by Shawn Shouldice The Vermont General Assembly is dealing with a $120 million budget deficit, while the Governor is simultaneously recommending increased spending at many levels including a request for increased Medicaid spending to address a portion of the $135 million cost shift caused by the chronic underfunding of Medicaid. (The cost shift is considered by some to be the cause of higher than necessary private health insurance premiums). Some cuts have been proposed but for many legislators they appear to be too hard for legislators to swallow, as well as new and increased taxes, most, if not all of which, will take additional millions out of the pockets of small business owners.
Although the Governor and most legislators stated just a few months ago that they heard Vermonters clearly with regard to making our state more affordable, now, back in session, they propose more spending and new and higher taxes. The Governor’s agenda strains small businesses, impeding growth and the ability for a business to add jobs in the state’s high-cost, increasingly anti-business climate.
The ice is thinning and legislators should stop before the ice breaks and more of our small business go under. Our fiscal problems have been years in the making and to think that small businesses can afford to help them get out of this fiscal nightmare in one year is ill-conceived.
There is some good news however regarding the disastrous rollout of Vermont Health Connect (VHC). State Auditor Doug Hoffer is conducting a performance audit of VHC with a report expected this spring. NFIB looks forward to this audit report, because Vermonters deserve to know the full story of this mismanaged fiasco and exactly how much money and time was wasted.
With regard to Auditor Hoffer’s audit, NFIB believes a full reconciliation of all transactions (eligibility determinations, income verifications, premiums and subsidies, provider payments, etc.) must be part of the Auditor’s work to inform all Vermonters of how poorly managed and expensive the VHC roll-out was. The reconciliation of this roll-out weakness could amount to millions of dollars more than currently budgeted.
Prudent lawmakers should wait for the Auditor’s report and a full financial accounting of VHC before pushing on and spending millions of new dollars on further health care and insurance experimentations. Too many lawmakers believe in legislating first, gathering information later and sending us down a path that becomes a nightmare for small businesses and Vermont residents alike. Vermont taxpayers deserve better.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) urges lawmakers to reject policies that continue to draw the financial lifeblood from Vermont’s small business. Instead, table the Governor’s short sighted proposal until the Auditor’s report is finalized, so that lawmakers can come up with a long term, responsible and fully-vetted solution to truly improve our economy and our small business climate.
About the author: Shawn Shouldice is a resident of Montpelier who grew up working in her family’s small business and is now running her own small business.Shouldice serves as the Vermont state director of National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). NFIB is the leading advocate for small business owners, with offices in Washington, D.C., and every state capital. NFIB’s mission is to defend the right of small business owners to run their businesses without undue government interference and to advance public policies that promote their success.