Budget writers in the Vermont House are closing in on approving a spending plan for the coming fiscal year that calls for about $53 million in cuts, $35 million in new taxes and $24 million in what are termed "one-time" expenditures.
The budget that goes to the full House later this week also calls for raising $1.7 million by renting Vermont prison beds to the U.S. Marshals' Service for use by federal inmates.
The Appropriations Committee was finalizing a budget Monday that includes cuts of $5.5 million from money set aside to pay state workers and $5 million from the troubled Vermont Health Connect health insurance exchange. It also calls for municipalities to pay part of the costs of 911 call answering centers in Derby and Rutland.
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