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Update February 2013
In this issue:
-- More hardship for single moms
-- Unaffordable health insurance?
-- It's still the economy, stupid
-- Who pays?
-- Get the myths out of policymaking
More hardship for single moms
The state's economist says it will be late next year before Vermont reaches the number of jobs it had when the Great Recession hit. But under new time limits proposed by the governor, some Reach Up participants—mostly single mothers—could lose public support this fall even if they don't find work. Alongside these cuts, the governor also wants to increase childcare subsidies, making working easier. Still, as a 2012 administration report notes, the 1,200 people who'd lose benefits are those who may be least able to get jobs.
Unaffordable health insurance?
The switch to Obamacare in 2014 will end Catamount Health and the Vermont Health Access Plan. That means higher out-of-pocket costs for people enrolled in those state-run health insurance programs. The governor has said Vermont can't afford to continue to provide the current level of coverage, and so far the Legislature seems to agree. Is the state less able to pay these costs than are low- and moderate-income Vermonters? Read more.
It's still the economy, stupid
Despite aggressive anti-poverty programs, more and more Vermonters are falling into poverty. Does that mean these programs are failing? No. It means economic pressures on low- and middle-income Vermonters are growing. Vermont needs livable-wage jobs, but they've become scarcer since 2000. Our latest State of Working Vermont discusses what the state can and cannot do to stimulate job growth.
Who pays?
Vermont has a progressive income tax, but its overall tax system is regressive: The poor pay a bigger share of their income in taxes than the wealthy. That's according to a recent 50-state report by the non-partisan Institute on Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP). As Jack Hoffman testified to the Legislature, the governor's proposed cut to the state's Earned Income Tax Credit would make Vermont's tax system even more burdensome for those at the bottom.
Get the myths out of policymaking
We'd like to think that facts are behind fiscal decision-making. But too often myth, not fact, determines policy. Fears of driving the wealthy from the state with tax increases, for example, have kept legislators from raising needed revenue—despite repeated analyses showing this flight does not happen. Read about persistent myths and who's pushing them.
Public Assets Institute is funded by grants and donations. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to support our work.
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Fact: In 2011, the real average income of Vermonters making $1 million or more hit a 10-year high: $3.3 million.
Source: Vermont Department of Taxes
town2town
bringing fiscal data home
Earned Income Tax Credit
Almost 45,000 Vermont families, with nearly 50,000 children, qualified for the state's Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 2011. Like the federal EITC, the Vermont credit is designed to help low-wage workers. National studies have shown the EITC to be one of the most effective anti-poverty programs.
For each town, this town2town map shows the number of EITC recipients in 2011; the percent change from the number of recipients in 2007, before the recession; and the amount of the average state credit in 2011.
Calendar
Advocates Public Hearing on Governor's Proposed FY-2014 Budget
House Appropriations Committee
Room 11, Statehouse
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
3:00 PM
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
9:30 AM
Town Meeting Day
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
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