Editor’s note: This commentary is by Shelley Martin, who is the president of the Vermont State Employees’ Association.
[T]his Saturday, members of the Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) will be joined by working Vermonters from across our state to send a strong, united message to Montpelier that it is time for a new approach to solving Vermont’s perpetual budget deficits.
We will be letting our governor and lawmakers know that the days of relying on hard-working, largely middle-class state employees to continue to rescue Vermont from fiscal crises not of our making are over. So too are the days of asking a growing (not shrinking) number of Vermonters in need to make do with pared-down services and a reduced number of frontline employees.
All too often, some of our leaders forget that state employees are middle-class taxpayers too. Furthermore, throughout our state’s repeated recessions, we’ve had several special “taxes” imposed just on us. These came in the form of wage cuts, step freezes, mandated furlough days and increased employee contributions to both our pension and health care plans. Now, Vermont’s facing yet another substantial budget deficit, and what do our leaders want? Another special tax targeting state employees. We are being asked to give back a wage increase that the governor himself just negotiated last year with VSEA members in good faith. But VSEA members are fighting back because we know that at the same time we, Vermont workers, are being asked to surrender more of our take-home pay, our state’s wealthiest citizens are enjoying some of top income growth in the United States.
With a small increase to the cost of an overnight hotel stay, or a small change to the way we tax capital gains, we can avoid cuts not only to positions but also to critical services benefiting the blind, disabled and elderly.
It’s true. A recent study found that from 2009 to 2013 (all years featuring a budget deficit) Vermont’s wealthiest households saw their income rise by 3 percent, which was the sixth largest increase in the nation. However, during the same period, working, middle-class Vermonters watched our household incomes drop by a staggering 6 percent. This was a key factor in another recent study’s finding that Vermont’s working, middle class is “dying” at a faster rate than in 48 other states. Is this really a path Vermont leaders want to continue down? VSEA members think not, which is why we continue to work to convince officials and lawmakers to prevent more cuts by adopting one or more of the revenue-generating ideas VSEA members proposed early in this legislative session. With a small increase to the cost of an overnight hotel stay, or a small change to the way we tax capital gains, we can avoid cuts not only to positions but also to critical services benefiting the blind, disabled and elderly.
A recent statement issued by Vermont’s own Public Assets Institute supports VSEA members’ assertion that capacity exists for Vermont’s wealthiest to pay a little more to help our state. They write: “Taxes are targeted at taxpayers with less money. Vermont’s taxes overall take a smaller bite of income from those at the top than from those in the middle and at the bottom. With more of Vermont’s income going to the top, the state gets less revenue than it could despite reasonable economic growth. Removing income tax breaks, especially those enjoyed by upper-income Vermonters, would increase revenues while improving the fairness of the tax system.”
If you’re a working Vermonter who agrees with VSEA, Public Assets and our supporters about the need for Vermont’s leaders to stop the public service and job cuts and instead explore alternative methods to generate new revenue, then please rally with us at noon on Saturday, April 11, at the Statehouse in Montpelier. Stand with other working Vermonters in solidarity and help us send a message that it’s time to stop relying on a cuts-heavy strategy to resolve our state’s ongoing budget deficits. It’s a failed approach that hurts Vermonters in need and hurts the thousands of men and women who provide daily services to them. Vermont’s leaders can, and must, do better.
