| * We made Vermont more business friendly. |
| | We revamped the corporations division. Important business registration forms and financing information are now available on line. This saves Vermonters thousands of dollars every year by making available everything needed to start or expand a business- all for free - eliminating the fees businesses used to pay for the same information.
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| * We are teaching kids how important it is to be part of our democracy. |
| | Vermont Votes for Kids, the Legislative Process, and our Town Meeting Curriculum Materials help school children across Vermont learn about our democratic institutions and the importance of voting. This fall schools across Vermont will again be participating in the Vermont Votes for Kids program and many of the state's daily newspapers will be running our Democracy in Action Newspaper in Education series. Last winter hundreds of students participated in our poster and essay contest on Vermont history and the Vermont Constitution, and over ten thousand school children used our new Vermont History, Facts and Fun booklet. Getting our children interested in our democracy is an important investment in Vermont's future.
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| * We have become the place citizens and local officials come to for help. |
| | Vermont citizens, local officials and the press rely on our educational seminars, handbooks and monthly newsletter on open government and municipal law. With experienced municipal attorneys available to respond to legal questions, the Secretary of State's Office has become a place where the press, the public and local officials turn to for answers.
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| * We created a State of the Art Web site. |
| | To make Vermont government more efficient and accessible to the public through technology we created a new Web site to give Vermonters free, up-to-date information 24 hours a day on everything from corporate filings to campaign finance reports to a page devoted specifically to Kids. Our Web site is regularly mentioned as one of most comprehensive and easy to use Secretary of State web sites in the nation. We get over 50,000 hits to our site each day!
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| * We improved the administration of Vermont's elections. |
| | Despite the challenges of the new Federal Help America Vote Act we have been able to improve the administration of Vermont's elections. This past year we have put in place a statewide voter checklist that will permit our towns to clean up their checklists by eliminating voters who are registered in more than one location. Our public education efforts have resulted in nearly 20% of our voters choosing to vote early or by mail. Our election worker-training program has ensured that Election Day runs smoothly and that every vote cast is counted. Because of this we have one of the highest voter turnouts in the nation.
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| * We made our office of professional regulation more effective and responsive. |
| | We work hard to protect Vermont's consumers of professional services by licensing over 45,000 individuals in 40 different professions. We ensure that the rules governing the professions are clear and appropriate and we quickly and effectively remove from practice those who are incompetent or unethical. Cases no longer wait for years before decisions are made. Last year the office handled 450 new complaints, and disciplined 200 individuals for unprofessional conduct, this is nearly twice the number of actions taken as compared to 1999 when Deb first took office as Secretary of State.
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| * We brought the Vermont Archives into the 21st century. |
| | After seven years of steady pressure, this year, the legislature finally appropriated money to begin the planning and construction of a new State Archives and Research Facility. This year we also made available, on line, an index of many of our oldest records so that our holdings can be more accessible. In addition, over the past few years our office was recognized with three different Archives awards. The National Archivist Association recognized our office with its Innovation in Government award for our on-line publication "Current Issues in Government and Governance. This publication helps Vermonters understand the issues of today by looking at the debates of the past.
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| * We started a promote-the-vote program that honors our Veterans. |
| | Based on a model in Maine this program is called "Honor A Vet With Your Vote." This fall we will be sending Personalized buttons are made available to Vermonters who wish to vote in honor of a particular veteran. This is one more way to recognize our veteran's important contribution to keeping our democracy strong.
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| * We established the Vermont Public Service Awards |
| | The Vermont Public Service Awards honor local officials who have served our state for 20 years or more. Thus far my office has honored over 2000 Vermonters, in all 13 counties, including one husband/wife team in West Rutland who each gave over 50 years to their community.
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| * We developed the "Safe At Home" program. |
| | Through the "Safe at Home" we help protect Vermonters who have been victims of domestic violence, rape or stalking. We keep them from being tracked down through our public records system. Now, these most vulnerable Vermont families can use our office address as their legal address and we forward their mail to a confidential location of their choice. |
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