Town Meeting put Vermont in the national spotlight again after dozens of communities adopted resolutions calling for a constitutional fix to Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that has opened new rivers of money flowing into political campaigns. But there was another resolution that some towns adopted that also deserves attention. Read more

Unless there is an unexpected rash of school budget defeats next week, it looks like Gov. Peter Shumlin won’t get his wish to keep school spending flat next year.

Earlier this year, the governor urged local voters to press for no increases in school budgets. Read more

This post is an edited version of Paul Cillo’s testimony to the Vermont House Education Committee in January 2012.

The comprehensive study of Vermont’s school funding system released last month should be welcome news to Vermonters, who have invested significant effort over the past fifteen years to reform the system. Read more

According to U.S. Census data, Vermont has been funding public education at about $50-60 for every $1000 of residents’ personal income for nearly 20 years. In fiscal 2009, the most recent data available, Vermont spent $1.4 billion, which worked out to about $57 per $1000 of personal income. Read more

Testimony on Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) Program

State House; February 10, 2012; 10:45 AM

Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee

My name is Paul Cillo.  I’m the President of the Public Assets Institute here in Montpelier.  We’re an independent nonprofit that analyzes Vermont’s tax, budget, and economic policies from the perspective of ordinary Vermonters.  Read more

Is Vermont a high-tax state?  It depends on whether you look at the taxes Vermonters pay, or the taxes the state collects? There’s a difference, which we should keep in mind when we see information like a recent item in the Burlington Free Press “Innovate”  section. Read more

It was an easy vote in the Vermont House on Friday. Fifteen years ago, it would not have been so.

Without a single nay, the House voted to use future budget surpluses to restore General Fund support for education. For the last three years, the Legislature has cut the annual transfer from the General Fund to the Education Fund, which covers all pre-K to 12 education costs in Vermont. Read more

Gov. Peter Shumlin mentioned the middle class in his State of the State speech last week—once. That’s exactly the same number of times he mentioned the middle class in his inaugural speech last year; and exactly one time more than he mentioned them in his 2011 Budget Address. Read more

No.   Declining enrollment doesn’t drive up costs. It’s true that Vermont’s student enrollment has been declining at a rate of about 1 percent per year.  But, school costs have also been declining for the past two years.

If you listen to some who are weighing in on Vermont’s school spending lately, you’d think that a lower student count is causing increased spending.  Read more

Governor Shumlin is rightly proud of the leadership this administration provided in the clean up after Tropical Storm Irene last summer.  He inspired Vermonters to rise to their best during one of the worst disasters in the state’s history.

And he is correct in making job creation the state’s top priority and in recognizing that investment now in education and public infrastructure are key to Vermont’s economic future. Read more