Vermont Lawmakers Are Foiled by Forethought

By Drew Lindsay

Vermont legislators aiming to rewrite the state's school-construction law have tripped up on the law of unintended consequences.

About a year ago, lawmakers moved to limit the state's guaranteed funding for school construction, saying Vermont could no longer afford its traditionally generous aid. But when the drafting of a new law was scheduled for the 1996 legislative session, dozens of school districts had more than a year to seize the chance to pass construction-bond issues under the current law.

The legislature's effort to save money instead sparked a ballot-box stampede that will run up Vermont's school-construction obligation to an estimated $85 million. That's roughly equivalent to the state's total payout over the past...