The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 11

Sli? urlinijt0tt Thursday, March 19, 1981 A Increase Would Fund Women's Shelters House Bill Raises Marriage License Fee Vermont Roundup for the funds 'This is only a drop in the bucket," said Rep. Virginia Lancaster, R-Barnard, a co-sponsor of the measure. "It is not going to do as much as needs to be done but it is a beginning." Ms. Sarcka said the money would be distributed upon request to about a dozen1 domestic violence projects. The funds will be used for emergency services such as transportation and phone calls, Ms.

Sarcka said. "We will need a trial year to see what groups request," she said. By DAVID KARVELAS Free Press Capitol luraou MONTPELIER Prospective new-lyweds would help subsidize programs for battered women by paying $10 more for a marriage license, under a bill approved Wednesday by the House. The measure, which increases the cost of getting married from $6 to $16, was drafted by House Speaker Stephan Morse, R-New-fane. It is designed to raise up to $60,000 a year to help fund services provided by spouse abuse programs throughout the state.

Rep. Robert Starr, D-North Troy, op The state recorded more than 5,000 marriages in 1980, and officials predict the number may reach 6,000 this year. The bill, which is expected to receive final approval today, will be sent to the Senate for consideration. 'This is the first money made available through the state to these groups," said Anne Sarcka, executive director of the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women. The money collected would be deposited with the state treasurer and administered by the commission.

The commission would establish minimum standards to be met by groups applying posed raising marriage fees to subsidize abuse projects. "Most marriage problems are related to money," Starr said. "If you start draining their pockets before they get married it could create problems sooner." House members rejected an amendment that would have raised the state tax on wine to pay for the programs. Rep. Harold Billings, I-Rutland, sponsored the amendment because, "I think alcohol has a greater contributing factor to the battering of women than a marriage license." Six states fund domestic violence projects through marriage fees.

Legislators Get Ready To Override Snelling Subcommittee OKs Bill to Save Dairy Subsidies The Associated Press A compromise bill that would save dairy farmers from plans to delay price support increases was approved by a House subcommittee Wednesday. The bill co-sponsored by Rep. James Jeffords, would establish a dairy support price of 75 percent of parity. Farmers now receive about 74 percent. The measure also would allow the support price to increase to 80 percent, the maximum now provided by law, if the national dairy surplus is sufficiently reduced.

The Reagan administration has proposed to delay a scheduled April 1 price support increase to 80 percent. The House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry approved the compromise bill 7-6. The bill is expected to come before the full Agriculture Committee today. Meanwhile, the dairy price support bill initiated by the Reagan administration is expected to come up on the Senate floor today. Sen.

Patrick Leahy, predicted Wednesday that the bill will be decided on a close vote. Leahy said many senators feel the administration is moving too fast. Jeffords said his compromise measure is "not an assault on the administration's economic programs." "It's simply a recognition that the dairy portion of the program can be improved he said. I Uwv "''i-fU A'-4 If V' -Mr" -f? i mmw By DAVID KARVELAS Free Press Capitol Bureau MONTPELIER A group of House members set its sights Wednesday on overturning Gov. Richard Snelling's first veto of the year.

The measure, which was passed overwhelmingly by both chambers, would exempt movie theater owners from a 3 percent sales tax on film rentals. Snelling rejected the bill Tuesday, saying the state could not afford to give up the roughly $200,000 a year in revenue that would be lost through the exemption. He criticized the measure as "special tax relief for a specific industry." A two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate is required to override the veto. "We sense there are a lot of people disturbed by the veto," -said Rep. Michael Bernhardt.

R-Londonderry, a co-sponsor of the bill. 'There are some questions as to the governor's reasoning." Lawmakers who back the bill were mustering their forces in hope of picking up the needed number of votes. Any bill vetoed by the governor must be returned for another vote to the chamber where it originated. The issue is expected to reach the House floor Friday. Snelling, a third-term Republican governor with few ties in the GOP-controlled Legislature, can expect little support from members of his own party.

