Update October 2009

In this issue:
-- State of Working Vermont 2009
-- The Word on Jobs: Huh?
-- Facts To Action: 2009 Conference
-- A More Thoughtful Policy Approach

State of Working Vermont 2009
From its start in December 2007 through August 2009, the recession has claimed 14,400 Vermont jobs. Most of these are in the private sector, which adjusts to diminishing demand for goods and services by laying off workers. But the numbers are swelled by losses in the public sector, as the administration responds to the recession by reducing the size of state government, Vermont's largest employer.

With more than 600 state positions gone and more slated for elimination, this policy is worsening the trauma of the recession. Not only are fewer state workers taking home paychecks. But other hard-hit Vermonters find state services squeezed when they need them most.

Our yearly report on jobs, employment, and Vermont's working families will be released on November 2. (For a printed copy, email your request and mailing address to Sarah.)

The Word on Jobs: Huh?
Vermont continues to boast the lowest unemployment rate in New England. Hooray! It also has a decreasing number of people who are working. Boo! How can that be? Data about jobs, employment, and how workers are doing in this rough economy can flummox even the brainiest economists. That's where our Jobs Brief (the source of the above puzzler) comes in. The one-page monthly report expands on the info the government publishes, sorts the facts from the spin, explains the complexities in plain language, and helps you make sense of the economic news—and your life. October's Brief and earlier ones, published since July, are here.

Facts To Action: 2009 Conference
The October 21 day-long conference brought together more than 110 attendees and about a dozen speakers and panelists, with two main goals: to help advocates, journalists, policymakers, and opinion leaders understand the state's budget crisis; and to broaden a statewide coalition focused on maintaining needed public services now while promoting fiscal policies that will ensure a healthy Vermont economy in the future.

Read more . . .

A More Thoughtful Policy Approach
The administration's budget rescissions this year and last use a crude budget-balancing tool: across-the-board cuts. These cuts are made in haste without regard for impacts on services Vermonters want and need. In some cases, the state lost federal money equal to many times the amount saved. In what may be a more thoughtful approach to policy making, over thirty legislative commissions and studies have been underway this summer and fall dealing with topics as diverse as public transportation, milk pricing, composting, government restructuring, international trade, child care, and energy.

Some that caught our attention: Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Reform (the fund is facing a huge deficit), Restructuring of the Agency of Commerce and the Department of Labor, Financing and Effectiveness of the Vermont Education System in the 21st Century, Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission. Read more and see meeting schedules.

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