Let’s Slash Bloat and Restore Sanity

Rob Roper recently highlighted that, despite a modest increase in Vermont’s state budget this year, it has grown at more than twice the rate of inflation since 2019, resulting in nearly $2 billion in annual spending beyond the rate of inflation. Weeks earlier, Dave Soulia questioned whether Vermont’s legislature adheres to Article 9 of the state Constitution. Vermonters are fed up with the out-of-control spending and are demanding change. I contend a missing element is effective accountability by the legislative and executive branches for both fiscal efficiency and program effectiveness. We need a culture of managing results, not just activity. Several established models could bring accountability to Vermont, but such reforms require a fiscally conservative majority in Montpelier.

Milton Friedman in the book Freedom to Choose stated “…if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government.” Two centuries earlier, our Vermont constitutional founders foresaw this and framed Article 9 of our constitution as a check against such minimal concern for cost or value. “…previous to any law being made to raise a tax, the purpose for which it is to be raised ought to appear evident to the Legislature to be of more service to community than the money would be if not collected.” Soulia’s article Is Article 9 Dead? Vermont’s Forgotten Constitutional Obligation to the People sharply critiques the legislature’s current neglect of Article 9.

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Florida, North Carolina, and Texas have implemented programs to ensure fiscal accountability in their state governments. Vermont should implement true accountability across state government, using a model similar to Florida’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) (https://oppaga.fl.gov/Home). Each Florida agency needs a strategic plan and reports on progress toward specific measurable metrics in the plan. North Carolina’s Program Evaluation Division maintained nearly 14 years of independent accountability, free from lobbyist influence (ncleg.gov/PED), until legislative leadership resumed direct oversight. The Texas Sunset Commission audits every program. Texas has saved $1 billion since 1977, axing or consolidating 85 agencies (Texas Sunset Commission). These accountability programs ensure the government is a good steward with the resources entrusted to its management. Vermont has a dire need to cut the strings of the special interests that drive fiscal bloat. This accountability must extend beyond direct government spending to address regulatory overreach and convoluted legislated programs. Examples include Efficiency Vermont, the dormant Clean Heat Standard, and the Renewable Energy Standard, which further burden Vermonters’ finances beyond direct taxation through regressive increases to utility costs.

I believe the solution to Vermont’s fiscal mess is threefold. First, a return to Article 9 of the Constitution. Most, if not all, of the Global Warming Solutions Act legislation was done with no regard to the cost. Indeed, it wasn’t a tax; it was a carbon credit fee.

Second, in Roper’s article Vermont Has a $9.1 BILLION Budget: And that’s just insane., a Taxpayer Bill of Rights is suggested. Unfortunately, lobbyists push to cap spending at the high end of the spectrum, rather than the median, as seen in the education bill’s proposed foundation formula. Under the foundation formula, towns that have run efficient education systems will see their per-pupil costs and taxes rise dramatically to match the bloat elsewhere in the state. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights may slow down future spend, but starts from the grossly inefficient baseline spending.

Finally, we need an effective Vermont Accountability Commission to audit every agency and regulation. The goal should mirror how Florida, North Carolina, and Texas have used their commissions: launch comprehensive, actioned audits to reduce wasteful spending and identify/eliminate ineffective/inefficient agencies and programs. Per the Joint Fiscal Office 2025 report, Vermont has the sixth highest per capita spending, at $15,426, yet when we look at results Johnny can’t read and our roads are crumbling. North Carolina (32), Texas (34), New Hampshire (39) and Florida (45) state and local governments operate at less than three quarters of our per capita spending.

Like forest management, we need to take a chainsaw to slash out-of-control and ineffective spending and unnecessary regulatory burdens on Vermonters, while ensuring the things that need to be maintained are being maintained.

This commission exists in name only as the Joint Legislative Government Accountability Committee. However, the fiscal bloat since 2019 shows little progress toward cost-effective governance. Vermont could cut an estimated $2 billion from recent government expansion, returning the budget to inflation adjusted pre-pandemic levels, and freeing money for areas currently being neglected. Achieving this won’t be easy and likely requires a fiscally conservative majority in 2026—a critical next step.

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Joe Gervais