Governor Lepage 's Administration And The Vermont State

Lately myself and other members of the local ministerial association have joined the advisory board for our local Community Action Program. We are working together to create awareness of the programs available at CAP and have raised money specifically to be used for emergency housing needs.

In the December 2015 NPR article, “ 8 Things Congress Actually Did Last Year,” author Alisa Chang explains the actions of the Republicans who were incharge of Congress and avoid self-made crisis, such as government shutdowns, and create more accomplishments. Surprisingly,Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner were able to keep their promise on avoiding shutdowns this year. Congress has been doing a good job so far.

The report passed and was adopted. At this point, sever cosponsors were adopted and the bill entered its second reading in the Senate. During the Senate’s third reading of the bill it passed with 32 yeas and 16 nays. From there the bill was returned back to the House with no amendments. After this the bill was signed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The signing happened on April 11, 2017. Thuw far we are six days in, thus following four more days of inaction on the part of the governor the bill will become a law. The governor may also choose to sign the bill before the 10-day span ends, or veto the bill sending it back into the legislative

On January 20, 2018, the United States government shutdown when the Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act of 2018, a bill to fund the federal government, failed to pass Congress. The reason for this was due to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on a proposed extension to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy incorporated into the bill. In response, Democrats, those who supported the DACA extension, led a filibuster in the Senate that effectively halted any legislative progress on the bill. Despite Republicans enacting a a cloture vote, a vote to forcibly end a filibuster, it failed to garner the sixty votes necessary to end the filibuster. As a result, the government shutdown will furlough thousands of federal

According to NBC News’ article, “Sorry, we’re closed: Government shutdown ripples across the country,” published on October 1, 2013, written by Matthew DeLuca, it describes how many of the general population were affected when Congress members failed to reach a consensus regarding the government’s finances and budgets. The Senate rejected laws proposed by the Republican portion of the House, which led to delays in the cancellation of the Affordable Care Act. This shutdown lasted sixteen days, which angered many people. People were upset over the fact while they were going to work, the government workers were not showing up for work. During the shutdown, many Senators’ offices were closed, meaning they weren’t able to respond to requests from

It is sad that two different organizations had to shut their doors due to not having the funding to stay open. Both of the organizations that closed sound like they had a good purpose in mind and were there to help children when they were in need. The Children’s Home society sounds like an amazing organization that would be a great resource to help families. I like that they are dedicated to improving the quality of life for children in need and also offer support to their families. There are many organizations that will offer the support to the families but have limited support for the children.

There will be two million dollars in cuts, of which one million will be in transportation. Owensboro Public Schools plan to do joint work with Daviess County Public Schools in order to discuss combining the state budget and adopting joint priorities. I was pleased to see that two separate districts would be willing to work together on a common goal. Along with the discussion of money, the need for more technology was discussed. The district is in need of new educational technology which requires money that is not available. I could see the worry on several faces of those in

When people think of the government shutdown many think of quite simply the downfalls. This is most logically because the negatives of a government shutdown over power the positives. Just like most things though, there were some plus sides to the shutdown. Gingrich stated that the shutdown led to a balanced budget deal, and without the shutdown it may have never been arrived at (E. Green)

The legislature's set up allows for corruption to exist in the government. The government shutdown of 2013 ended after a "deal was reached in the U.S. Senate that included a provision that raised the spending cap on a dam construction project in Kentucky" (Hudak). In this case, "2.2 billion" dollars were set aside for this project (Almasy). CNN's article stated: "So much for a "clean" bill" (Almasy). Despite the fact that the major issue occurring was the government shutdown, Senator Mitch McConnell still pushed for his rider to be added to the bill. Salient issues are not being addressed

People might think that gridlock only exists today, given the many conflicts that have raged between Congress and President Obama and led to several government shutdowns. However, the author points out how gridlock also existed during President Bush’s presidency, which ended up being the main reason he broke his promise not to raise taxes and decided instead to agree with congressional Democrats to do so. President Clinton’s presidency was also characterized by much gridlock with congressional Republicans, which explains why he was unable to pass his healthcare reform act through

The Vermont region was explored and claimed for France in 1600’s, and the first French settlement was established at Fort State Anne in 1600’s. The first English settlers moved into the area in the 1700’s and built Fort Dummer on the site of present day. Vermont state animal is a Morgan Horse It was discovered by Justin Morgan that is how it got the name Morgan horse after a famous teacher it died from a kick that was untreated in 1821. Vermont became the 14 state of the American flag it was discovered by Native Americans in 1791. In the late 1800’s many European immigrants came to work in Vermont’s marble and granite quarries. The state mineral is talc. The state is the gross garnet it is called that because of its color.

State agencies submit their requests to the governor in October. Public hearings are held in February and March. The governor shows his or her proposed budget to the state legislature in February. The legislature adopts a new budget in May. A majority vote 2/3 of the Senate is required to pass a budget. The governor has line item veto authority. Line item veto is when an executive authority decides to nullify specific parts of a bill, usually a budget bill. The governor is legally required to submit a balanced budget proposal, but the legislature is not required to pass a balanced budget. The governor ultimately controls the budget. The legislative branch can oversee the executive by overturning votes on the budget, and also has the ability to overturn the governor’s line item veto or veto. The governor also has limited appointment power he has to have consent from the senate before he can appoint anyone. This gives the legislative branch an advantage; many governors have to consult with key legislators before making formal nominations. The confirmation process allows executive branch appointments to be used by legislatures to gain influence on governors and their policies. The governor also has to have majority vote to pass a budget nomination before the entire Senate body.

The state of Illinois has been far from transparent in terms of detailing its budget distribution. The Department of Human Services (DHS)did not receive a clear summary from Governor Bruce Rauner detailing the specifics about where he would spend money (Spielman, 2015). Community Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois condemned Governor Rauner 's lack of transparency. CBHAI is a statewide association of mental health, substance abuse and youth service providers. Marvin Lindsey, CEO of CBHAI said “The epic political standoff between Republican Governor. Bruce Rauner and Democratic lawmakers has left the state without a full budget since last July. As a result, the state 's mental health service infrastructure "is being destroyed." (Fortino, 2016a)

As usual, the deadline to fund the government is the end of September. It was the context brought about the introduction of the legislative action. The legislation addressed a problem because the government was shutdown one time in 2013 “that brought government operations across the country to a halt for 16 days”. By approving a short-term spending bill through December 9th, Congress averted a government shutdown, and allowing lawmakers to avoid a crisis and return home to campaign.