As
I write this late Friday afternoon on May 12th, I should be home in
Charlotte. Instead, I am in a holding pattern in Montpelier. There
are a number of bills that are still under negotiation, all of which
deal in some way with money. The Budget cannot be passed until all
the constituent parts are finalized. These parts include the capital
bill that deals with the overhead required to run the state
government, the fee bill that covers the expense of administering
regulations and licenses, the transportation bill that maintains our
transportation infrastructure, and the education tax bill that
determines what the statewide property taxes will be. While the
capital, fee and transportation bills, have already passed both the
House and Senate, the education bill has become the sticking point
over how to deal with the new health care plans being proposed for
public school teachers.
The
education tax bill, H.509, was close to being finalized until
Governor Scott proposed his teachers' health insurance plan to
capture an alleged $26M savings within days of adjournment. The fact
that only $13M would apply to the FY18 budget, since the new
insurance plans don't start until January 1, has not stopped him from
repeating the $26M figure. The Governor insists that the only way the
savings can be achieved is with negotiations between the
administration and the statewide union. This runs counter to the
right of workers, the teachers, to negotiate directly with their
employer, the school board. With the backing of the Republican
caucus, he has refused to compromise on this point. He also has
proposed that only 30% of the savings should go for property tax
reduction.
Meanwhile,
the House and Senate have been working toward a way to realize the
estimated savings while maintaining the integrity of the
employer-employee relationship of teachers and school boards. The
latest amendment passed by the Senate would require $13M to be saved
in the second half of FY18 which would reduce the statewide homestead
property tax by 3 cents. Based on the number of employees, each
school district would be allocated a proportion of the savings which
would be achieved by negotiations between the school board and its
teachers, a process that is already taking place across the state, by
the way. Any difference between what the district actually saves and
the allocated amount would reduce the state's payment to the
district. Since each action on a bill requires a 24 hour waiting
period, the failure of the Governor to work with the legislature to
find a solution guarantees that the session will run beyond the
budgeted 18 weeks.
A
couple of weeks ago the 2017 session seemed to be moving along nicely
with no new taxes and a budget that got nearly unanimous support.
Yet, here we are. Despite agreement on what could potentially be
saved, the issue has boiled down to labor relations and how much
should be applied to reducing property taxes. I hope that by the time
you read this we'll have a solution and a budget that won't be
vetoed.
I
encourage you to let me know your concerns and opinions. I can be
reached by phone (802-233-5238) or by email
(myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).
