The House Appropriations Committee began to hear from the various agencies about their FY10 needs. This intake step is the first step in building the new budget. The objective is to hear the requests with little debate about their merits. Those debates will come later in the process. The focus of this step quickly became the 660 position reductions from State government totaling $17 million dollars requested by the Governor. The debate switched from cutting positions to saving the $17 million by using other line items in each department. The important concept to understand is sustainability. Making structural changes to government by cutting positions ensures that the $17 million is sustainable into the future. It is critical that we keep our eye on the sustainability factor and not simply make one year budget reductions or use the federal stimulus money to provide a quick one year fiscal “fix.” The debate between position cuts versus other budget cuts will continue to be a hot topic as the FY10 budget is developed.

The 2010 budget targets will be difficult to meet. Overall, the state must bridge a $200 million dollar gap. This must be accomplished by either reducing the budget or raising our revenues. Governor Douglas suggested $200 million in state spending cuts on January 22nd. I believe the gap will be narrowed with a combination of cuts and revenue increases. No one likes to cut. Any suggestions?

A big thank you to our Congressinal delegation for addressing the need for additional LIHEAP funds (heating assistance). One request, PLEASE DO NOT DEFICIT SPEND (yes, I am yelling!) to provide these funds. Make the appropriate cuts in areas/programs that do not currently address our basic human needs. The Burlinton Free Press offered an appropriate comment realtive to the upcoming winter. Other resources for Vermonters can be found at http://www.helpforvt.org/; http://www.vermont211.org/; and http://www.efficiencyvermont.com/.

It was disappointing that the Joint Fiscal Committee did not discuss a Republican proposal for the upcomming heating season called "Harvesting to Heat" at its June 26th meeting. I belive it is critical to get all ideas into play, no matter the source, for early discussion. I applaud Senator Vince Illuzzi for probing the possibility of only holding school for 4 days a week to cut energy costs. While an initial overview of the concept indicates lots of hurdles, this is an example of getting discussion going early on an idea.

Last Thursday (June 12), I attended a wonderful ice cream social sponsored by Rural Vermont. Rural Vermont is holding a series of these socials around the state to celebrate the agricultural legislation passed last year by the General Assembly. Two notable pieces include a bill that increases the amount of raw milk that can be sold directly from farms and a second bill that starts the process to permit Vermont farmers to plant industrial hemp.

Nitche farming holds a lot of promise for our small local farms. Eric Paris and his wife Cathy were at the social explaining all of the unique things they are doing on their farm, Tamarlane Farm. One of the most significant is a composting operation that takes compost from Lyndon Town School, Lyndon Institute, and Lyndon State College. Students at each of these schools are trained to self separate compostables, recyclables and land fill items. Eric emphasized how students, by self separating their waste over 16 years of education, would develop the life long habit of green living.

Many thanks to the local farms who donated ingredients for the social. All of these ingredients can be purchased directly from their farms.

Eric Paris & Family - Tamarlane Farm, Lyndonville, 626-3265 - Raw cow's milk, grass fed beef, turkeys, veggies, compost.

Elizabeth Hubbard & hayden Tanner - Rainbow's Edge Farm, Sutton, 467-3639 - Raw cow's milk

Susannah Morlock & Sally Fishburn, - Hills of Home Farm, Danville, 684-2524 - Raw goat's milk

Annette Hyder & Family - Goss Sugar House, Barnet, 274-6097 - Maple Syurp

I am creating this website to keep my constituents informed about events during the campaign. Credit for its design goes to Rachel Crawford, Denver, Colorado. I am targeting the week of June 9th to have the site fully functional and useful to my constituents.

Howard Crawford