weekly political column.
Tim Newcomb
There are two kinds of money around the Vermont Statehouse: state and federal. State money is always in short supply. Do we spend it on the University of Vermont and the state colleges, raises for underpaid workers at our mental health agencies, or public assistance for people with disabilities? Do we set it aside for retiree pensions and health care? A dollar devoted to one of those worthy causes is a dollar less for the others. The decisions are difficult.
Federal dollars, on the other hand, seem a lot easier to spend. When more than a billion of them flow into Vermont to help the state weather the COVID-19 crisis — and a second billion-dollar bundle shows up less than a year later, there's a temptation to start dancing to the 1998 Squirrel Nut Zippers tune "The Suits Are Picking Up The Bill."