August 2001 Press Release

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Press Release
For Immediate Release  Contact: Martha Trombley
802-828-2148
August 2001

Secretary of State Publishes the Rules on School Governance

Publication Seeks to Help Communities Understand School District Law

Montpelier. Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz today announced the publication of a Handbook entitled "Rules on School Governance." Rules on School Governance is a joint project of the Office of the Secretary of State and the Vermont School Boards Association. Markowitz said, "if you have ever wondered whether you could are allowed to tape meetings of your local school board, or whether citizens may petition the school board to adopt a particular curriculum, then Rules on School Governance is a publication for you."

Rules on School Governance is an easy to read handbook designed to help school board members, school administrators and citizens understand the basic laws that apply to Vermont's school districts. Rules on School Governance discusses the different types of school districts in Vermont and it explains the powers and duties of the School Board and other school district officers as well as the electorate. In addition, this handbook provides in depth information about the requirements of the open meeting and the public records law as well as everything you need to know about adopting school budgets, to electing officials, to ethical requirements of school officers.

Markowitz said, "My office receives many calls from people wanting to know how our school districts work. Some of these callers are municipal officials who want to know where their responsibilities begin and end. Other callers are members of the public who want to get involved and who need to know their rights as citizens or the mechanics of the process of governance. It is my hope that this pamphlet will be a useful resource for local officials and members of the public to help answer these important questions."

If you wish to order a copy of The Rules on School Governance, please contact the Secretary of State's Office at 802-828-2363. The Guide will also be available by the end of the month on our web site at http://www.sec.state.vt.us.

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August 2001 Press Release

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Press Release
For Immediate Release  Contact: Martha Trombley
802-828-2148
August 2001

Secretary of State Markowitz To Return Lobbyist Tax Money

Montpelier. Today, Vermont Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz announced that her office would be returning approximately $265,000 in lobby tax money that her office had been holding pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of that tax. Earlier this summer the Vermont Supreme Court struck Vermont's Lobbyist Tax as an unconstitutional restriction of speech and the right to petition one's government. See Vermont Society of Association Executives v. James Milne, and In re HomeBuilders Association of Northern Vermont, Inc. The Attorney General has decided not to further appeal this decision.

Secretary Markowitz said, "now that the court case is fully resolved we have informed all lobbyists and lobbyist employers that they will be receiving a refund of any lobbyist tax they might have paid. To make the process easier, we have decided to waive the need to request a refund." In addition to a return of taxes paid, the state will pay interest at a rate established by the Vermont Commissioner of Taxes.

All taxes paid will be refunded with interest by September 15, 2001.

Vermont's lobbyist tax went into effect in January 1998 as part of the state's 1997-campaign finance law. Among other things, that law set strict limits on the amounts individuals could contribute to candidates or political parties and on the amounts the candidates could spend. Last year, a federal judge in Burlington overturned some elements of that law in a decision now under appeal.

The lobbyist tax was created to help pay for public financing of governor and lieutenant governor campaigns.

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