One of the governor's chief blocks of support will come from Democrats, many of whom opposed the measure when it came to the House floor. Rep. Althea Kroger, D-Essex Junction, said she will work to sustain the governor's veto. The bill was approved overwhelmingly earlier in the session on a voice vote in the 150-member House. If at! House lawmakers voted on whether to override the veto, it would take 100 votes to keep the issue alive and send it to the Vermont Legislature Another battle over abortion rights is expected to break out in the Senate as the Judiciary Committee votes today on legislation that would allow only doctors to perform the medical procedure.

The committee locked 3-3 Wednesday on an amendment that would have allowed physician's assistants to perform abortions only if a doctor is present Page SB Senate. Twenty legislators from the 30-member Senate would be needed to snub Snelling's veto and turn the measure into law. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Windsor, was the lone opponent of the bill during debate earlier this year. Many House lawmakers complained the governor did not study the issue adequately and failed to give advance notice of his objections.

House Speaker Stephan Morse, R-New-fane, said he will follow the advice of the Ways and Means Committee on when to bring the issue to the floor. Bernhardt and his colleagues on the Ways and Means panel agreed the bill should be dealt with immediately. 'There was a unanimous sense of the committee that it should be reassessed on the floor," he said, predicting the vote "would be very close." The real test of support for the bill will come in the House, where legislators approved the measure over opposition from a group who shared Snelling's concerns. Snelling would have to convert 10 senators and keep Welch's support to prevent the bill's passage. The governor vetoed one bill during the 1980 session that would have given the Legislature greater say in how the administration sets regulations.

The veto came after the close of the session, however, and lawmakers were not given a chance to override it. Mayoral Recount Unchallenged The deadline for challenging Free Press Photo by STU PERRY Fare Dancer I last Friday's Burlington mayor-f al rac-e recount passed I Wednesday with no papers Mideastern dancer Sabeth performs for students in the Harris-Millis lounge at the University of Vermont during the UVM Ethnic Heritage Faire, which continues this week. Democrats Still Spinning Political Wheels "Tom (Crowley) is the real problem," tee ana a spot on the Joint Fiscal Committee. filed by Mayor Gordon Pa-quette or his attorney, Chittenden County Superior Court Clerk Frank Fee said. A spokesman for Allan Bruce, Paquette's attorney, said he has not been in touch with the mayor, who is vacationing in Florida.

Mayor-elect Bernard Sanders survived last week's recount, losing 12 votes from his 22-vote plurality. After the recount, Sanders' attorneys said they were satisfied no major infractions of election laws had occurred at the city elections March 3. Sanders is to be inaugurated April 6. TO Behind The News said Sen. Mark Kaplan, D-Chittenden, who sponsored the bill.

"I'm convinced if he voted for the bill it would have passed." Republicans have treated Crowley well, making him a committee chairman and going along with his wishes on some legislation. "It's a blessing in disguise" that Democrats did not win control of the Senate, said Crowley, who works both sides of the political aisle. "There shouldn't be any party discipline here." Crowley attributes some of the problems to Sen. Robert Daniels, D-Chittenden, a liberal college professor who is known for having a lot of ideas but not being very good at getting them passed. "We don't have a strong history of party discipline," Daniels said.

"I think it's too early to tell," Mrs. Kunin said. "Some of the budget issues which will come later will probably be a better test." She also thinks the Republicans' days of running things are numbered. "We are laying the groundwork for the future and the rebirth of the Democratic Party," Mrs. Kuninaid.

"It's still a pretty exclusive club," quipped Crowley. There were other vote changes, reportedly involving Republican S. Seeley Reynolds of Addison and another Democrat. When the Democrats could not win control of the committees, the Republicans were guaranteed their hold on the important panels, such as Appropriations, Finance and Judiciary. A test of Democratic strength came Tuesday, when three Democratic senators, including Crowley, bolted the party to vote against a bill requiring companies that close up shop or move out of state to notify their employees 60 days in advance.

Votes on labor issues have always been among the most partisan votes where two-thirds of the members of one party line up against two-thirds of the members of the opposition. The runaway shop bill was no different organized labor supported it and it did not cost the state any funds. "I was watching that vote," Sen. Stewart Smith, Rutland, said. "It was the first test." But Crowley and Democratic Sens.

