On the front page of the May 9, 2014, Bennington Banner, Gov. Peter Shumlin was all smiles holding up a ceremonial bill-signing pen on the steps of the Statehouse. The bill the governor was so elated about was the GMO labeling law making Vermont the first state in America to have such a law. John Herrick, of VTDigger, noted in the article Gov. Shumlin’s remarks:
“Vermonters have spoken loud and clear: They want to know what’s in their food.”
If Vermont were to lose a lawsuit that challenged the GMO law, it would cost the state some $8 million. This piece of bad news comes on the heels of the legislature’s announcement of a possible $70 million deficit next year in the state’s general fund budget.
What I am missing is a complete lack of common sense on the part of those whose job it is to bring some sanity to state government spending. To forecast that a fund of $8 million needs to be established to defend a law that is really unnecessary borders on fiscal irresponsibility at best.
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I am willing to speculate that the hundreds of thousands of Vermonters who only want to have food on their tables would not wish for the state to divert its scarce resources defending an unnecessary piece of legislation. And let’s not kid ourselves when we hear that the Attorney General’s office will be doing the legal work — based upon past experience, it will not. It will be done by engaging the most highly trained legal minds from outside Vermont, at billing rates north of $600 per hour.
Read the full, original article: Vermont’s lust for litigation
