August 14, 2008

Joint Fiscal Committee Meeting

Tuesday, August 19th, 9:30 a.m., Room 10 of the Statehouse in Montpelier

There will be an important meeting on Tuesday, the 19th  at the State House when, because of a drop in state revenues, policy makers will look at where to cut the existing budget.  The decisions will be made very quickly and it is important that the public be able to weigh in before the cuts are made.  See below for additional background.

At the meeting, the administration will present its plan for the cuts to  the legislative Joint Fiscal Committee (see makeup of Committee below).

This committee has 21 days to respond with alternative strategies or the Governor’s recommendations go into effect. By law, any reduction in funding is supposed to include an analysis of how the cuts will impact Vermonters.

The cuts are not merely numbers on a page, but will have serious consequences for many Vermonters.  Some of the cuts considered and rejected at the end of the legislative session this year may actually happen at this time.

The administration has been meeting this week with some members of the Joint Fiscal Committee, and the Committee could, if it chooses, approve the proposed cuts.  The administration didn't seek any public input before making its decisions, so it is up to the Legislature to provide the forum for the public to respond.  

People are going to try and attend the the Joint Fiscal Committee meeting to be held:
Tuesday, August 19th
9:30 a.m.
Room 10 of the State House in Montpelier

Please consider joining them.

At that meeting, there should be a clear message to legislators.

- Wait for any decision to let the public weigh in on the proposed cuts.
- Explain the impact of the cuts on the people of Vermont.

The law says: "An expenditure reduction plan . . . shall indicate the effect . . . on the primary purposes of the program for which the appropriation was made."

It also says the plan "shall indicate how it is designed to minimize any negative effects on the delivery of services to the public, and any unduly disproportionate effect on any single function, program, service, or benefit."

At this time no information is available from the Administration regarding what cuts are proposed and we do not know what kind of impact analysis has been done. Since the Administration has not allowed for any public comment on any budget changes, it is particularly important that we ask the Legislature to get public input and do their own impact analysis.

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Some additional background

Members of the Joint Fiscal Committee:
Sen. Susan Bartlett, Chair
Rep. Michael Obuchowski, Vice-Chair
Rep. Donald Bostic
Sen. Ann Cummings
Rep. Martha Heath
Sen. Richard Sears, Jr.
Sen. Peter Shumlin
Rep. Shap Smith
Sen. Diane Snelling, Clerk
Rep. Richard Westman
 
Since the projected revenues for the rest of the 2009 fiscal year, (which just began July, 2008), are lower than the estimates used when the budget passed in May, some changes need to be made in order to prevent deficit spending.

The response of policy makers has been to take off the table measures such as use of rainy day funds until later in the fiscal year or consideration of additional revenue-raising measures and to make cuts in the existing budget.

Most state agencies (except Public Safety and Corrections) have been asked to submit proposals for distributing a 5 percent reduction. When these kinds of budget issues occur outside the legislative session, the administration submits its recommendations to the Joint Fiscal Committee of the Legislature.

The law requires the secretary of administration to provide details about the consequences of the cuts and what the administrations proposes to minimize any harm done by the cuts.

The estimated shortfall is believed to be $24 million in the general fund, but the administration is proposing $32 million in cuts to offset additional shortfalls in the transportation fund.

Here is link to the statute describing the requirements for budget cuts outside of the legislative session.
 
The preliminary agenda for the meeting can be found here at the Joint Fiscal Office website.

For more information, contact Barbara Postman at (802) 229-6377  or bpostman@voicesforvtkids.org.  Barbara is also the policy coordinator at Voices for Vermont's Children, one of the Coalition's six lead organizations.