E-network : Budget Update & Alert
April 25, 2008
OVERVIEW
Because of the dire financial situation and no discussion about raising revenues, the state is facing a substantial budget deficit for FY2009 (approximately $25 million). To close that gap, the legislature considered a combination of cuts that would have disproportionately targeted children, the elderly, low-income Vermonters, people with mental illness, and those with disabilities. Among those cuts were the elimination of an increase in eligibility guidelines for the Child Care Subsidy Program and a $524,000 cut to eliminate the Building Bright Futures Regional Directors.
The good news: Your calls and emails made a difference! Thanks to the grassroots advocacy of engaged citizens across the state, the $852,658 recommended by the House to increase child care subsidy eligibility guidelines from 1999 to 2000 levels is still in the budget (as far as we know), and the proposed Building Bright Futures cut is only half of what was originally floated.
The bad news: The budget being considered by the budget conference committee still contains substantial cuts. Those cuts are very close to those floated in a Joint Fiscal Office document. The biggest proposed cut that affects young children and their families is the 50% reduction in funds ($262,000) for the Building Bright Futures Regional Directors.
One point of clarification: The legislature does not appear to be cutting family support child care (child care subsidies available to families in extenuating circumstances). It proposes to use Medicaid money to cover this need.
The legislature is also proposing a 50% reduction in funds for the Regional Partnerships, which “…develop and implement local strategies for improving the social well-being of Vermonters,…engage diverse community members as partners and…mobilize community resources to enhance local support services and systems to improve outcomes” (source: http://humanservices.vermont.gov/community-partners/copy_of_regional-community-partnerships). This cut would severely undermine communities’ ability to do the planning and community-building required to meet diverse needs.
A budget conference committee is meeting beginning today to begin to hammer out a final agreement, which requires reconciling differences between the House and Senate budgets. There are few points of disagreement. Observers predict that it is very likely that the legislature will adjourn by its target date of May 2nd so legislators will be working fast and furiously to arrive at a budget that both the House and Senate agree to. Conference committee members include:
Senator Susan Bartlett (D-Lamoille)
sbartlett@leg.state.vt.us
tel. 888-5591
Senator Dick Sears (D-Bennington)
rsears@leg.state.vt.us
tel. 442-9139
Senator Diane Snelling (R-Chittenden)
dsnelling@leg.state.vt.us
tel. 482-4382
Rep. Martha Heath (D-Westford)
mpheath@aol.com
tel. 893-1291
Rep. Bob Helm (R-Fair Haven)
rhelm@leg.state.vt.us
tel. 265-2145
Rep. Peter Hunt (D-Essex Junction)
pdhunt@leg.state.vt.us
tel. 878-8406
ACTION NEEDED
If your legislator sits on the budget conference committee, contact him/her immediately. If calling today, call the Sergeant-in-Arms at 1-800-322-5616 to leave a message. If calling over the weekend, see home telephone numbers above.
Suggested phone message: “Thank you for supporting the child care subsidy increase. Please do not cut funds to Building Bright Futures or the Regional Partnerships.”
If emailing legislators, here are suggested points (try to put them in your own words):
- Thank legislators for supporting an increase in the Child Care Subsidy Program eligibility guidelines.
- Express your opposition to the proposed cut to Building Bright Futures. Explain that this cut would undermine six years of planning to create Vermont’s first-ever early childhood system. In the end, the cut would only hurt Vermont’s ability to deliver services efficiently and effectively to our young children and their families. This cut would also hurt the state’s ability to leverage private funds for early childhood.
- Express your opposition to the proposed cut to the Regional Partnerships. The cut would severely undermine communities’ ability to do the planning and community-building required to meet diverse needs. The Coordinators’ function is not one that can be absorbed somewhere else.