Ronald Reagan once quipped that government is like a baby, an endless appetite on one end, and no discipline on the other. No place lives up to – or down to as the case may be — that analogy more so than Vermont. In case you missed it amongst all the hubbub and controversy surrounding the education reform bill, our legislature just passed a $9.1 billion budget.
$9.1 billion. For a state of 640,000 people. The quick math puts that at $14,200 worth of spending for every man, woman, child, they/them in the state. This is insane. In 2019, the last year before Covid, our annual spending stood at $5.8 billion, and even that was outrageous. Today’s $9.1 billion, $3.3 billion more than 2019, represents a 64 percent increase, way more than double the 25 percent inflation we’ve experienced over the same time period. If state spending had gone up at just the rate of inflation, the budget would be $7.2 billion today, or $1.9 billion less than it is.
In the memo he posted after signing this budget into law, Governor Scott chided lawmakers about sustainability saying, “although this budget spends $30 million less in general fund base compared to the Senate version, it still spends $20 million more than my proposal.” Yeah. Okay. The problem though is it spends overall about $2 BILLION more than it should – at least. That’s if you’re genuinely serious about being all sustainable and such.
But, hey, maybe it’s a rapacious, backbreaking tax burden, but at least we Vermonters are getting a great bang for our taxpayer bucks! (Excuse me while I laugh so hard the milk shoots out my nose.)
No, really…. What are we getting for our $9.1 billion? A functioning public education system? Not even close despite spending more per pupil than any other state in the union. Quality affordable healthcare? HA! After two decades of the “healthcare is a human right” crowd making policy, we now pay more for health insurance than any other state by far, are experiencing doctor and nursing shortages, have driven our lone surviving health insurance provider to the brink of bankruptcy, as well as more than half of our regional hospitals. Affordable housing? Nope. In fact, with all those tax dollars we bought ourselves one of the highest per capita rates of homelessness in the nation. Solid infrastructure? More of our bridges are classified as “structurally deficient” today (79) than there were in 2019 (68). Well, the streets may be crumbling, but at least they’re safe, right? Ask the 174 businesses that signed the letter explaining why nobody goes to downtown Burlington anymore.
This is a record of serious financial and general mismanagement. The issues mentioned above – infrastructure, public health and safety, education, and maintaining the conditions for a growing economy – are the basic functions of government. And none of them are being adequately met. Not because we aren’t giving our politicians record setting, bucketloads of money; because they do not know how (or do they want) to spend it wisely.
And no, the solution is not to increase taxes and spending to four times the rate of inflation as the folks in charge of the current fiasco would suggest. Honestly, we’d be better off piling our $9.1 billion into a big pile on the statehouse lawn and setting it on fire. At least then it would serve some productive purpose in keeping us warm. Of course, if the current crop of decision makers in Montpelier was in charge of such a project, they’d probably apply the torch in late July.
So, how do we fix this?
In my humble opinion, the place to start is with a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights based on the one passed in Colorado back in the 1990s. The way TABOR works is it caps state spending under a formula based on inflation and population growth. If revenue above the cap comes into the treasury, that money must by law be returned to the taxpayers. If lawmakers want to spend more than what the cap allows it requires an affirmative statewide vote of the people. (Side note: Coloradans have never approved spending above the cap.)
Back in December 2023, Campaign for Vermont ran a poll and asked Vermonters what they thought about a TABOR for Vermont. 67 percent supported of the idea, 38 percent strongly. This included majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents. Only 16 percent were opposed. This sounds to me like a great opportunity to open a multi-partisan discussion. Cuz what’s happening now, we can’t afford it.
Agree? Disagree? Submit Op-Eds to steve@granitegrok.com – We want to hear from you, too!
