Three House committees wrap up work on the bills that state government needs to operate after July 1 – the budget bill, the transportation budget bill and the capital project bill.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Martha Heath, D-Westford, seemed confident Monday that her committee would recommend a budget that addressed the $150 million shortfall without decimating state services.

Heath gave the House Ways and Means Committee a sketch of the budget late last week. Here are some highlights about how the committee closes the gap:

*$15 million from changes in teacher retirement

*$38 million from structural changes through Challenges for Change process

*$9.2 million from changes in employee contract

*$20 million in redirected use of revenues proposed by Douglas administration

*$15 million carried forward in Medicaid

*$8 million anticipated from recertification of state psychiatric hospital

*$7 million in expected additional revenue from hospital provider tax

*$19 million in other changes that include $1 million from restructuring courts and $13.3 million from payments the state won’t have to make to Medicare

*and $10 million in cuts in human services.

That would leave about $9 million still to find. “We believe we will,” Heath said Monday.

Transportation Committee Chairman Patrick Brennan, R-Colchester, also reported being close to finished with the transportation project budget.

The committee had one recent surprise, he noted Monday. The panel found out it would have $3.5 million less than expected because the Appropriations Committee wasn’t going along with as big a reduction in the amount of transportation taxes supporting the Department of Public Safety as the Douglas administration recommended.

Brennan said the committee has found a potential solution – toll credits. Because the Lake Champlain Ferry is having a new boat built, there will be toll credits available that the state can use as its match for federal transportation dollars. The toll credits free up the state dollars needed to cover the public safety expenses the panel hadn’t counted on.

“I think everybody is OK with that,” Brennan said.

The Capital bill -- detailing how the state would spend $71.8 million in borrowed money -- could be voted out of committee on Wednesday, according to House Institutions Chairwoman Alice Emmons, D-Springfield.

Emmons said one of the expenses the bill will start to cover is the need for investments in rehabilitating the state office complex. The need is extensive, she said, noting there are code issues and roof problems.

The bill also provides $6.9 million to put toward the cost of the new state office building in Bennington. That, added to $8 million set aside last year, is enough to get the construction underway, Emmons said.

-- Nancy Remsen

Labels: capital bill, legislature, state budget, transportation

After a week away from the Statehouse, lawmakers return today, many with fresh insight about Vermonters’ views on pending budget decisions and other bills thanks to conversations with constituents.

Lawmakers will be greeted with unpleasant news today. State revenues have continued to decline – especially personal income receipts.

The weight of this bad financial news falls especially on the House Appropriations Committee, which must wrap up work on its budget bill in the next two weeks.

Recall that revenues for next year already were projected to fall short of expenditures by $150 million. While the Legislature and Douglas administration agreed on a way to find $38 million in savings, the House budget-writing committee now must put on the table its plan to address the remaining shortfall – and more if the new revenue shrinkage turns into a long-term trend.

Secretary of Administration Neale Lunderville said there is no way lawmakers can avoid spending cuts. In a statement accompanying the February revenue report, he warned, "Now is not the time to rely on one-time patches or tax increases, both of which will slow our recovery and speed an exodus of businesses and taxpayers from Vermont."

There won’t even be standing room in the House Appropriations Committee as representatives of interest groups crowd in to witness the decision-making this week and next. The gasps coming from the room will either be reaction to cuts or to lack of breathable air.

-- Nancy Remsen

Labels: Neale Lunderville, politics Vermont Legislature, state budget, vermont politics

An interesting chart amid the pile of paperwork handed out at Monday's meeting of the Joint Legislative Government Accountability Committee.

The number of state employees in the executive branch grew by 19. 5 percent from 1999 to 2008, with a brief plateau in 2004-05. The number, of course, dropped in 2009, with vacant jobs eliminated and layoffs.

In 1999, there were 7,015 employees. In 2008, the number had reached 8,383. The chart notes that as of July 31, that number was down to 7,962.

This is interesting because Gov. Jim Douglas has spoken out the last couple years against the unsustainable size of government, blaming a big piece of the heft on his predecessor, but it has certainly grown since he took office in 2003. Of course, it should also be noted this requires the Legislature's consent. New programs=new jobs. The jump from 7,866 employees to 8,069 in 2004 can largely be attributed to the opening of a new prison in Springfield.

During the 10-year time span of the chart, the proportion of employees with "exempt" status also grew steadily. Those are employees were aren't unionized and Douglas is not a big fan of the union. The Legislature's Joint Fiscal Office notes this wasn't all Douglas' doing, who is not a big fan of the union. Between 2003 and 2008, legislation converted 21 classified positions to exempt positions.

But between 1999 and 2008, the number of classified employees grew by 19.2 percent while the number of exempt employees grew by 23.5 percent.

Something to noodle on.

- Terri Hallenbeck

Labels: Gov. Jim Douglas, state budget, vermont politics, Vermont State Employees Association

State officials are staring down at a $25 million hole in the ground today. That's how much less economists say the state can expect in revenues in the coming months.

Given the recent sparring between the Legislature and the governor on solving earlier gaps that included an override of his unprecedented veto of the state budget, we are headed for another interesting round.

Predictions? Does this mean more layoffs of state workers? The wholesale cutting of some service or another? More taxes?

What's your preference?

- Terri Hallenbeck

Labels: legislature, revenues, state budget, Vermont

California's Marijuana Policy Project is proposing a solution to that state's budget problems: legalize and tax pot.

Now, California has worse budget problems than Vermont and a longer growing season, but are they onto something?

- Terri Hallenbeck

Labels: marijuana, state budget, Vermont