Editor’s note: This commentary is by Don Keelan, a certified public accountant and resident of Arlington. The piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
[B]y all accounts, the results of next week’s state elections will return control of the Statehouse and governor’s office to Vermont Democrats. This should not be a surprise. What would be a surprise is if those in power decided to avoid venturing into new frontiers of legislation and instead, repair/revisit those laws that have failed to achieve their intended results.
The first of the “failed laws” would be education funding, sometimes referred to as Act 60/68. At the time of its inception, 1997, it was never imagined that property taxes used to pay for education would reach the levels they are today.
Something is fundamentally wrong with the acts underlying premise — in 17 years, the education costs of the state’s 250 schools has more than doubled while enrollment has decreased, from 110,000 students to near 80,000 — a decline of 27 percent. Towns that were once classified as “receiving towns” now find themselves as “sending towns.” Our elected representatives, from both parties, heard this quite loudly during the election season.
Another piece of existing legislation that must be address is the spending on subsistence. The legislators in past sessions, intentionally or unintentionally, have turned so many Vermonters into being dependent on aid from the state to fund their basic needs — food, housing, heat, clothing, health and transportation. What was once meant to be the “safety net” to buffer emergencies, is now the main source of aid for so many. It has become generational and growing geometrically. Is it any wonder that the state has so little funding left to provide for the essential services – the basis of its existence?
The current 4 percent unemployment rate translates to a thriving economy. This, along with thousands of nonprofits dedicated to providing public benefit services can’t keep up with the demand. If anything, nonprofits are beginning to experience “donor fatigue.” Not because Vermonters are giving less; it is due to the fact that donors are transferring their contributions to cultural, education and hospital organizations.
Last year the Legislature and the administration spent considerable time on the opiate/heroin addiction problems facing so many Vermonters and towns. Pockets of progress have been made but we are a long way from eradicating this scourge from the state. If anything, the importation of illegal drugs, the recent rash of overdoses and the persistent lack of needed treatment facilities are present — 10 months after the governor devoted his entire State of State address on the problems of illegal drugs in Vermont.
One would think that rather than take on grandiose adventures into unchartered waters — universal health care insurance (state being the insurer), legalizing marijuana and GMO labeling, the Legislature and administration would fix the laws that are not working.
In January, when the Legislature convenes, they will have on their desks the proposed budget for fiscal 2016 that just might have a $131 million bottom line deficit. Drastic cuts will have to be made and this follows a 5 percent across the board cut in state spending the governor ordered in August, two months into the fiscal year 2015 budget year.
Lastly, the Legislature and the administration, with great fanfare, gave Vermonters its own health care insurance exchange, one of the first in the nation. Now, after close to $100 million was spent on its implementation, it has been shut down. Why? Euphemistically, for security reasons — in reality, underestimating its complexity, lack of oversight and the choice of a less than stellar contractor/consultant. The good news, of course, was that the funds spent came from Washington and not Montpelier. The bad news is that exchange has been a nightmare for individuals, families and small businesses.
It is obvious that certain significant acts, passed by previous legislatures are simply not working. One would think that rather than take on grandiose adventures into unchartered waters — universal health care insurance (state being the insurer), legalizing marijuana and GMO labeling, the Legislature and administration would fix the laws that are not working.
Other issues that the state has historically been responsible for — economic growth, roads and bridges, mental health needs and the cleanup of our brownfields and Lake Champlain — might very well be revisited.
When we enter onto a plane, an elevator or a surgical unit we want nothing but 100 percent assurance from failure. Is it too much to ask that the laws our legislators passed will in fact do what they were intended to do? Of course, a beginning would be for our legislators to take the time and review previously passed bills. There will be plenty of time in the future to venture into uncharted waters.
