VtDigger has a story about Challenges for Change. According to a new report, the state is already $10 million in the hole.
You remember Challenges for Change, right? That's the bill of goods the Douglas-Dubie administration sold the legislature (or the legislative leadership eagerly bought) to enable them to pretend that they could save $38 million in this year's budget, thereby saving everybody the pain of raising that amount in real dollars, like program cuts or revenue increases.
We're now on Day 20 of the fiscal year, and we have already lost $10-15 million of that $38 million in savings.
Two questions:
1. Does anyone have a plan for what to do next?
2. Is anyone surprised?
What happens to these people when they go to Montpelier? No one of even moderate intelligence could possibly have thought this stupid plan would work. Those involved in its creation and passage should not be elected to higher office until they explain, in plain English, why they voted for and promulgated this idiocy — and why we should trust them to not repeat the same shell game next year.
Dissenting opinions about CFC’s viability were largely ignored and belittled in a rush to push the ill-advised concept through. Who pays the price? Joe and Jane Vermonter.
While there is no doubt that Douglas and Dubie were the head cheerleaders in this craziness, Shumlin and Smith must also be held accountable for it along with Bartlett and other legislators who supported the bill. It was a big zero from day one.
Rather than make real, tough choices D/D and the Leg decided to wave their hands with the usual “we can save money on efficiency and this magic rock!” Hardly surprising that something so ill-conceived and pushed through in less-than-transparent fashion could so EPIC FAIL.
How’s this for a back of the napkin plan:
1) Apply sales taxes to e-commerce. Upwards of $40M revenue potential there per year.
2) Implement a sweetened beverage tax. Maybe $15M/year there.
3) Tap the rainy day fund(s). Okay, most of that is smoke and mirrors, too, but there are still some real reserves.
4) Eliminate the Executive branch’s budget.
#4 probably is the easiest politically… 🙂