Guide For Vermont Legislators

The opinion piece below was published in the Colchester Sun on January 8, 2009

A Citizen's Guide for Vermont Legislators in 2009

Soon, Legislators, you will convene facing a very different fiscal environment than you are accustomed to. With the deepening recession all your energies must be focused on dealing constructively with the gap between your previous budget, current overspending

and less revenue than predicted. You are undoubtedly pondering what you will do to set the state finances aright while trying to 'do no harm' to Vermonters. Above all else, continue your rational policy of balancing the budget although you are constitutionally not required to do so.

Meanwhile, you will continue to deluged by special interest groups who want you to act on social issues like gay marriage, physician-assisted suicide and any number of other causes dear to the hearts of a small minority of Vermonters. Please resist this temptation. You will serve us better in this session by not dabbling with these issues.

Your energies in committee work and in general sessions should focus primarily on four critical tasks:
1./reduce spending consistent with the ability of Vermonters to pay for government services; 2./reset spending priorities to invest more in the long-neglected transportation infrastructure; 3./change policies to enable a more robust economy with a healthy, if not thriving, private sector; and,
4./enable Vermont Yankee to continue operating beyond 2012 safely and reliably.

Some will advise that you should increase taxes because we have a 'revenue problem' brought on by the recession. This is a false premise. You must resist the Siren's call to raise any taxes, not only because we are in a recession, but because they are already too high. The reason for that is you have previously authorized spending well beyond the capacity of the tax base. Let's be clear. Vermont government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

Here's a glaring example of government spending outstripping the tax base. Since the first quarter of 2000, state government jobs have increased by 16.7 % (2,400 jobs). Local government jobs , including education, have increased 10% (2,800 jobs). Meanwhile, private sector job growth (3,100) has been anemic at 1.3%.

Look at it this way. In 8 years, for every three jobs created in the private sector five, supported by taxes, were created in government. That, Legislators, is a glaring symptom of excessive spending inconsistent with the economy's health. The growth of government explains why spending and state and local taxes are far too high.

Government now is the largest sector of the Vermont economy, a very unhealthy condition. Absent a healthy private sector to support it, recession or not, you really have no choice but to substantially reduce government spending.

Because you must change spending habits, now is the time to reset certain priorities. Most Vermonters, except the education lobby, will agree that we spend too much on K-12 education and not enough on transportation infrastructure. Take advantage of this opportunity to change that.

Here's one simple idea. Dismiss the notion of raising the fuel tax to pay for bonding to build bridges and culverts. Instead, stop transferring $25 Million annually to the Education Fund from the Transportation Fund. Don't backfill the hole in the Education Fund. If we are told correctly that a $20 Million surplus may exist in the Education Fund, give that back to the tax payers. You simply cannot continue to feed the education system's insatiable appetite. Oh, and if you have the gumption, consider initiating serious reform of education governance and funding.

None of this will be easy. Thank you for serving Vermont thoughtfully in these tough times.

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