Last week, the House passed a $4.68 billion dollar budget. In it, they restored some of the funding to cuts in human services that the Governor had proposed, including cuts to mental health and disabilities services. But the budget still has to get through the Senate before it reaches the governor’s desk. We talk to Jim Reardon, the Commissioner for Finance and Management, and Rep. Mitzi Johnson, the Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee about the cuts and the revenue sources that distinguish the House’s budget from the Governor’s. And House Minority Leader Don Turner weighs in with the concerns of the Republican caucus.
Also on the program, the centerpiece of the New Haven River Festival in Bristol is a kayaking competition with paddlers racing head-to-head in whitewater on the New Haven River. Originally set for April 2nd, the race has been postponed because of weather to April 9th. But a featured movie with kayaking legend Doug Ammons is still scheduled for April 1st. We talk to one of the race’s organizers, UVM senior Danny Siger.
And we open up our mailbag and read from your letters.