Voices from the week's news - April 4, 2008
Friday April 4, 2008
Patti Daniels
Colchester, VT
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(Host) Around the state this week we've been talking about roads, and the mythic-sized potholes that mark our morning commute.
At the Statehouse, a health care reform bill passed the House, and speculation grew about a three-way race for governor.
And the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant was debated, as was the role of superdelegates in the Democratic presidential primary.
These are some of the voices in the news this week:
Rough Roads: Aging transportation network a hurdle for State road repairs
(House Transportation Chair Westman) "The roads are getting worse. And they're going to continue to get worse. In this year's budget although they'll tell you there's over 250 miles treated, some of that is just what they call crack and seal, you go and fill the cracks. In actuality, this budget only has 98 miles of paving on the state highway system. We have 3,200 miles of road. So what that really means is we're on a track to pave roads, a mile every 32 years."Health care legislation moves forward in Vt House
(Rep. Steve Maier) "It's fair to say that none of us are completely satisfied with what we've been able to bring forward this year but much more needs to be done in health care yet we know that these next steps represented by H887 are good and that we must continue to sustain our progress in health care reform."Lawmakers push for independent review of Vermont Yankee
(James Moore, VPIRG) "The office of Inspector General said they don't trust the way that they NRC is operating right now. The proof is in the pudding we've seen accidents there that an quality inspection should have been able to identify and fix before they happened unfortunately what we've seen is what's been looked at there hasn't been enough."
(Vermont
Yankee spokesman Brian Cosgrove) "It would push back the whole Public
Service Board process for looking at license renewal at Vermont
Yankee. We're under some time constraints here because Green Mountain Power and
CVPS need time to plan Vermont's energy future and if there's uncertainty about
whether Vermont Yankee will be available to be a part of that mix that creates
a lot of problems for people."
Symington
considering a gubernatorial bid
(House Speaker Gaye Symington) "As I make those kinds of assessments I will do that in the context of a 3 way race and I would only run if I was convinced there was a path to winning."
(Progressive Anthony Pollina) "And why is it under Mr. Affordability agenda that we're living under, people are not only paying more for health care we're paying a lot more for health care."
(Gov. Jim Douglas) "Well I suppose if I were challenging an incumbent I'd talk about change - Vermonters do want change - and I'm leading the effort to secure it for them."
Vermont Democratic super delegates want candidate chosen before convention
(Congressman Peter Welch) "If the vote of the people across this country was reversed by super delegates in back room dealing or muscling on the Michigan and Florida primary situation, it would create a lot of bitterness. So I think the best advice for the super delegates is pay the most attention to who got the most votes, who has the most elected delegates in the caucuses and primaries."© Copyright 2008, VPR
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