(Host) Vermont State Auditor Tom Salmon says he’s still got a lot of ideas for how the Douglas administration and the Legislature can resolve budget problems.
Salmon has offered critiques and suggestions for several months as the Republican governor and Democrats in the Legislature have feuded over spending.
Salmon says one of his leading ideas is for state government to figure out how much money it will cost to pay employee salaries and benefits in coming budget years.
(Salmon) "If there is an agreement by the administration that there’ll be no layoffs. But there has to be a financial agreement about what the next 35 months are going to cost. Then you can start to talk about furloughs or things like that. Or, let’s be very candid, they have to have a scheduled pay decrease over the next few years. You may have to have a schedule contribution to health insurance increase over the next three years."
(Host) Salmon concedes that many of his ideas go well beyond the traditional role of a state auditor. But he thinks he’s got credibility because his office as independent and he says he’s not running for governor.
(Salmon) "I could be governor tomorrow with the right people around me. But my message has always been: New thinking required."
(Host) Salmon says he’s encouraged that both the administration and the Legislature have committed to finding innovative ways of paying for government and making it more efficient.
He says he’s still willing to be a resource to both sides as they develop another bare-bones budget.