|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Speaker dismisses $124 million in proposed savings because Scott failed to deliver them in person
By Guy Page
Five days before the Legislature’s school funding bill vetoed by Gov. Phil Scott faces an override vote, Gov. Phil Scott’s administration this afternoon suggested several ways to reduce the estimated statewide property tax increase from 13.8% to between 4% – 6% – including cutting universal school meals.
The universal meals law was passed during the Covid era using federal pandemic relief funds. It provides meals to all students, regardless of their ability to pay. Funding the $20 million program was shifted to state taxpayers as the federal money dried up.
Agency of Education Secretary Zoie Saunders told the press at today’s virtual ‘press availability’ that the universal school meals repeal and the rest of the cafeteria list of potential savings aren’t meant as longterm, strategic reform. They’re just options that “get us within a range of sustainability….to keep Vermonters from being crushed this year.”
The proposals, shared with legislative leaders just hours earlier, would:
- Repeal Universal school meals law (saving $20 million)
- Spend estimated May-June general fund surplus ($20)
- Incorporate revised local school budget reductions ($4)
- Spend the entire Education Fund stabilization reserve ($47 million), coupled with payback plan to replenish 20% each year over the next five years.
- Remove one-time property tax credit increase now in H.887 ($20.6 million).
The Scott administration proposal was not well received by House Speaker Jill Krowinski – in part, she said, because he didn’t deliver it to her and other legislative leaders in person, a fact confirmed by his staff this afternoon:
“Today, we showed up in good faith, expecting to hear a tangible proposal from Governor Scott,” Krowinski said. “While the Governor has been vocally opposed to our plan to lower property taxes and ensure long-term solutions for how we fund and support public education, he chose not to attend the meeting. After publicly discussing the importance of this meeting for weeks, his absence undermines the collaborative spirit necessary to address the critical issues facing our state.
Krowinski dismissed the proposals as “election year politics.”
“Let me be clear, the Governor still has not provided any feasible alternative plan. The Governor proposed stripping kids of access to school meals and risked increasing tax rates even higher than those facing us today. Our bill, which the Governor vetoed, provides immediate tax relief to Vermonters and ensures access to quality education that our kids deserve. Vermonters need tax relief, and our bill does this. The Governor has stated that he wanted to work together on this issue, but the fact that he did not show up to this meeting, it is impossible to see this as nothing more than election year politics rather than a true commitment to collaboration.”
Scott’s team emphasized that the changes proposed are just short-term property tax reductions. “Requiring structural change now would be too disruptive and would not be in the best interests of the kids,” Saunders said.
What harm will be caused to Vermonters if the 13.8% tax hike takes effect, VPR reporter Pete Hirschfeld asked.
An administration spokesperson replied: “Not being able to afford rent. Increasing the homeless population. Pushing more people into poverty. Causing more people to leave the state.”
Discover more from Vermont Daily Chronicle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Education, Legislation
The United Nations is the entity that is promoting free school lunch to all children globally by 2030. Here is a press-release issued by UN partner UNICEF on this topic
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/un-agencies-back-bold-plan-ensure-every-child-need-gets-regular-meal-school-2030
Now that’s a great plan and solid first step towards helping insane tax hikes and making VT Affordable. Thanks Governor Scott. Now if only the Speaker and supermajority had common sense enough to support this solution.
I totally agree Alison. I will address the “free meals to all students”, which has been ridiculous from the beginning. That being said, I have no problem with making meals available to the children that truly need it, as sadly there are ones that do. Unfortunately, I have observed that being abused by ones that could eat breakfast at home, but knowing a particular student she probably got up just before the bus came. I had to keep my lips zipped. I wish there had been a documented observation of the wasted food at schools because the kids don’t like it, or have their own lunch.
Just listened to a report on VT Public about this. The Prog/Dems are claiming Scott’s recommendations to lower property taxes are ‘fiscally irresponsible’. You can’t make this stuff up. Clearly, they mean ‘fiscally irresponsible’ for their personal wealth management schemes at taxpayer expense.
The fallout of COVID laundering fraud and run deficit spending full blast has come to pass. Good thing the Legislature and the Administration ramrodded through legislation (while everyone was too psyop’d and stressed to pay attention) to spend and steal every last dime of the one-time pay to play scheme. Now taxpayers are saddled with paying for the “new laws, regs and policies” with even more lawfare warfare. See how it works?
Now robbing Peter to pay Paul by taking away this to pay for that – all because most taxpayers are broke and can’t pay their bills, let alone pay for groceries. The food supply chains are snapping and seizing. Banks teetering on collapse (FDIC reported it and the Fed shrugged) What liquidity/credit crisis?
They papered themselves into a corner and expect us to pay our way out of their criminal, colluding, conspiracies to commit colossal fraud. The warning shots are being fired and most are not paying attension to facts over fiction. Our so-called leadership is chicken dancing like the panic-stricken foul they truly are – the real numbers don’t lie – they do. It’s a set-up to pull the rug out and fully control any and all assets, resources, and supplies. The Truth is the leadership can’t even see what is coming will take them out to – that’s what making deals with devils manifests.
That is the DUMBEST thing they have said all term: who the heck do they expect is a serious challenge to Scott’s reelection that would drive him to such tactics?
We’re embedded in a political culture were in order to stay at the cool kids lunch table…to be counted among the “virtuous good guys”, we need to have a visceral reaction to those other folks… “Republicans”, “Conservatives”, “right wing/white supremacists nut cases”, palestinian genocide-ers. They are to be avoided at all costs…we must automatically vote DEM/PROG to be legitimized. As a result we’ve subjugated ourselves by a pack of our agenda driven betters. Time to vote em out…resist?
While not a total fix, I have long been opposed to school meals as yet another way of shifting the cost of raising children onto the taxpayer (do you really think universal pre-K is about education, and not about shifting daycare costs onto society??).
So if the condom failure award gets free lunch (and many schools breakfast) take that money from food stamps and WIC! No need to double dip!