This is an excerpt from the Final Reading of Friday, Feb. 21.
Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, said a couple weeks ago that she’d like to “do something” this session about Vermont’s state employee and teacher pension debt.
Two weeks later, there’s little indication that the Statehouse gears are moving on the issue — a House Gov Ops hearing on pensions was on the calendar last week, then it wasn’t.
“Time was already of the essence and it was already a giant uphill battle to try to pull something together,” Johnson said Friday. “So time is still of the essence and it’s still an uphill battle to even just get people to talk.”
The speaker wasn’t quite ready to throw in the towel. “So if I was a betting gal, I wouldn’t have bet on a whole lot, you know, but we’re still trying to make something happen.”
Not reassuring words for those who want urgent action on unfunded pension liabilities that are projected to eat up more than $200 million this year (almost 12% of the entire general fund), and then steadily climb to $350 million in 2037 (presumably more than 12% of the general fund).
Senate Democrats don’t seem to share Johnson’s enthusiasm for taking on pensions.
“I haven’t given it much thought,” said Sen. Becca Balint, D-Windham, the majority leader, clarifying that she has given plenty of thought to the problem — “Sen. Kitchel reminds us all the time” — just not what to do about it.
“I don’t think any of us know what the solution is except for to continue to pay down the debt because this has been kicked down the road for several administrations,” Balint said.
The Vermont Business Roundtable came to the Statehouse earlier this session with ideas: changing benefits structures, cost-sharing, and governance reform, among others. Almost no one bothered to attend their presentation.
It’s no secret that if Democrats (or the Republican governor) backed that kind of reform they would immediately feel the wrath of the powerful state employee and teacher unions, which no one wants to do — especially in an election year.
But every other year is an election year, and pension reform is going to take some serious time to hash out. And it’s not just the unions that are standing in the way, noted Finance Commissioner Adam Greshin, who has been talking to lawmakers about pensions whenever they will let him.
“I think we’ll get pushback from unions. I think we’ll get pushback from the treasurer’s office. … She has said ‘I’m on it’ for years now,” Greshin said.
The Scott administration has been careful not to make specific recommendations, but Greshin said “what we’re looking for is a comprehensive — not just a shave and a haircut.”
Those will sound like fighting words to some, and the conversation hasn’t even started yet.
– Colin Meyn
