In its coverage of Governor Douglas' press event on luring young Vermonters back to Vermont, the Free Press's Terri Hallenbeck strives to provide balanced coverage. After interviewing business people looking for skilled workers (and not being able to find them) and Governor Douglas, she interviews someone she calls an "independent policy analysis."
That would be Doug Hoffer, who works closely with the Vermont's Progressive Party, or at least with its institutional supporters. To quote directly from the article
Doug Hoffer, an independent policy analyst, questioned whether government needs to step in to help employers advertise for help. "I don't think it's the job of the state of Vermont to be an employment service," he said.
So I guess Hoffer believes in limited government. That's quite a switch for him. Based on the quote, it appears that he would also do away with other programs that have the government acting as an employment service. One example is the Vermont Department of Labor's programs that offer employment counseling and training and job search assistance.
Hoffer is also a co-author of many of the Job Gap studies that the Burlington Peace and Justice Center has published over the past decade. One of the key recommendations of those studies is increased government intervention into the economy, including legislation supporting a "livable wage," supporting legislation making it easier for workers to unionize, supporting the creation of sustainable businesses, and other similar types of legislation.
I suppose those programs, which all rely on a larger role for government, are beneficial when they are advocated by some organizations, but interventions supported by a Republican governor are not. Or maybe the Progs now see the benefits of the market and some of the problems, costs, and inefficiencies of government.
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