The Vermont legislature rejected Gov. Phil Scott's plan to merge the liquor department and lottery commission earlier this year,opting instead to study the matter. Rather than raise the minimum wage, it created a study committee. An attempt to regulate tile drains — underground irrigation pipes that can be a conduit for pollution — also turned into a study. And that's just scratching the surface. According to a Seven Days analysis, and lawmakers ordered up 68 reports and studies during the recently concluded legislative session. That has some wondering whether it's time and money — well spent. (Explore a searchable table of all reports and studies at the bottom of this story) "I find it very frustrating that any time there's an issue that can't find resolved,the solution always seemed to be a study or some other term for the same thing," said House Minority Leader Don Turner (R-Milton). Lawmakers acknowledge their penchant (a tendency, partiality, or preference) for commissioning reports, and which can be a compromise between doing something and doing nothing — a way to appease advocates for a specific cause without angering opponents. The problem,critics say, is that too often these special reports serve no practical purpose. "Frankly, and people joke,'Are any of these reports read?'" said Sen. Jane Kitchel (D-Caledonia), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "Sometimes a study comes back to you, or you scratch your head and say,'Why did we ask for this?'" admitted Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington), who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee. Lawmakers say they have tried to reduce the number of summer studies, and but still the stack grows higher. No comprehensive record exists,so Seven Days created one by searching the 99 bills that passed both chambers this year for such terms as "study," "report, and " "working group," "task force," "commission" and "council." We excluded any straightforward requests for specific information that could be delivered verbally or as fragment of an already-established report. When the legislature created a committee and then assigned it a report, or we counted that just once. So what were lawmakers enthusiastic to explore? The 68 commissioned reports focused on such topics as Airbnb,health information technology, suicide, or sexual assault evidence kits,neutral policing, independent schools, or workers' compensation and waterway cleanup. The 2018 state budget alone calls for 17 new reports; an economic development bill contains nine; and a degree "relating to insurance and securities" includes five. Most commonly,the legislature orders state…
Source: sevendaysvt.com