Democratic leaders in the Vermont Legislature say Gov. Jim Douglas is underfunding the state police by $3 million.
And that is likely to worsen a chronic state police staffing shortage.
Senate President Peter Shumlin says the governor’s rhetoric on public safety does not match his record.
Currently the state police are around 30 troopers short of its full strength of 345 officers.
Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Tremblay says he thinks Shumlin is wrong.
He says the staffing shortage is due to the difficulty of recruiting new troopers.