(Host) The Senate has defeated a plan to tap into the state’s Rainy Day Funds to avoid making more cuts in the state budget for next year.
As VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports, it’s a debate that’s likely to continue for the rest of the session.
(Kinzel) The fight occurred during the Senate’s debate over the state budget for next year. That budget includes $38 million in unspecified cuts that are part of the so called Challenges for Change plan – that’s an effort to streamline the operations of state government.
The Rainy Day Fund for general state spending has $54 million in it. Chittenden senator Doug Racine proposed using $20 million from the Fund to avoid making additional cuts as part of the final "Challenges" plan.
Senate Appropriations chairwoman Susan Bartlett strongly opposed Racine’s plan:
(Bartlett) "I will tell right now that saying yes to taking money out of the Rainy day Funds is the easy thing to do. Changing how we deliver services and keeping our feet to the fire is the hard thing to do."
(Kinzel) But Racine had a very different point of view:
(Racine) "This is not an easy way out frankly. What you have in front of you I believe is the easy way out because it has a hole in it and we aren’t going to make the tough decisions to fill that hole with these funds and apparently we’re not going to make the tough decisions to find places to cut – that’s the easy way out."
(Kinzel) Bartlett reminded senators that the Rainy Day Fund is supposed to be used at the end of a fiscal year when it’s too late to make cuts to avoid incurring a deficit:
(Bartlett) "Many of us that sit on the money committees believe that the purpose of and the appropriate use of these funds other than how we already use them is when you see the light at the end of the tunnel and this is the money you can use to bridge to get there.
(Kinzel) But Racine says he’s concerned that lawmakers won’t be able to identify the full $38 million in additional cuts for the Challenges plan and he says that means the Douglas Administration will be authorized to make the cuts without Legislative approval:
(Racine) "And it says if we don’t find it we’re going to walk away and we’re going to leave it up to the Administration to make further cuts and I don’t believe that’s the right role for this Legislature to take on."
(Kinzel) Although the Senate voted 18 to 11 to oppose using Rainy Day Funds at this time, the issue is likely to come up again when lawmakers consider the specifics of the Challenges for Change bill.
For VPR News, I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.