Several key initiatives are underway
already as this year’s legislature looks to address high priority items on education
funding, housing, and criminal justice, with proposals on the table from the governor.
His full budget proposal will be presented in a speech to the General Assembly
on Tuesday.
***
Education Funding
It takes a lot to build enough pressure to
completely reshape a system created 25 years ago, but there may be momentum
this year to do it. To meet a 1997 Vermont Supreme Court decision on equity, we
have been funding our schools through a statewide pot of money. The court said
our kids should not have the adequacy of funding for their schools be based on
the town they happen to live in. A child in a town with a low tax base should
have an equal access to education as one in a wealthy town.
But when we turned to creating a statewide
fund, the structure tried to protect the concept of “local control.” Towns could
still run their own schools and set their own budgets. The budgets were then
sent to the state so that a statewide tax rate could raise the money to meet
those budgets. We have learned the hard way that this is a combination that
doesn’t work. Having each town decide on what it needs to spend, and then
having all towns chip in to pay whatever the grand total turns out to be, means
everyone has to contribute in paying higher property taxes for the sake of
towns that vote for high budgets.
That isn’t actual local control. It is a
local town being held hostage to the spending decisions of other school
districts around the state.
There are three major pieces to the
governor’s proposal:
First is that a budget adequate for
quality education needs to be set at the state level for allocation to
districts. This kind of a formula is the mechanism used by the majority of
states. You can see the details on this type of system –
compared to ours – in the very readable report put out by the Department of
Education in November. This kind of foundation formula would allow
for a single, state-wide tax rate [thus no more need for a “common level of
appraisal” to equalize towns], still keeping deductions for lower income
homeowners.
Second is that the quality of our
education system needs to be enhanced by stronger consistency and leadership by
unifying into five large, geographic districts. There are a lot of rationales
for doing this, both financial and to benefit student opportunities. Declining
assessment scores in Vermont schools is a real concern, and there are many
disparities in what students can access.
Finally, there are expanded roles for
state support and oversight. Currently, even graduation requirements differ
among districts.
The intended outcomes of the plan are
stated as education quality (“better educational outcomes for all Vermont
students and better support for schools to achieve our shared goals”);
equitable funding (“students with similar needs, receive the same resources and
funding regardless of geography”); and efficient use of resources (“more
consistent and sustainable use of resources to support innovation,
personalization and quality”). You can watch the presentation to the legislature at education.vermont.gov/news/aoe-presents-stronger-schools-stronger-students-education-transformation-proposal
Putting a proposal out on the table is a
way to draw out a lot of criticism, but it’s also the best way to start
generating serious discussion about the options to be considered. That
discussion will now continue in the education and the tax committees in both
the House and the Senate in the weeks to come.
***
Housing
The governor is seeking further revisions
to last year’s work on easing regulatory barriers to the construction of new
housing, in particular, the current broad appeal rights that can add costs and
delays. His proposals include extending last year’s limited waiver of Act 250
review for construction to more areas where sewer and water infrastructure already
exist.
Significant to our local towns is a
proposal that would help fund extending that kind of infrastructure in smaller towns
that can’t afford to do it. One example came up during recent resident input in
Northfield, where the Falls was noted as having areas that could be ideal for
housing expansion but would require expensive sewer lines.
The proposed new program would allow
municipalities and developers to borrow funding for infrastructure upgrades
needed to build a new housing project against its future value.
***
Criminal Justice
The proposal from the governor would address
bail, reversing some changes that allow release without bail, when a person has
been accused of repeat offenses while awaiting a determination on a first one. It
also would repeal the next phase of the “raise-the-age” law passed several
years ago. That law turned 18-year-olds into juveniles for Family Court
purposes, and the pending next step is extending juvenile status to
19-years-olds. (It does not include the top 14 most violent crimes.)
The bail issue is always a tough one,
because bail has a fundamental flaw that challenges equal justice: Some people end
up in jail waiting for their cases to be heard while others, although facing
identical charges, can be free on the street purely based on having more
financial resources. A person may end up sentenced to, “time served,” meaning
the time they’ve already been waiting in jail is included. But that means the
same jail time is also being served by the person who has been waiting and is
not convicted.
Something clearly does need to be done to
address those who are released until a case is heard and yet are being
re-arrested on more charges in the meantime. We need to address it in a way
that upholds the principle that is the foundation of our justice system: these
people are, at this point, still innocent of the crimes they’re accused of.
The second topic will likely face major
legislative pushback because the momentum in the legislature for treating young
adults as children has been strong in recent years. My Human Services Committee
joined with the Judiciary Committee for hearings on “raise-the-age” this past
week.
When I was first in the legislature two
decades ago, Vermont was one of only two states (Alabama was the other) that
treated 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, with their arrests starting in adult
court before being considered for a possible move to Family Court. I fought to
raise that age so that the presumption was the opposite and those cases start
in Family Court.
Now we’re at the other extreme with a
highly convoluted system based on multiple age and crime categories that result
in juvenile status, youthful offender status, or adult status. Some, but not
others, can start in one court and then be switched.
The argument is the growing knowledge
about brain development that shows those in their early 20s are still more
prone to impetuous decision-making and risk-taking that should be considered in
addressing criminal activities that they will likely outgrow. There is also
research that indicates that when treated as adults, these young adults are
more likely to continue criminal involvement rather than to outgrow it.
I support the use of transfer to youthful
offender status to address these realities, but not the wholesale expansion of
Family Court to take on cases for those 18 years old and above by redefining them
as children.
***
Bill Introductions
I’ve signed on again to the effort to have
an income tax exclusion for military retirement income to put us in line with
almost every other state. It is a key workforce issue. I’ve also reintroduced
the right-to-repair bill, which almost made it to the finish line last year,
until time ran out to resolve House and Senate differences.
An amusing closing note: Last week I
reintroduced a bill to protect the right of consumers to pay cash. This week, I
received a formal letter of support from… drumroll… the National Armored Car
Association in Reston, Virginia. It’s amazing how some organizations track
every piece of legislation that could affect their industry, in every state
legislature!
***
Please keep in contact to share your
opinions and concerns; Rep. Ken Goslant and I both welcome your input. You can
reach us at adonahue@leg.state.vt.us and kgoslant@leg.state.vt.us. My archive of
legislative updates can be found at representativeannedonahue.blogspot.com
