Douglas for governor

Vermont's financial books are balanced. The state is appropriately focused on attracting jobs and controlling the cost of living. Serious efforts are under way to find funding to repair roads and bridges. The environment, particularly cleaning up Lake Champlain, remains a priority.

Gov. Jim Douglas deserves credit for this solid state of the state and has earned another term as the state's chief executive.

The theme of the governor's re-election campaign strikes home for many Vermonters: Affordability. Housing is expensive; college tuition is a stretch for families; health care is out of reach for some; and property taxes are a growing burden to homeownership.

In his two terms in office, Douglas has struggled with lawmakers to address these problems in a way that taxpayers in this small, rural state can afford.

Many lawmakers wanted to increase the gasoline tax this year to pay for road repairs. Douglas disagreed, noting the increase would hit low-income and working Vermonters hardest. A reasonable compromise to raise certain fees to pay for transportation projects was struck.

Some lawmakers wanted a single-payer health care system for Vermont. Douglas disagreed, noting that it would require crippling tax increases to fund. A reasonable compromise to expand coverage to more uninsured Vermonters using Medicaid and the private insurance system was struck.

Douglas supported a $175 million, 15-year scholarship program to keep young Vermonters in-state for college and employment. He lost that battle, but prompted the Legislature to approve a $10 million scholarship program with a similar mission. Bravo.

The governor led the effort to pump $103 million into the Clean and Clear program to improve the water quality of Lake Champlain, worked with lawmakers to find $8.6 million to help dairy farmers after spring flooding, and joined with University of Vermont President Daniel Fogel to promote Vermont as a great place for environmental firms to do business.

While he has supported smaller scale wind power projects, Douglas stood against industrial wind turbines on the mountaintops. The governor has taken heat for this position, but he's right. Vermont's undeveloped ridgelines are a precious treasure to be protected always.

Douglas has been disappointing on some fronts. His opposition to expanding wilderness in the Green Mountain National Forest was shortsighted and out of touch with the state's environmental ethic, for example. He was slow in coming around to open government legislation. And he hasn't been as aggressive in fighting to preserve family dairy farms as the state's agricultural community deserves.

The governor's call to put a cap on local school spending unless overridden by a supermajority of voters is also misguided. Local spending decisions should be made locally. However, Douglas deserves credit for making sure voters understand the impact their spending decisions have on their property tax rates.

Democrat Scudder Parker has run an aggressive campaign focused largely on the state's need to promote energy conservation and renewable sources of power. That has been an important message that Douglas should take to heart as he leads this state into an uncertain energy future.

However, Parker's strong support of widespread ridgeline wind development is troubling. His desire for yet another significant reform of the health care system would undo the carefully negotiated Catamount Health program passed this year. And his solutions for controlling property taxes -- helping schools become more energy-efficient, and reducing employee health care costs -- are valid, but too long-range to meet today's concerns.

Parker ran a vigorous campaign and kept his incumbent opponent on his toes. That's a good thing.

But Douglas has stayed focused on a moderate agenda to keep more young people in Vermont and employed in higher-paying jobs, allow Catamount Health to work before considering additional health care reforms, and essentially control state spending to protect the taxpayers' wallets.

Douglas has earned Vermonters' support on Nov. 7.