ST. JOHNSBURY - News 7's Nadine Grimley met up with incumbent Matt Choate, one of two Democratic candidates running for the Vermont State Senate representing Caledonia/Orange County.

GRIMLEY: Vermont has a $112 million deficit and as a Senator, you need to find a way to tackle this.  What is your approach?

CHOATE: I have a very balanced approach to problem solving, and that's what I've been talking about on the campaign trail.  I have a moderate position, I take a look at every issue and every decision that's put before me and I try to come up with a good solution.  As you know, our country has experienced, indeed the whole globe has experienced a tremendous recession in the past two years, or three even if you look back to when it began.  That has put pressure on state budgets in all 50 states.  We have had in our forums that we've been doing a discussion of this particular graph that's been shown.  Illustrating the gap that's ahead of us for fiscal 2012.  I would remind everybody that for the prior two fiscal years we have brought through a balanced budget.  We've done that by matching our expenditures to what revenues are available and by taking advantage of the Federal Stimulus money.  That stimulus is gone next year and that's already factored into that $112 million gap that you have alluded to.  So, we will continue to look at all of our priorities, look at where we are going to spend our money wisely, and I have no doubt that we will bring in a balanced budget again next year.

GRIMLEY: How did we get so far in the red?

CHOATE: Well the recession was certainly a big part of it, because that directly and dynamically affected the revenue side of our spending equation.  I've only served in the legislature for two years now and we have our framework of government provides that the legislature sets the priorities and sets what we'll spend money on.  We are dealing with 200 and some odd years of those decisions and have come to a fruition at this point.  I will say that we have probably over reached in some areas and we are probably are not spending our money as wisely as we could in some.  That's exactly what we've been looking at the past two years that I've been involved at least.  Where we are spending our money, is this program working, is it duplicated somewhere else, are we getting good return on our investment that we spent, and if the answer to those things is no, we are taking a hard look to see if those things should continue.  I think that as we look at every program and every service that we've been asked to provide, those decisions will be made about what things will stay and what will go and it will balance out the budget.

GRIMLEY: Jobs need to be brought into this state, how to we go about bringing in employment?

CHOATE: That's a great question Nadine, I have talked about this on the campaign trail.  I don't feel that the government creates jobs other than the government jobs that were for the government itself; however, we can either impede or incentivize the development and growth of jobs.  I've looked at sort of three things I think are critical.  First, you have to have an administration that will celebrate Vermont.  Vermont has a very high quality of life.  We have excellent schools, excellent healthcare, a clean environment, and we hear from a number of small businesses that it is a great place to do business.  We need to capitalize on that and sell that, not constantly be reminding everybody about what a horrible place it is to do business.  It's a good place to do business, many of my family have small businesses here and succeed quite nicely.  To bring in new jobs, I think we have to capitalize on the things that will work in Vermont.  We have a bright future in agriculture, we have a bright future in green energy, we need high tech, we need those kind of jobs that are multi-talented.  [Jobs] that use a labor force, that builds things, as well as a professional and technical staff that has the engineering, mathematics, and so forth.  Green energy is a great example of the kind of business I think will work in Vermont.  We streamline permitting, and we have someone in the state that shepards a new business in and helps them get started and get through the network of regulatory concern.  If we do all those things you are going to put Vermont in a great position to take advantage of economic growth when in fact this recession ends and growth begins.

GRIMLEY: What reason would you give to students graduating from Vermont's colleges and universities to stay here, because property taxes are really high and many students are packing up and leaving because they can't afford to live here?

CHOATE: Someone asked me that at a forum the other night and I said, 'I stayed in Vermont.'  I'm relatively young, you're younger than me probably, and I was just at a professional development conference where they said "Generation Y," which you are sort of at the end of.  I don't know what the next generation is going to be called "Z" maybe.  "Generation Y" is mobile, young people leave the state because they go to school out of state, or they take advantage of learning opportunities out of state.  They want to see the rest of the world, but we want to make sure we have is Vermont as a place to come home to.  I don't think that we are necessarily going to be able to prevent young people from leaving, because that's what they do.  I did it for a little while, but I came back.  I have a job that I can work in Vermont and make a good income.  Now, I could make more money probably if I lived elsewhere.  The reason I came back to Vermont is my family is here, my friends are here, the quality of life is unsurpassed, and I hate to pick on Texas, but I am going to pick on them because I was just at a conference there.  It's not a place I would want to live.  Compare it to Vermont, there is no comparison.  So the reason I would give you to stay is we have a beautiful state, you can make a good living in the right industries and we have to match those things so that young people have a place to come home.

GRIMLEY: Vermont is the lowest ranking state for higher education, how does the government fix that?

CHOATE: Well that's slightly misleading, it's the lowest in the direct funding for higher education schools.  For instance, I think California might be the number one because they have chosen to use their state dollars to the school directly.  As a result, the are able to keep tuition costs for students low.  We have chosen a different model in Vermont where we use VSAC and aid agencies to let the money follow the student.  Part of me says that's a good way to do it because the student can take advantage of where they want to go to school and the money follows the student.  When we are ranked the lowest that's part of the reason is we put the money where the student is.  Do I think we should invest more in higher education?  Yes, I think it competes for our resources just like everything does, but the future of Vermont and the types of jobs it'll create, the economy we want to build, is something that is going to depend on higher education.  We have to make sure that stays a priority.

