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Back of the Envelope
Quick news & insight on the people’s money
Challenges for Change: Keep the process open
Challenges for Change—the new government efficiency plan passed by the Legislature just before the Town Meeting Day recess—is getting off to a bad start. The Education Design Team, which has a little more than two weeks to come up with plans for pretty sweeping changes affecting how schools are run, held its first meeting on Monday behind closed doors. With good reason, school board members and others with a stake…
Continue reading Challenges for Change: Keep the process openTax cuts are a zero-sum game
A new report challenges the conventional wisdom that states can stimulate their local economies by cutting taxes. “The Zero-Sum Game,” from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C., explains that the effects of broad tax cuts are generally cancelled out by the reduction in state spending and layoffs of public employees that typically result from tax cuts. The report also challenges the effectiveness of tax credits that…
Continue reading Tax cuts are a zero-sum gameThe Mystery Is Why, Not How
On Town Meeting Day, voters in many Vermont communities are confronting school tax increases that are bigger than the increase in overall school spending or the increase in per pupil spending. One explanation from critics of Vermont’s education funding system is: Well, that’s Act 60 for you. They’re happy to have most people believe that the funding system is some mysterious black box that no one can understand and that…
Continue reading The Mystery Is Why, Not HowBlog Posts
Latest posts
- Challenges for Change: Keep the process open
- Tax cuts are a zero-sum game
- The Mystery Is Why, Not How
- Let’s hear the alternatives
- The governor’s ‘tax relief’ sleight-of-hand