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by Lynn LaFleur, GOP nominee for State Treasurer
By now, every small business is most likely aware of and participating in a program championed by our current state treasurer, Mike Pieciak, called Vermont Saves.
Implemented in 2024 with an initial cost of $750,000 taken from our General Fund of taxpayer dollars, the idea behind this program is to make employers more competitive by offering a retirement plan where there wasn’t one and to help Vermonters save for retirement with a Roth IRA. By January of 2026, all businesses with 5 or more employees who did not have their own retirement plan were to sign up their existing employees and any new employees were to be automatically enrolled.
This program, for which all of the notices and announcements we received at the small business I work for as Controller, was hailed as “No cost for employers”. Well, I can attest, from an employer standpoint, this program is not “no cost for employers”. It needs to be setup on the books, administered and managed through the payroll company, and reconciled each month. Notices arrive every pay period reporting errors to the program when employees are under 18 years of age. Time is money, right? I investigated the cost to the employee at the time the notices were sent to us and found out that our employees would be paying a fee for this program. The fees (and there’s 3 of them) that come out of the IRA investment include an annual $22 maintenance fee, $4 which goes to the state, (I would assume to cover ongoing administration on the state’s part) and $3.20/$1,000 balance management fee.
Oh, and for the employees, it’s mandatory. If you don’t want to participate, you must opt out. Some employees are not made aware of this. Typically, employees are given paperwork to read informing them of their work benefits including the retirement plan. Well, it’s been my experience that some people can’t read. Yes. True. That’s another story…. And now, with the use of direct deposit, employees don’t look at their pay stubs weekly, or ever. So they may not even be aware that they are participating in this program or how much money they are contributing.
Okay, so how is the program going? Well, according to our current Treasurer, it’s going great! Mike tells us “5,200 Vermonters begin building retirement security, with over $4.5 million collectively saved”. In his January 6th 2026 annual report, Mike states that 5,316 accounts have been funded. Each of those 5,316 accounts gives $4 to the state, annually. That’s $21,264 a year.
Let’s look at the cost to Vermont to implement and administer this ongoing program. As of January 12th 2026, (about 6 months into the fiscal year) salaries and benefits for this program amounted to $105,665. The remaining salaries and benefits for 2026 are shown on the report to be $160,351. Combined, that’s $266,016. For salaries alone to be covered by the $4 fee given to the state, we would need 66,504 new accounts. This doesn’t cover the Third Party Support or Office and Administration budget, which combined, totals an additional $113,101. Or another 28,275 new accounts. We have 5,316.
Given that the chances of this threshold (94,780 accounts) being met, it appeared clear that the investments were not going to cover the costs of the plan since most employers had signed up or filed an exemption. So, what did Mike do? He changed the threshold of participation. Now, instead of a business with 5 employees, every business without a plan and 2 employees or more needs to participate. This new threshold, implemented in February this year covers every business in the state except sole proprietors with no employees. Sole proprietors can also participate if they so choose.
Is it enough? Mike just celebrated a $10 Million investment threshold of savings flowing into the program on September 28, 2026. Three days ago. The number of employees saving this $10 million is 8,150. The state is now getting $32,600 to administer the program. In order for this program to really be “free” to taxpayers, we would need 94,780 accounts to cover the $379,117 cost shown in the budget (assuming their $4 to the state is for this exact purpose). 8,150 is a long way from 94,780.
So, what is Mike going to do? There’s an obvious shortfall in funding for this program. Well, for now, he has taken the money from our Education Endowment Fund to cover the cost of administering this program for the next 3 years. Yup, steal from Peter to pay Paul. But at what cost? Let’s take a look at what the Education Endowment Fund is used for and where the funding comes from for this. According to a quote from Mike Pieciak in Vermont Business Magazine October 10, 2025, “the Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund is strengthening Vermont’s workforce and our economy by making higher education more affordable and accessible”. The article goes on to say “Last year the distribution for the Fund supported approximately 675 scholarships for Vermonters, each averaging $1,400, with approximately 73% of the scholarships being awarded to first generation students.”
Where do we get the money for these scholarships? Well, from Unclaimed Property. So, what is Unclaimed Property? Well, it could be anything from forgotten checking or savings accounts; uncashed payroll checks, vendor checks, or lost dividends; unrefunded utility, rent, or security deposits; investments such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds; life insurance policy benefits and annuities; or contents of safe deposit boxes. Basically, taxpayer’s personal finances. According to the Joint Fiscal Office, “Under current law, {Unclaimed} property valued at $100 or less that has been unclaimed for more than 10 years is paid into the {Higher Education Endowment} Trust Fund. In fiscal year 2025, this provided $147,582 to the {Higher Education Endowment} Trust Fund”.
Because the $100 limit wasn’t enough, now, property valued under $150 will be used and $300,000 allocated to the Vermont Retirement Security Fund, which handles the Vermont Saves program. That’s $300,000 per year taken from our Higher Education grant program because Mike’s program can’t pay for itself. That’s approximately 214 college students losing out on funds to help them further their education and make it more affordable every year.
Oh, and if all this isn’t bad enough, the funds for our Vermont Saves program, well, they’re stored in Bank Mellon NY. Yup, an out of state bank. If this money was here in Vermont, it could be used for loans and provided to community projects at lower borrowing rates, beautifying our state. Even possibly providing lower cost housing, because having more money in the local bank allows the bank to offer more favorable lending rates.
Ask yourself, is Mike Pieciak taking us in the right direction? And, does Vermont Save or not?
The author is an accounting professional well versed in saving her clients money. She is a candidate for the Vermont State Treasurer’s office and she promises to not create any new programs that cost Vermonter’s more tax dollars. She promises to do her best to lower expenses, look for ways to decrease the state’s liabilities and work with the pension commission on ideas to reign in the $5B funding gap. All of which will result in a higher bond rating for the state, and could lead to lower taxes. You can find Lynn at LaFleur4VTTreasurer.com and LaFleur4Treasurer@proton.me.
Sources:
Click to access Vermont-Treasurers-2025-Annual-Report.pdf
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Categories: Commentary, politics
If employees have the option to opt out, that means it’s not mandatory.
Our government is a slimy cess pool or crooked, lying, degenerates claiming to represent us. We need change.