Cracks in the Public Structures
Spotlight on Public Structures has illuminated the ways that government enhances—even enables—Vermonters’ daily lives, from regulating banks to inspecting meat, running airports to securing child support. Budget cuts threaten these crucial structures. Cracks in the Public Structures shines a light on where it’s happening and how it affects Vermonters.
A Step Backward for Developmentally Disabled Vermonters
CRACKS IN THE PUBLIC STRUCTURES. April 2010
Challenges for Change, Vermont’s government efficiency plan, has a tough act to follow when it comes to improving services for Vermonters with developmental disabilities—life-long mental impairment that usually makes independent living impossible. In the early 1990s, the annual cost of care, in today’s dollars, was $289,176 per person living at Brandon Training School. Vermont’s community-based system now costs less than one-fifth that amount. More important, because people can now stay in their homes and communities, their quality of life is better.
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Vermont’s Bridges are Going Nowhere Good
CRACKS IN THE PUBLIC STRUCTURES. February 2010
Failing or closed bridges have come to symbolize our deteriorating public structures. They are the inevitable result of trying to balance a budget with cuts alone. Vermont has now closed 16 bridges to all traffic. Eleven more are closed for the short term, with a temporary bridge in place until the original structure is rehabilitated.
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No Supper for Schoolchildren
CRACKS IN THE PUBLIC STRUCTURES. December 2009
A year ago the federal government said it would give Vermont funds to serve supper to children from low-income families at after-school programs. But because the state eliminated a key job, those kids will have to wait—indefinitely.
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Vermont Judiciary
CRACKS IN THE PUBLIC STRUCTURES. October 2009
The Judicial Branch (courts) of state government was established under the Constitution to protect individual rights and to ensure everyone their day in court. In addition to providing Vermonters with a place to resolve legal disputes, the Judiciary helps to provide balance of state powers as one of the three co-equal branches of state government: Vermont’s Courts, Governor, and Legislature.
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