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Back of the Envelope
Quick news & insight on the people’s money
What happened to putting people first?
In an insightful and intelligent VTDigger.org commentary yesterday, John Margolis put his finger on an important public policy struggle going on in Vermont: people vs. money.
While he doesn’t frame it that way, Margolis points out that Gov. Peter Shumlin, in a speech at the University of Vermont last week, urged the school to focus on preparing students for business, without mention of the arts, culture, or philosophy.…
Continue reading What happened to putting people first?More poverty than we thought
Critics of anti-poverty programs have complained for years that poverty measures are flawed because they don’t take into account the effects of these programs in mitigating poverty. They have a point. There is no before and after measurement.
The state looks at income to determine whether people are poor enough to qualify for food stamps, which we call 3SquaresVT in Vermont, or Reach Up (formerly welfare) or Medicaid. But then…
Continue reading More poverty than we thoughtMeasuring will help the state manage
Recently released Census data are both a wake-up call and a gift for the Shumlin administration and the Legislature.
A wake-up call because the statistics show that middle-income Vermonters are earning less and more of them are slipping into poverty—evidence that things are moving in the wrong direction for Vermonters. Our political leaders need to turn this around through the priorities they set—starting with tax and budget policies—that will…
Continue reading Measuring will help the state manageBlog Posts
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