VT Edition: Con Hogan & Steve Kimbell on the lawmaker/gubernatorial divide

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This year’s legislative battles have been pointed, starting right off in early November when Governor Jim Douglas proposed leasing the state’s lottery to fund education. Democrats and Progressives immediately began criticizing the lottery plan. Then in early February, House Speaker Gaye Symington proposed paying for property tax relief with $21 million dollars raised by eliminating a capital gains tax exemption. Governor Douglas was quick to reject the idea. How to decommission Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant has been an issue all session. And just last week, tempers rose between Senate Majority leader Peter Shumlin and IBM lobbyist John O’Kane over the cost of decommissioning.

Steve Kimbell is a lobbyist with Kimbell Sherman Ellis in Montpelier, and former state planning director under Governor Madeleine Kunin. Con Hogan headed the Human Services Agency under Governors Snelling and Dean, and now works with countries around the world to improve their government structure. They spoke with VPR’s Jane Lindholm about how deep the divides are between lawmakers and the governor.

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