Research Reports Gubernatorial Forum 10/27/2008

Affordable Housing

The stories and concerns from our congregations and communities have highlighted the need for more housing that is affordable for Vermont families. As people of faith we believe that everyone deserves a place to live and call their home—somewhere safe where they can raise their families and have dignity. Although we are thankful for all the hard work by the legislature and the Governor, we believe that more needs to be done to ensure that all Vermonters have a safe place to live and raise a family.

First, let me clarify an often misperceived term: Affordable Housing.  Housing is considered “affordable” if the household is paying no more than 30% of their income for rent and utilities or for mortgage, taxes and insurance. In other words, housing should be affordable for those in all income brackets.

In 2008, the Vermont Housing Council and Vermont Housing Awareness Campaign published “Between a Rock and Hard Place”, a report which highlights the struggle between Vermonters wages and their housing expenses. It noted that the price for a median home in Vermont in 2007 reached $201,000. For this to be “affordable” a Vermont household would need an annual income of $65,000, as well as $14,000 in cash for closing costs and a 5% down payment. But 65% of Vermont’s households have incomes below $65,000. Median home prices are out of reach for average Vermont families.

Vermont renters are in no better shape. Vermont has the second tightest rental housing market in the nation, and the highest rate of homelessness in New England. The average rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment in Vermont reached over $836/month, which would require an income over $33,000. The report notes that 66% of Vermont’s employees, over 175,000 people, work in occupations where median wages fell below that income. In fact, 1 in 8 Vermont renters are paying over 50% of their income towards rent.

The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (known as VHCB), was created to help pay for the development of affordable housing. Last year this vital fund was proposed to be cut by $5.2 million. Although the money was eventually restored to the budget, many believe VHCB is consistently underfunded. According to the most recent numbers Vermont needs over 20,000 more affordable rental units and an additional 12,900 owner-occupied units by 2012. As demands rise and families cannot find a place to live, we need political leadership and moral values that will make housing a priority for all of Vermont’s families.

Home Heating

Winter is a wonderful season for Vermont’s economy with our popular ski mountains and snowy landscapes.

Nevertheless, winter brings hardships for many Vermonters. Living expenses in Vermont are already high, and winter brings the increased cost of heating our homes.  According to the Vermont Fuel Price Report, in October 2007 heating oil was on average $2.56/gal. This October heating oil averaged $3.78/gal—an increase of over 30%. Those who heat with propane have seen an increase of over 20% in costs over the same one-year period.

Oil and gas prices over the last few weeks have fallen as our National economy has suffered. But no one knows if prices will continue to fall, or spike suddenly as they did this summer. Many Vermonters are wondering how they are going to make it through this winter as temperatures drop, food prices rise and wages remain stagnant. Are families going to have to choose between heating their homes, feeding their children, or buying a winter coat?

As people of faith we believe that no one should have to make these impossible choices. As people of faith we believe in “doing unto our neighbor as we would have done unto us,” and in the dignity of a human being. No one should freeze alone in their homes. Someone needs to help.

In September, we met with Hal Cohen, the executive director of Central Vermont Community Action Council (CVCAC).  He expressed similar concerns about the choices facing Vermonters, noting that more families than ever (from higher income brackets) are visiting food shelves across the state.  Usage is up 93%. He also noted that CVCAC has already given $25,000 this summer and early fall to families seeking assistance from last winter’s debt.

We are thankful for the hard work of our elected officials in securing a total of $36 million for the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (popularly known as LIHEAP). According to a recent Rutland Herald article, applications to LIHEAP are up 10% from last year, and the program will cover 24,000 Vermont homes. LIHEAP pays 60% of home heating bills for those who are eligible, requiring them to pay the other 40%, and the program helps those who fall below 125% of the federal poverty level, an income of roughly $10,400 for a single person, and $21,200 for a family of four.

Although this program is generous, what programs are in place to assist those Vermonters earning more than 125% of poverty who still need help, and how will Vermonters who are eligible for LIHEAP this year afford the skyrocketing cost of oil, as prices have soared by over 40%? Is there the political leadership in Montpelier necessary to ensure that no Vermonter freezes in their home this winter?

 Environmental Research Report

When it comes to the environment, Vermont already has a strong record of doing the right thing. According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, in 1970 Act 250 was adopted to promote a cooperative approach to large scale development on a statewide level in response to the first interstate highway. The law’s aim was to prevent air pollution and soil erosion, promote energy conservation, and discourage scattered development by requiring a project be located nearby existing settlements.

