LittleLightShining
06-10-2009, 10:59 AM
Douglas signs budget companion bill (http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090610/NEWS03/906100307/1095)
MONTPELIER -- Gov. Jim Douglas signed a budget companion bill into law Tuesday even as he maintained that part of it is unconstitutional.
That piece has to do with legislative oversight of state job cuts. Douglas contends that the Legislature is overstepping its bounds by dictating how the executive branch carries out its job.
"Regrettably, section 10 of H. 442 violates the constitutional separation of powers by abrogating powers reserved to the executive and judicial branches and providing the legislative branch with final approval authority over how expenditures, particularly staffing decisions, will be made to meet the multi-million dollar reduction in expenditures necessitated by the budget," Douglas said in a letter to the Legislature.
The bill, which passed last week during a special session, amends the Legislature's budget bill, which contained job-cut language that the Attorney General's Office advised was likely unconstitutional. Douglas charged that both bills are examples of sloppy work by the Legislature this year.
Whether Douglas will simply disregard that portion of the bill -- and not seek legislative approval of job cuts -- is unclear. Administration Secretary Neale Lunderville said Tuesday that that's a possibility.
That could land the state back in court, where the Douglas administration came out ahead last week.
The Vermont State Employees Association lost a bid to halt layoffs that became effective Friday after a judge ruled that job-cut provisions the Legislature passed were not in effect yet. VSEA Director Jes Kraus said the union's lawyers are researching whether to appeal that decision and could make a decision on that today.
The new bill takes effect immediately, which could give the union traction for a new court case if the Douglas administration snubs the Legislature on job-cut oversight, though Kraus acknowledged there are no guarantees.
"If they disobey the law, there certainly are grounds to challenge," Kraus said.
Lunderville said the administration made a new overture to the union Friday asking for new talks to discuss ways to avoid layoffs. Previous negotiations over contract concessions have failed. Kraus said there have been a long string of broken efforts and he wants to see if the administration is serious or just making a show with its overture.
(2 of 2)
The bill Douglas signed Tuesday also urges the union and administration to seek alternatives to layoffs. If that fails, the bill requires the administration to present a plan to the Legislature's Joint Fiscal Committee if at least 1 percent of the state's 8,100-member workforce is being cut. It sets June 2 as the starting point for counting the 1 percent.
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Some 80 state workers were laid off Friday and a few more layoffs are expected this month, accumulating to a number that would likely reach the 1 percent threshold.
House Speaker Shap Smith said that threshold has been used before and won the approval of the state Supreme Court on the grounds that by making reductions of that size, the administration would be altering policy set by the Legislature. Lawyers representing the administration argued last week in court that this still interferes with the executive branch's authority.
The new bill also requires the administration to offer incentives to as many as 300 retirement-eligible employees to leave state government. Lunderville said the administration will work with the Treasurer's Office on that plan. Kraus argued that it could allow the state to avoid many of the layoffs.
Douglas cited the budget bill and the companion bill as examples of numerous errors legislators made this session. "This is probably the sloppiest lawmaking I can recall," he said.
Legislative leaders took issue with that characterization Tuesday but acknowledged that Friday's court hearing revealed a mistake in the budget bill. Lawmakers did not specify that job-cut provisions in the bill should be in effect before July 1, the effective date of the rest of the bill.
"We blew it," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Bartlett, D-Lamoille. "It just didn't get picked up."
Douglas spokeswoman Dennise Casey said the fact that the budget bill had to be amended through two bills passed last week is an indication of sloppy work.
Bartlett argued that corrections are made to every budget bill, though usually not until the next year.
Smith said lawmakers caught an error of omission the administration made in not applying to renew a Medicaid agreement with the federal government, which could have cost the state millions of dollars.
Despite his criticisms of the bill, Douglas could not readily veto it because it contains a number of measures he wants, including two sales tax holidays and an exemption for farmers to changes in the capital gains tax.
