Gov. Douglas, in Randolph,
Asks Cap on School Spending
By M. D. Drysdale

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas took time Monday after addressing the Randolph Chamber of Commerce at its breakfast meeting to tour the White River Craft Center, an organization that works with at-risk youth. The next day Gov. Douglas returned to Randolph for an interview with the Herald editor and to look at planned improvements at Chandler Center for the Arts He is an honorary co-chairman of the fundraising drive.

It was hard to tell Tuesday afternoon whether Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas was more pleased or surprised when told that the Senate had approved a version of his proposal to place a "soft cap" on increases in educational funding.

The idea of a cap—in which a 60% vote would be required if a town wanted to increase school budgets by more than 4%—was one of Douglas’s most controversial proposals this year. He had proposed it in his State of the State speech in January as a way to check the growth of educational spending, which has been averaging about 6% a year.

The idea was immediately opposed by educators, and the House of Representatives would have none of it. The House passed an educational spending measure a week ago that had no mention of a cap.

At the Chamber of Commerce breakfast Monday morning at the Three Stallion Inn, the governor dismissed the House bill "a few quite modest steps" having "very little" effect on education spending.

But this week the Senate President Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, announced he, along with Republican Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, would co-sponsor a bill with the governor’s cap in it. What’s more, he said, he would vote for it.

With a Senate weighted Democratic by a 23-7 margin, however, it still seemed unlikely that the governor’s idea would pass. On Tuesday, however, that’s just what happened, with Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie casting a tie-breaking vote.

"I’m pleased," Gov. Douglas said in a visit to The Herald that afternoon. "This is a meaningful bill." A cap, he said, "is the only meaningful idea I’ve seen to bend the cost curve in educational spending."

Political Move?

Shumlin never argued in favor of the cap itself, saying instead that he was supporting it in order to "re-involve the governor in the conversation."

Now, educational funding goes to a Conference Committee. Three members of the Senate and three from the House will try to fashion a bill acceptable to both chambers.

The governor’s proposal is still far from becoming law, since House Speaker Gaye Symington is not a fan, but Tuesday’s vote in the Senate was a major shot in the arm.

At the Chamber meeting Monday, Douglas repeated his conviction that lowering education spending is more important than trying to find a different way for paying for it.

Income Tax Proposal

Recently, there has been a move in the legislature to raise the income tax significantly to pay for education, thereby taking some of the tax burden off the property tax. But Douglas repeated his staunch opposition.

"That’s a step in the wrong direction," he said bluntly. "It doesn’t solve the spending question. It doesn’t matter what pocket you pay out of. All our pockets are going to be empty unless the spending is decreased."

He pointed out that recently the sales tax was raised to take pressure off the property tax, but educational expenses drove property taxes back to their former level within three years, despite the fact that enrollments were decreasing.

Economy Healthy

In other comments at the Chamber breakfast, Douglas claimed the Vermont economy is "generally doing pretty well." He said that 10,000 jobs have been added in the last four years, and that there’s been a reduction in the poverty rate in each of the last two years.

Still, he said, there’s "reason for caution," primarily because Vermont has once again been named in a study as the state with the highest state/local tax burden. And predictably, perhaps, he advised that the Democrats in the legislature have proposed raising them even more. Specifically, he mentioned a proposal in the Senate to raise the property transfer tax and another proposal to create a tax on home heating fuel to pay for energy efficiency improvements to Vermont buildings.

Broadband Bill

At the Chamber meeting and later at The Herald, Gov. Douglas was optimistic for the chances of the big telecommunications bill that has passed the House and is awaiting Senate action.

This bill, which promises to extend broadband coverage through the whole state, has been an issue with genuine bi-partisan support. It was a Douglas Administration proposal, but the Democratic legislature has responded enthusiastically—as have Vermonters generally.

"We need that competitive edge," Douglas told the Chamber. "It’s critical for Vermont."

In his conversaion with The Herald he mentioned he was particularly pleased that legislators have gone along with his proposal, in the bill, to ease the permitting process for the communications towers that will be necessary to put Vermont on-line.