The purpose of the state budget is to improve the well-being of the people of the state. That’s what the Legislature declared last year for the first time.

The Legislature also demanded greater accountability, so the average person can see whether Vermonters’ health, economic security, education, and quality of life are improving or getting worse, and greater public participation, by allowing the public to weigh in on budget goals and help prioritize spending and revenue initiatives. Read more

The governor and legislative leaders announced a deal this week that will mean no new taxes beyond the gas tax for the coming year. While a lot of people—legislators included—welcome the agreement as a sign that the session is nearing a close, it also ends, at least for this year, the Legislature’s efforts to push for the smart investments that are needed to move Vermont forward. Read more

A bill being headlined as an effort to control school costs includes provisions that simply shift costs from upper-income Vermonters and second home owners onto low- and moderate-income Vermonters. The Legislature should re-think these provisions.

H.538 contains a number of provisions that would affect school spending and taxes in fiscal 2015. Read more

The Shumlin administration’s new plan for cutting the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to fund child care expansion doesn’t change one simple fact: the governor’s plan takes money from the lowest income working Vermonters.

The administration has cut back its child care initiative.  Read more

Gov. Peter Shumlin made it clear that he didn’t like the tax package passed by the Vermont House this week. But his reasons for opposing the House bill are getting shakier and shakier.

To provide needed revenue, the House plan would raise about $23 million for fiscal 2014, and slightly more the next year mainly by reducing income tax deductions typically claimed by upper income Vermonters. Read more

March 19, 2013

Good morning Madam Chairman, members of the committee. My name is Jack Hoffman. I’m senior analyst for Public Assets Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan, public policy think tank in Montpelier.

First, I’d like to applaud the Legislature and this committee for recognizing the need for Vermont to make smart investments again. Read more

Vermont political leaders are showing renewed interest in measuring government performance. But as history has shown, the state’s bottom line isn’t the most important indicator.

Twenty-five years ago, human services budget discussions focused on caseloads: Were they up or down? But it wasn’t clear if a higher caseload was good or bad. Read more

Tax increases don’t cause people to flee the state. Progressive taxes don’t damage the economy. Cutting state taxes doesn’t boost the economy and generate more tax revenue.

These are the conclusions of a report just released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C., Read more

Gov. Peter Shumlin has called for a cut in the state earned income tax credit to fund his proposal to expand child care for low-income families. Vermont’s earned income credit is piggy-backed onto the federal Earned Income Tax Credit: the state credit is 32 percent of the federal. Read more

January 29, 2013

Good morning, Madam Chairman, members of the committee.

My name is Jack Hoffman. I’m senior analyst for Public Assets Institute, a Montpelier-based non-profit, non-partisan, public policy think tank that was established 10 years ago.

For those of you who don’t know about Public Assets Institute, we analyze state fiscal policy with the ordinary Vermonter in mind. Read more