(I attended this gathering and asked azvox to blog about it, as I knew his knowledge of the campaign was greater than my own.This commonsense approach asks our legislators, in this time of great poverty, to prioritize human needs, focusing on raising revenue to cover those needs rather than slashing budgets. Note May 1 Rally details in “Comments” section. – promoted by Sue Prent)

I joined Senator Sara Kittell and red-shirted members of the Vermont Workers’ Center’s “Put People First” campaign and some of their allies for a chat at Cosmic Bakery in St. Albans on Thursday. The group of about fifteen included advocates on issues like healthcare reform, early educators’ right to collectively bargain with the state, and poverty.

Building on the successful and on-going advocacy of the Workers’ Center on healthcare reform, VWC organizer Matt McGrath laid out the beginnings of a plan for a campaign around a “People’s Budget” for the state of Vermont. While some of the participants voiced concerns over the definition of terms like “equitable” and “just” in the draft documents that were presented, there seemed to be consensus that it would be interesting to talk about a state budget that started with concrete goals about the needs of Vermonters, then built programs and funding sources to fulfill those needs.

In Montpelier it often seems as though we look at last year’s budget every year and then make a small cut here or add a program there in a reactionary way. The idea of a People’s Budget hasn’t coalesced into an actionable set of priorities yet, but it is a shift in paradigm.

“We all know that Vermont spends billions of dollars a year on things like incarcerating people, and paying insurance companies to make big profits,” said one of the activists. “What if we start from the beginning and really look at what we need from the State and then build our budget around that?”

This is a conversation that I hope more of our legislators will join. Senator Kittell, a supporter of early educators right to organize and a long-time advocate for healthcare reform, was supportive of the idea of a People’s Budget. She pointed out that some of the frustration of making a budget in Montpelier has to do with the lack of clear priorities.

If the People’s Budget is to become a reality it will have to set priorities and articulate a set of principles that many people across Vermont can agree on. A budget that genuinely reflects the principles of universality, equality and justice and can win the support of Vermonters beyond activists with red shirts will be a healthy and encouraging example for other states to follow.

Crafting a People’s Budget is a lofty goal, but over a cup of coffee this week a much larger discussion has begun to brew.