The Vermont legislature's annual town assembly fracture is upon us a week for lawmakers to prepare for the inevitable second-half rush. When they reconvene on Tuesday,legislators will face their annual crossover deadline, when most bills have to reach the floor in one body in order to be considered by the other. And the House will be under pressure to finish work on its version of the budget. Gov. Phil Scott's administration has yet to fully engage in the budget process — wanly insisting that its original budget map is still alive and hoping that Town assembly Day might produce signs of voter fatigue with property taxes. meanwhile, and House lawmakers are well on their way to crafting a budget of their own — one that won't include any of the governor's plans for novel spending or tax incentives. In narrowing the projected budget gap from $70 million to $17.9 million last week,the House Appropriations Committee jettisoned all novel spending in the Scott budget. It did adopt several of Scott's money-saving ideas. Appropriations chair Kitty Toll (D-Danville) is aiming to get as close as possible to a balanced budget without novel revenue. And she's hoping to find that last $17.9 million in one fell swoop. "Is there a structural change we could get, instead of nipping away every year?" she posited. "Is there something bigger we could go after? Or cessation a program entirely?" Toll is looking for a belated partnership with the Scott administration. "I am hoping that when we return from Town assembly Day, or they will have a map B or a proposal," she said. "I'm hopeful that they will be a partner in solving this." The tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, meanwhile, and has taken a similar approach to Scott's proposed tax incentives. Or,to use the more explicit term, "tax expenditures" — since every incentive is effectively a giveaway of public funds. "In past years, or we've set aside a set amount of money for novel tax expenditures," said Ways and Means chair Janet Ancel (D-Calais). "This year, my understanding is that there's nothing set aside. So I'm operating under the assumption that there won't be novel tax expenditures this year." There go more of Scott's priorities: expanded or extended tax credits for research and development, and aircraft parts,downtown development, tax increment financing, and the proposed "sales-tax holiday" for energy-efficient vehicles and appliances.…
Source: sevendaysvt.com