The Friday edition of VTDigger’s “Final Reading” was a dereliction of journalistic duty. It was a failure by reporter Sarah Mearhoff and whoever edited and approved this piece.

Why? Well, the subject was the Senate Appropriations Committee’s all-afternoon discussion of the FY2025 budget. At the end of the day, the panel voted out a budget and sent it on to the full Senate.

That much we know. What we don’t get a shred of information about is… what was in the budget? We read about benumbed butts and Senatorial wisecracks and staffers rushing around with revision after revision of the budget and late-afternoon hunger pangs. We hear about Our Fearless Scribe discovering, to her relief, “a protein bar squished at the bottom of her bag.”

It’s not that I mind a bit of fluff. It can add some color and a sense of humanity to the proceedings. But for Pete’s sake, leave some space for the substance.

And I’m not asking for a blow-by-blow of the Appropriations budget. There are a few specific issues where the committee appeared to be at odds with the House. Or, to be more specific, where committee chair Sen. Jane Kitchel was at odds with the house. She was openly skeptical of the House’s plan to extend the motel voucher program. And in three separate bills, the House rolled a revenue source into a policy bill — which Kitchel doesn’t like.

Digger has been covering these issues throughout. And yet Mearhoff couldn’t devote a few lines to the fate of these House initiatives?

I guess not. The problem is, VTDigger is the only media outlet devoting significant effort to covering the Statehouse. I couldn’t find any other stories about Senate Appropriations’ action. As is (sadly) often the case, If Digger doesn’t do it then nobody will.

And Digger positions itself to donors as the only comprehensive news source about state policy and politics. If it’s failing to follow through, then it’s breaking trust with its donors (including me). Sooner or later, that poisons the well.

I think I hear a voice in the back saying “What’s the big deal about a committee vote? Isn’t the real decision made on the Senate floor?” True enough, and it’s futile to try to cover every committee vote on every bill. But this isn’t just any committee. Senate Appropriations wields a lot of power in the budget-writing process. The full chamber rarely diverges from its budget plan. This was a key moment in crafting a budget for the next fiscal year. It deserved more than a feature-y bit of fluff.