In its Jan. 16 legislative update, Campaign for Vermont offers an in-depth look at what lawmakers and the governor have planned for state pensions, fiscal responsibility, workforce and economic development, housing, good government and education.
Gov. Phil Scott unveiled what he said was a balanced fiscal 2023 budget that does not raise taxes while using federal federal funds to pay for a variety of new spending initiatives.
Vermont’s fiscal 2022 budget adopted last spring could be adjusted upward, with a 5% increase in spending, if a House panel’s recommendation moves forward.
In total, this budget invests a record $7.7 billion without raising taxes and, in fact, returns money to taxpayers. But I want to take some time to talk through what this means because it is probably the most complex budget we have ever built.
The Build Back Better Act would invest an estimated $295 billion of taxpayer money into a variety of clean energy programs in what would amount to the most sweeping climate effort passed by Congress.
The spending issue on its own is deeply concerning. What makes this bill worse is how it’s crammed with all kinds of straight giveaways to Democrat-oriented groups, as well as policies that wouldn’t pass through stand-alone legislation.
“This reconciliation bill is effectively 100 bills in one representing every big government idea that’s never been able to pass in Congress,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Suzanne Clark said. “The bill is an existential threat to America’s fragile economic recovery and future prosperity.”
What status will the Vermont voter have when state spending is not done by state agencies but by a detached nonprofit organization? Forget a career in business, the trades, or the professions; the nonprofits are the future. Just follow the money.
All of this adds up to a significant guaranteed income, with no requirement to work for a living so long as it lasts. Democrats said at the start of the pandemic that this would be temporary, but now they want to make it permanent in Bernie Sanders’ $3.5 trillion budget.
Congressional committees began meeting Tuesday to formally draft Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget, moving ahead with the sweeping bill that contains much of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, wrote the bill’s framework.
The stark reality is that our politicians in Vermont are already spending money well beyond our tax capacity. But the really scary thing is, they’re not done. Not by a long shot.
“The American people are fed up with the Democrats’ reckless spending,” said Missouri Republican Rep. Jason Smith, the House Budget Committee’s ranking member. “They bring forth a budget resolution that … has $6 trillion in new spending. … Bernie Sanders may have lost the presidential primary, but his policies have won.”