 |
Update December 2009
In this issue:
-- Signs of the Times: Longer Unemployment, More Food Stamps
-- Vermont Taxes Are Not So Progressive After All
-- Bait and Switch at the Education Fund
-- It's Time for More Revenue
Signs of the Times: Longer
Unemployment, More Food Stamps
Vermont's economic picture has stopped getting worse and may even be getting better. But tough times continue. Our two latest Monthly Jobs Briefs point to encouraging signs in the labor market. But in December we also report on a dramatic rise in unemployment lasting 15 weeks or more. And in November we noted that the number of Vermonters qualifying for 3SquaresVT—the state's food stamps program—has increased by more than half since the start of the recession. (The New York Times reported recently that food stamps now help feed one in eight Americans.)
Read our November and December Monthly Jobs Briefs.
Vermont Taxes Are
Not So Progressive After All
Like the federal government, Vermont has a long tradition of setting higher tax rates for people with higher incomes. But a new study finds that the state's overall tax structure—including sales and excise and property taxes—still favors the wealthy. According to Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, in every state including Vermont low- and moderate-income residents pay a larger share of their income in taxes than those in the upper income brackets. Read the full report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Bait and Switch at the Education Fund
The Douglas administration is decrying big property tax increases in the coming years. But at the same time it is trying to push more costs from the General Fund onto the Education Fund—and that drives up the property tax. Read Paul Cillo's Times Argus op-ed about what's really happening with school spending and efforts to balance Vermont's budget.
It's Time for More Revenue
For two years, the Legislature has relied far more on cuts than revenue to balance the budget. Lawmakers will start the 2011 budget-writing process in January with $75 million of appropriation already cut. The state is facing a budget gap that is too big to close with cuts alone—not without undermining the services that Vermonters depend on. Now more than ever, Montpelier needs to use a balanced approach that includes revenues. Read our analysis.
Public Assets Institute is funded by grants and donations. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to support our work.
|
|
Fact: The portion of Vermont school budgets consumed by health care doubled from 6 percent in 1998 to 12 percent in 2008.
Data source: Vermont Education Health Initiative (VEHI) and Vermont Department of Education
Cracks in
the Public Structures
No Supper for Schoolchildren
The federal government would give Vermont money to serve supper to children from low-income families. But because of one state job cut, those kids will have to wait.
Read more.
Calendar
2010 Legislative Session
Legislators return Jan. 5, 2010
10 a.m.
Statehouse, Montpelier
State of the State Address
Jan. 7, 2010
2 p.m.
House Chamber, Statehouse
Blue Ribbon Tax Commission
Jan. 19, 2010
133 State Street, Montpelier
More information
RSS Feed
Subscribe to our feed and get
up-to-the-minute news from Public Assets Institute. Just copy this url into your RSS reader.
More about RSS here
Receive this from a friend?
Sign up to get our future Updates.
|
|
