The Public Assets Institute, based in Montpelier, is developing a series of charts depicting proposed Vermont state spending for fiscal 2015. It tracks the annual appropriations bill makes its way through the Vermont General Assembly, from the governor’s recommendation in early January to the final House and Senate compromise passed on the last day of the session.
Governor Peter Shumlin’s fiscal 2015 budget calls for spending $5.6 billion next year, an increase of 5.4 percent — $288 million — over the budget passed for fiscal 2014. The lion’s share of the new spending — 62 percent — would go to human services, always the largest component of Vermont’s budget. Education comes in next, at 25 percent of spending, followed by the state’s transportation system, at 12 percent. These three items account for 99 percent of the governor’s proposed budget.
The state’s primary sources of revenue are:
The House voted to appropriate $5.59 billion for fiscal 2015. That is a 4.1 percent increase—$221 million—over 2014. More than half of the additional spending—$123 million— would go to human services programs, including alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment and expanded health care services. The House bill would increase education spending by $64 million next year and transportation by about $40 million.