Legislature Skating on Thin Ice
The Vermont General Assembly is dealing with a $120 million
budget deficit, while the Governor is simultaneously recommending increased
spending at many levels including a request for increased Medicaid spending to
address a portion of the $135 million cost shift caused by the chronic
underfunding of Medicaid. (The cost shift is considered by some to be the cause
of higher than necessary private health insurance premiums). Some cuts
have been proposed but for many legislators they appear to be too hard for
legislators to swallow, as well as new and increased taxes, most, if not all of
which, will take additional millions out of the pockets of small business
owners.
Although the Governor and most legislators stated just a few
months ago that they heard Vermonters clearly with regard to making our state
more affordable, now, back in session, they propose more spending and new and
higher taxes. The Governor’s agenda strains small businesses, impeding
growth and the ability for a business to add jobs in the state’s high-cost,
increasingly anti-business climate.
The ice is thinning and legislators should stop before the
ice breaks and more of our small business go under. Our fiscal problems
have been years in the making and to think that small businesses can afford to
help them get out of this fiscal nightmare in one year is ill-conceived.
There is some good news however regarding the disastrous
rollout of Vermont Health Connect (VHC). State Auditor Doug Hoffer is
conducting a performance audit of VHC with a report expected this spring.
NFIB looks forward to this audit report, because Vermonters deserve to know the
full story of this mismanaged fiasco and exactly how much money and time was
wasted.
With regard to Auditor Hoffer’s audit, NFIB believes a full
reconciliation of all transactions (eligibility determinations, income
verifications, premiums and subsidies, provider payments, etc.) must be part of
the Auditor’s work to inform all Vermonters of how poorly managed and expensive
the VHC roll-out was. The reconciliation of this roll-out weakness could
amount to millions of dollars more than currently budgeted.
Prudent lawmakers should wait for the Auditor’s report and a
full financial accounting of VHC before pushing on and spending millions of new
dollars on further health care and insurance experimentations. Too many
lawmakers believe in legislating first, gathering information later and sending
us down a path that becomes a nightmare for small businesses and Vermont
residents alike. Vermont taxpayers deserve better.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) urges
lawmakers to reject policies that continue to draw the financial lifeblood from
Vermont’s small business. Instead, table the Governor’s short sighted
proposal until the Auditor’s report is finalized, so that lawmakers can come up
with a long term, responsible and fully-vetted solution to truly improve our
economy and our small business climate.
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About the author: Shawn Shouldice is a resident of
Montpelier who grew up working in her family’s small business and is now
running her own small business. Shawn serves as the state director of
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). NFIB is the leading
advocate for small business owners, with offices in Washington, D.C., and every
state capital. NFIB’s mission is to defend the right of small business owners
to run their businesses without undue government interference and to advance
public policies that promote their success.
