Douglas Won't
Coöperate

Our governor can’t seem to make up his mind where he stands on school taxes. In his inaugural address he said that he wanted "to ease the weight of property taxes on working Vermonters, without shifting it to another tax." In the same speech he said, "I have met with Speaker Symington and Senator Shumlin and, while our approaches may differ, we agree the real culprit is unsustainable increases in spending."

Last week in Bethel the governor ignored this public record of his own words and, according to the Herald, denied the existence of that agreement. But later in the week, when House members considered moving school funding off the property tax and onto the income tax, the Governor angrily reminded Vermonters that this was inconsistent with the agreement (which had suddenly come back into existence).

The governor expresses his ingratiating sympathy for tax-strapped Vermonters but, as he himself admits, the best his spending caps approach can do is to "bend the curve" of tax increases. This is hardly the relief he has invited Vermonters to expect.

Worse, his attempts to reduce spending by imposing "discipline" on Vermonters, inevitably punishes towns saddled with high costs, essentially kicking people while they’re down. He scolds the legislature for "only tinkering," when he’s been clear that he will oppose anything more ambitious.

The legislative leadership has heeded the public demand that they work with the governor, who does possess the veto power after all. The governor, however, has chosen not to work with them. For legislators who have called for more ambitious tax reform, and who have urged our colleagues to be less accommodating to the governor, vindication is cold comfort.

Dick McCormack

Senator, Windsor County