Leadership Lacking in Vermont State Government

Yesterday, Feb. 9, at the Legislative breakfast sponsored by the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, three business panelists, Win Smith, president of Sugarbush Resort; Bill Schubart, writer/commentator and former CEO of Resolution, Inc.; and Al Gobeille, owner of the Shanty on the Shore discussed 'Fueling the Vermont Economy including a discussion of Vermont's strengths and weaknesses.

Many topics were discussed, but three critical issues were raised by the panelists that they believe require concerted action by the Governor and the Legislature. Without extensive elaboration in this post (we have commented on them to one degree or another in earlier News posts), these structural issues that must be dealt with are:

The spiraling costs and inefficient governance of public education

A strategic reworking of the Vermont tax code for economic growth

Reinvention of state government to be smaller, less costly and more efficient

I wholehearted agree that these are front-burner strategic and critical issues (among others) that have severely constrained and will continue to hinder Vermont's economic growth producing costs that cannot be supported by the tax base...even absent a recession. Unless and until these structural issues are remedied, Vermont's economy will perform far below its potential.

These are BIG tasks requiring political will and leadership to do the right thing by making the hard decisions. Frankly speaking, we see little evidence of either in Montpelier. Coincidentally, today's Burlington Free Press editorial comes down very hard on this lack of leadership and ideas:

"What we are learning about our government is that it can cut and tax, but it is
largely deficient of any creative means to retool government.

The people who take over the helm of state government do so because they want the jobs and say they are up to the challenges. Too often of late, Vermonters have reason to believe that our elected leaders aren't up to any challenge.

The news on the economy keeps getting worse. State revenues are lower than the already pessimistic forecast issued just weeks earlier. Even Vermont's largest employers are laying off workers as the nation shed 600,000 jobs just in January. And all our elected representatives can do is cut and run, or tax and run [emphasis added].

We are long past the time for small-minded bickering over solutions
that tries to nibble away at the budget problem. Vermont needs big ideas and
bold steps that moves us forward. [emphasis added]

This is the job you were elected to do. Do your job."

Bravo for the strong words from the Free Press, but we are left wondering whether our leaders are up to the task. We see three possibilities:

1./ they are not equipped to do the job and are overwhelmed by its enormity;
2./they are held hostage by their partisan ideology, political beliefs or special interests and refuse to act for fear of offending their voter base; or
3./ do not understand or accept the problem exists or believe they will be saved from tough actions by a shower of federal stimulus dollars.

Whatever the cause for their paralysis, we see it as a failure of Legislative and Executive leadership to avoid tackling the tough, structural issues facing our state. We deserve better.