Collectively our faith traditions implore us to act as stewards of the land, as well as to live in harmony with all things that exist, and this includes, but is not limited to the trees, rivers, lakes, oceans, air, and all of earth's creatures, as well as other people. The following comes from Koheleth Rabbah, a collection of homilies based on the book of Ecclesiastes. It leaves us with a crucial charge: “Preserve this beautiful world for your descendants, for if you fail to do so, there will be no more chances to restore it.”

The rising price of oil is in one sense a burden for many, but it can also be viewed as the impetus for a historic opportunity to refocus our attention on creating a world where we all live sustainably. According to a sweeping report released by the Center for American Progress and authored by researchers from the UMass Department of Economics, if the US government were to invest $100 billion dollars over two years in six key areas of green and sustainable development — including advanced biofuels — the result would be the creation of 2 million high-paying jobs across nearly all sectors of employment.

This represents four times the amount of jobs that would be created if that same $100 billion were invested in the oil industry for things like more offshore drilling. These green jobs would include the manufacture and installation of renewable energy technology, the manufacture of electric cars, efficient construction of new buildings, deconstruction of old buildings, weatherization of current buildings, public transportation expansion, wood heat expansion for a transitional fuel, local food production, and the manufacture of local products that are currently shipped from points far away. The list goes on and on.

Switching from dependence on oil also means exploring other sources to meet Vermont’s energy needs while protecting the environment. One possible source is nuclear power. In fact, the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon provides a third of the energy consumed in Vermont. But the facility has been plagued with problems for some time now. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has uncovered numerous safety problems, including two recent cooling tower leaks, and a panel has been appointed by the state legislature to study the condition of the plant to consider its future operation. As people of faith, we believe the production of energy must not come at the expense of the destruction of the environment or the safety of human beings.

In Vermont we are in a position to act as a leader and mentor for the rest of the country with regard to green jobs and alternative energy sources that are protective of our environment. It’s important that we keep the positive momentum going forward. We are excited to hear how you, the candidates, will support this progress.

Health Care

Good evening.  Tonight I am here to talk about health care.  From the more than 900 conversations we had with members of our congregations from 2004 and 2005, reducing barriers to affordable healthcare was one of the three issues that emerged.  This was presented at our Founding Convention in June 2005, an event attended by over 950 people including Governor Douglas and Representative Symington.

With this concern in mind, we believe we were instrumental in the passage of Catamount Health.  In the spring of 2006, our clergy leaders participated in a press conference in Montpelier urging our legislators and Governor Douglas to support and sign into law an insurance program that would address the lack of health care coverage for Vermonters.  This legislation was enacted in May 2006 under the title of Catamount Health.

Beginning in the fall of 2007, as a member of the Vermont Campaign for Healthcare Security, we began an outreach and education program among members of the faith communities to enroll uninsured Vermonters in the Catamount Health program and in other programs for low income persons.

Since then, we have given presentations in fifteen communities and shared resources in dozens more.   As we talked to Vermonters without insurance it became clear that the cost and some criteria for enrolling in the program were keeping them from doing so.

By far the most prohibitive component of the program is the cost.  For example, for a person making over $31,000 per year, who does not qualify for any assistance because he or she is just above 300% of the federal poverty level, the cost is $4,716 per year or 15% of his or her income.  The result is that for individuals at that income level, according to the September 2008 Green Mountain Care Enrollment Report from the Vermont Agency of Human Services, only 691 have enrolled.

Overall, about 6,000 Vermonters have enrolled, including those with assistance.  We recognize that this is an improvement.  However, approximately 60,000 Vermonters remain uninsured.

VIA supported Catamount Health because we believed that it was a step in the right direction, while recognizing that it was not a perfect program.  In our conversations with Vermonters we also heard that the 12 month waiting period forces some people to give up current plans and risk being uninsured for a full year in order to get on Catamount.

For those enrolling before November 1, 2008, there is no exclusion for pre-existing conditions.  However, those enrolling after that date may find that their pre-existing conditions will not be covered for the first 12 months.

As people of faith called by our traditions to protect the well-being of every person because we are each created in the image of God we believe that:

Ø      The cost of Catamount Health must be addressed

Ø      The 12 month waiting period must be eliminated 

Ø      The pre-existing conditions exclusion must also be eliminated

All of the above would result in increased costs to the state.   We realize that the demands on state funding are many and keep increasing, and that Vermonters are already heavily taxed.  We believe, however, that when legislators have the political will to do so, changes can be made.

According to a report by Paul Cillo of the Public Assets Institute (www.publicassets.org), based on 2006 Vermont Department of Taxes data, $5 to 10 million could be raised through an additional 1% tax on income over $1,000,000. From 2001 to 2006, those with an income of $1,000,000 or more made up the fastest growing income class in Vermont, doubling from 226 to 492.  Their total income nearly tripled from 507 million to 1.4 billion.