"We're all breathing a sigh of relief that they got something done down there," he said. "It's a huge help to us as we try to put together a 2014 budget... There's more uncertainty ahead, but we're more certain than we were on New Year's Eve and that's a step in the right direction."
Uncertainty over federal tax and spending laws has already delayed the Shumlin administration's own budget planning process. Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding said at a separate press briefing later Wednesday that the governor's annual budget address would be delayed until January 24, at which time the state expects to have a better sense of the impact of Congress' fiscal deal on state coffers.
Shumlin says he's grown used to "managing around" a Congress he says leaves every decision to the last minute.