VSEA: Vermont's Third Rail of Politics

    When it comes to reducing spending and bringing the budget under control in Vermont and states in general, two areas, in large part, seem to be left out of consideration or any real scrutiny. These are
entitlements and the state employees unions, in Vermont known as the VSEA (Vermont State Employees Association) and nationally as AFSCME(American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees).
    Lawmakers seem much more willing to cut essential services, create new taxes, and maintain anti-business permitting processes such as Act 250, than they are to do anything to touch the gratuitous and uncalled for benefits that underproductive state employees currently receive and that we pay for.
    Vermont is looking to trim $38 million from next year's budget through the Challenges for Change budget cutting plan. Governor Jim Douglas has said "We have to find a way to deliver services of government more effectively - to live within our means, to respect the taxpayers and bring our budgets into balance."
    Is creating new taxes a way to respect the taxpayers?
    Another proposal included is to release 200 "non-violent" offenders currently in the Vermont prison system into Vermont's communities. Is this what Governor Douglas calls "respecting the taxpayers"?
    Vermont's Democratic gubernatorial candidates have made statements to the effect that we need to expand the state work force. Does this make any sense at all in light of the state's current budgetary crisis?
   Challenges for change does however, include some positive proposals, for example, a proposal to deregulate Act 250 permitting and other permitting processes, which the VSEA is fighting, that would
significantly streamline these permitting processes. These anti-business processes have long been in need of streamlining.
    There are approximately 5400 Vermont State employees. Eliminating entitlement programs would enable us to decrease this work force which, combined, would help to exponentially decrease the state budget.
Simply, for example, eliminating the twelve paid holidays state employees currently enjoy would save 64,800 paid days off, or between $6 and $10 million a year.
    So the point is that VSEA holds Vermont lawmakers at the point of a political gun. Any proposal to hold VSEA in check is the third rail of politics in Vermont and the elephant in the room no one wants to talk
about, as state employee's unions are also in every other state in the union.