A plan to offer several hundred state employees a retirement incentive is part of the budget debate between
Governor Jim Douglas and Democratic leaders at the Statehouse.
Southern Vermont and parts of neighboring Massachusetts and New Hampshire have been crippled by the weather; a veteran state senator says Vermont could save state jobs by reducing the number of hours that public employees work;
The Douglas Administration says it can eliminate 150 positions in state
government without harming programs for the public. But
the state employees union disagrees and says that some services will be affected.