Kermit Smith of EssexOrleans and Francis Howrigan of Franklin bolted the party line and the bill was defeated, 17-13. By SCOTT MACKAY Free Press Capitol Bureau MONTPELIER When the Democrats picked up four seats in the Republican-controlled Senate in the 1980 election, there was a lot of talk among Democrats and a bit of worry among GOP senators that big changes were in store for the tradition-bound chamber. With Republicans holding a 16-14 edge, Democrats even hoped they might wrest control of key legislative committees. With Democratic Lt. Gov.

Madeleine Kunin empowered to break tie votes. Democrats thought their decade of being the party on the outside could be over. Almost three months have passed in the 1981 legislative session, and nothing has changed for the beleaguered Senate Democrats. "Remember all the talk about how all the new Democrats were going to come in here and change things?" Sen. Robert Bloomer, R-Rutland, the Senate's most powerful Republican, asked Wednesday.

"What he quipped, walking down the hall to the Judiciary Committee he chairs. Dog Registration Due by April 1 April 1 is the deadline for A combination of a lack of party discipline among Democrats, the non-partisan tradition of the Vermont Legislature and the wheeling and dealing of Sens. Thomas Crowley and Douglas McSweeney, both D-Chittenden, have kept Democrats from flexing any political muscle they got from the election. The problems for the Democrats began the first day of the session in January, when they failed to win control of the three-member Committee on Committees, which doles out the political plums and committee assignments. McSweeney traded his vote to the Republicans for a seat on the Judiciary Commit dog registration in Vermont.

All towns and cities require dogs to have new licenses on April 1 of each year. Owners must present neutering and spaying papers to qualify for a cheaper fee, which varies throughout the state. Any dog vaccinated against rabies before April 1, 1979, must have another shot to get a new license. Motor Vehicles Chief Reappointed The Associated Press Group Home Hearing Canceled Due to Protests I that- thn riAurlif nrnnf ruled that the newly owned by Dick's father, Arthur Dick. It would MONTPELIER Motor Vehicles Commissioner Wil liam Conway has been reap recently proposed home would face no zoning obstacles at the North Street and Lincoln Avenue site, Jordan said he understands there are conflicting interpretations of the zoning for that location.

Barone said Dick told two neighbors, who received no invitations to the meeting but found out about it anyway, that they would not be allowed to attend. Because word got out that Dick wanted "only a select few" at the meeting, the opposition gained momentum, he said. "It looks as though they were just trying to snowball this thing in," Barone said. These homes are not very desirable for a pointed. Transportation Secretary Tom Evslin said Conway had consideration.

"It makes no sense to put it in where there is going to be a lot of opposition," he acknowledged. He also was critical of what he said was Gov. Richard A. Snelling's "threat" to place hard-core juvenile offenders in group homes if the Legislature fails to fund the juvenile jails Snelling wants to open. "The governor certainly did us no good with his statement yesterday," Jordan said.

The Wednesday night meeting was canceled at the behest of Dr. Michael Dick, the city School Board chairman, after he learned neighbors who had not been invited planned to attend the gathering anyway to fight the proposal. The proposal called for the home to be at Lincoln Avenue and North Street in a house done a good job in improving house teen-agers who nave trouoiea nome and personal lives. Jordan said the state Social and Rehabili-tion Services Department wants the project's next home to be in Rutland. Similar opposition resulted in the project closing homes recently in Brandon and Castleton.

Residents of those towns used zoning to deny the homes variances to operate. Another project-run home, in Sherburne, is due to close June 30. It is rented from a member of the Killington Homeowners Association, which filed a lawsuit against the landlord because he leased to the CasUeton project Though City Attorney Robert Broderick By JOE MAHONEY Free Press Staff Writer RUTLAND A meeting for some, but not all, neighbors of a proposed juvenile group home was hastily canceled Wednesday night after opposition to the location surfaced. Alderman Nicholas Barone, who said he "lives a stone's throw" from the site but was not invited to the meeting, led the opposition. ine opponents claimed the Castleton Juvenile Services Project is trying to slip another group home quietly into a community.

Indications surfaced Wednesday night that the tide of opposition may wash the site off the project's drawing board. Dr. Holman Jordan of the project's board of directors said another Rutland site is under efficiency of the department. Conway said he plans to concentrate on the relations with the public during the next two years. The state Senate must ap- prove Conway's reappoint- neighborhood like this." "It's not fair to put these kids where they are not wanted," Barone said.

Dick could not be reached for comment ment..