Contact Terri Hallenbeck at 651-4887 or thallenb@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.
OK, so now what?
MONTPELIER -- Gov. Jim Douglas signed a budget companion bill into law Tuesday even as he maintained that part of it is unconstitutional.
That piece has to do with legislative oversight of state job cuts. Douglas contends that the Legislature is overstepping its bounds by dictating how the executive branch carries out its job.
"Regrettably, section 10 of H. 442 violates the constitutional separation of powers by abrogating powers reserved to the executive and judicial branches and providing the legislative branch with final approval authority over how expenditures, particularly staffing decisions, will be made to meet the multi-million dollar reduction in expenditures necessitated by the budget," Douglas said in a letter to the Legislature.
The bill, which passed last week during a special session, amends the Legislature's budget bill, which contained job-cut language that the Attorney General's Office advised was likely unconstitutional. Douglas charged that both bills are examples of sloppy work by the Legislature this year.
Whether Douglas will simply disregard that portion of the bill -- and not seek legislative approval of job cuts -- is unclear. Administration Secretary Neale Lunderville said Tuesday that that's a possibility.
That could land the state back in court, where the Douglas administration came out ahead last week.
The Vermont State Employees Association lost a bid to halt layoffs that became effective Friday after a judge ruled that job-cut provisions the Legislature passed were not in effect yet. VSEA Director Jes Kraus said the union's lawyers are researching whether to appeal that decision and could make a decision on that today.
The new bill takes effect immediately, which could give the union traction for a new court case if the Douglas administration snubs the Legislature on job-cut oversight, though Kraus acknowledged there are no guarantees.
"If they disobey the law, there certainly are grounds to challenge," Kraus said.
Lunderville said the administration made a new overture to the union Friday asking for new talks to discuss ways to avoid layoffs. Previous negotiations over contract concessions have failed. Kraus said there have been a long string of broken efforts and he wants to see if the administration is serious or just making a show with its overture.
(2 of 2)
The bill Douglas signed Tuesday also urges the union and administration to seek alternatives to layoffs. If that fails, the bill requires the administration to present a plan to the Legislature's Joint Fiscal Committee if at least 1 percent of the state's 8,100-member workforce is being cut. It sets June 2 as the starting point for counting the 1 percent.
Advertisement
Some 80 state workers were laid off Friday and a few more layoffs are expected this month, accumulating to a number that would likely reach the 1 percent threshold.
House Speaker Shap Smith said that threshold has been used before and won the approval of the state Supreme Court on the grounds that by making reductions of that size, the administration would be altering policy set by the Legislature. Lawyers representing the administration argued last week in court that this still interferes with the executive branch's authority.
The new bill also requires the administration to offer incentives to as many as 300 retirement-eligible employees to leave state government. Lunderville said the administration will work with the Treasurer's Office on that plan. Kraus argued that it could allow the state to avoid many of the layoffs.
Douglas cited the budget bill and the companion bill as examples of numerous errors legislators made this session. "This is probably the sloppiest lawmaking I can recall," he said.
Legislative leaders took issue with that characterization Tuesday but acknowledged that Friday's court hearing revealed a mistake in the budget bill. Lawmakers did not specify that job-cut provisions in the bill should be in effect before July 1, the effective date of the rest of the bill.
"We blew it," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Bartlett, D-Lamoille. "It just didn't get picked up."
Douglas spokeswoman Dennise Casey said the fact that the budget bill had to be amended through two bills passed last week is an indication of sloppy work.
Bartlett argued that corrections are made to every budget bill, though usually not until the next year.
Smith said lawmakers caught an error of omission the administration made in not applying to renew a Medicaid agreement with the federal government, which could have cost the state millions of dollars.
Despite his criticisms of the bill, Douglas could not readily veto it because it contains a number of measures he wants, including two sales tax holidays and an exemption for farmers to changes in the capital gains tax.
Contact Terri Hallenbeck at 651-4887 or thallenb@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.
OK, so now what?