironing out the dif-

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