GRIMLEY: I was at a debate a few weeks ago and I remember you saying that you would not force schools to provide pre-kindergarten, why is that?

CHOATE: I think that it unnecessarily adds to the cost of education that we have now.  What I did say I'd support is the idea of having Pre-K.  I actually went to Preschool myself, but I did not go through public schools to do it.  I went through a private provider.  I think we make that available in each community, many communities have that now.  I wouldn't mandate it be done through the public schools, I think that adds another layer of cost when we are already trying to look at the cost of education now.

GRIMLEY: Healthcare, do you believe that it is a universal right?

CHOATE: That right, that word right has some loaded emotion that comes with it.  I believe that every Vermonter should be able to get the healthcare that they need when they need it and should be able to afford to get it.  I've committed to work on healthcare reform measures that do just that.  If you are a Vermont citizen and you have a healthcare need, you are able to get the care that you need, when you need it, and be able to afford it.

GRIMLEY: Do you support the on-schedule closing of Vermont Yankee?

CHOATE: I think we may need Vermont Yankee in the short run.  I am very willing to look at it again.  When I voted against them last March, the reasons I gave, and I've been very clear about this on the campaign, is three.  They had an underfunded decommissioning fund about 400 million of the billion that's necessary.  That leaves us on the hook for the rest.  They wanted to spin the company into a nexus and without getting into an elaborate discussion on that I'd suffice it to say would have been a heavily debt financed arrangement that would have been at high risk for the tax payers.  We actually had one of our most conservative members of the Senate stand and oppose that.  It was a 26-4 vote largely because of the financial arrangement that Entergy had.   The third thing is they wanted to offer us 2/3 less power at 50% higher costs.  Add those three things together, it was a bad deal for Vermont.  I voted against them.  I think that if they come back with a different proposal that solves those three issues for me, I am very willing to look at it again.  I would support nuclear power in general.  I think that Vermont Yankee has some issues that needs to be resolved.  If they resolve them I am willing to look at them again.

GRIMLEY: Many people in Vermont believe that the drinking age should be brought back down to 18, what is your opinion on this topic?

CHOATE: I actually supported a bill that would have allowed the state to make that decision.  This is an example of the federal government passing a mandate in all 50 states and I think the state should be allowed to make that decision.  I in general have supported an 18 year drinking age because you get to vote, you get to serve in the military, you can get married without a parent's permission, you are an adult at age 18.  I believe that choosing to drink alcohol is an adult activity and that should be at the age of majority.  There's a discussion about whether the age of majority should be 21 versus 18, but of the majority age is 18 then I have supported that publicly, yes.

GRIMLEY: Renewable energy is a way of the future, how do we bring more of that to Vermont?

CHOATE: It's going to need some incentives.  I talked about this on the campaign trail that automobiles, computers, rocket technology, all of these things when they were in their infancy required investment from public good.  I think we have made it clear that renewable energy is a public good for Vermont because it makes us independent.  It makes us self-sustaining.  It lets us produce our energy right here in Vermont and not rely on Canada or other states to provide that to us.  How you get there, you have to make gradual investments in the system.  Renewables are expensive comparatively because it's new.  I think as you make those investments and the technology spreads out and grows it becomes cheaper over time.  That's been true in every other industry.  I have no reason to think that it's not true in renewables.  I think that it is a public good.  As we built out that capacity it becomes less expensive and we become more competitive with coal, oil, nuclear, it will be the choice people will make.

GRIMLEY: Do you support the proposition to allow a 17-year-old to vote in the primary if they will be 18 by the general election?

CHOATE: I voted against that and the reason was I had a problem with a 17 year old describing the legal oath.  When I asked the question on the Senate floor, no one could give me a satisfactory answer as to how we would allow an oath ascribing for this particular reason, but not for any other legal reason.  That distinction bothered me and that's why I voted against it.

GRIMLEY: Agriculture is very big in the Northeast Kingdom, how do we protect our farmers?

CHOATE: Well the first thing we can do is get rid of the federal milk pricing system.  That is, as far as dairy farmers go, that system is antiquated and hinders farmers to make a living on what they produce.  We've just come through two of the most disastrous years on record for dairy farmers.  Milk prices are low, they have capitalized tremendous amounts of debt, and even though right now the price of milk is relatively stable, farmers are making a go of it, they are paying back all of that debt that they have accrued.  I have supported investment in agriculture.  I think we have a bright future, not just in dairy, but in other things related to agriculture.  I would love to see us champion those aspects of the state: crops, fruits, wines, all of these great things that we do in Vermont add to that agricultural portfolio.

GRIMLEY: Why would you tell Vermonters to vote for you again?

CHOATE: I think the main reason is I take a very balanced and moderate view on things.  I have proven through my voting record that I won't vote a party line.  I supported the minority position many times, and I supported the majority position many times.  For me, it's all about taking the issue that's in front of you, respecting that committee process, get people in of all perspectives, really weigh those things in committee and come up with the best decision you can for our constituents.  My voting reflects a very middle of the road position on most things.  I think that's what Vermonters want.  If you are on the fringe you are not representing the majority of the people.  I think most people are in the middle on most of the issues and that's where they'll find me.