Springfield, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today addressed a luncheon hosted by the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The Governor discussed his priorities as the legislative session enters its final weeks.
“To restore the strength and vitality of communities like Springfield, it takes a holistic approach. All the pieces have to fit together. For strong, healthy and safe communities, we need to grow our workforce. To grow our workforce, we need more housing, childcare, good schools, and thriving downtowns. We also need to help families keep more of what they earn, so they can actually enjoy all Vermont has to offer, instead of pushing them to the point where they can barely get by.
“And we can’t forget about the need to retain and attract employers in all 14 counties, so we have the revenue to invest in our priorities. And, as I said to the Legislature in January, every community is different so we need to pay attention to the individual needs of each one so we can lift all of them up – not just the ones that are doing better economically.
“My proposed budget invested in every single one of these areas, as well as taking significant steps on priorities I share with the Legislature, including paid family and medical leave, increasing childcare subsidies, and addressing climate change. And here’s the important part: we put together a plan to do all of this without raising a single tax or fee.”
A full transcript of remarks from Governor Scott can be found below.
Governor Scott:
Thank you, Karen, and thanks to all of you for having me.
It’s an interesting time to be here, as we’re in the final few weeks of the Legislative session.
And there are still a lot of really consequential bills being decided, including many where the House and Senate don’t agree with each other – and where I don’t agree with either of them.
And I have no idea where things will land.
So, I want to talk about why I feel so strongly about making the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
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Back in January, when I presented my agenda to the Legislature, I told them we need to seize this moment in order to change the trajectory of our state, and specifically for communities that have been struggling for decades.
As a result of billions in federal aid, and the fiscal discipline we practiced for three years leading up to the pandemic, we find ourselves in pretty good financial shape this year, with hundreds of millions in state surplus and ongoing federal recovery money coming in.
So I asked legislators to work with me, to follow through on what we started two years ago, and use these stimulus funds to revitalize our county economic centers, like Springfield and the communities that surround them, while continuing to focus on the fiscal fundamentals that led to these year after year surpluses.
Because that’s how I think we make Vermont better, by helping families and communities in the areas of the state that have been struggling for decades.
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In my Inaugural Address, I used Springfield as an example of why this work is so important.
I reminded legislators that only 40 or 50 years ago Springfield was a worldwide leader in manufacturing with the highest per capita income in Vermont.
And while there are some good things happening here right now, we also have to recognize a lot has changed since those days when you had one of the state’s most thriving economies.
The same is true in places like Bellows Falls, Bennington, St. Johnsbury, Rutland, Newport, and my hometown of Barre.
But the good news is, we’re working to reverse the downward trends too many across Vermont have felt and restore the economy from region to region. The budget I put forward at the start of the year was all geared toward communities like yours.
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The approach we’ve taken starts with a focus on basic infrastructure like housing, broadband, roads and bridges; climate resiliency; and the water, sewer and stormwater systems needed for both clean water and economic growth. My budget also proposed historic investments in childcare, tax relief for Vermonters who need it most, strengthening downtowns, and workforce training and recruitment with a renewed focus on career technical education.
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We did all of this to create safer, healthier, and more economically secure communities in order to welcome more families to our state and grow our workforce.
But I know public safety and issues like addiction, mental health, and homelessness, are a significant concern today – including right here in Springfield.
As part of the 10-point public safety plan I introduced last summer, we’ve been working in Bennington to better align public safety and human services between state and local partners. Much of what we’re doing has been gleaned from similar efforts over the years, like Project Vision in Rutland and others.
Together, with boots on the ground partners in Bennington, we’ve been using a community taskforce-type team that communicates in real time, thinking about how public safety and human service issues intersect, and working to take care of issues before they fester and become bigger problems.
And, as some of you may already be aware, I’m pleased to share today that Springfield is next on this list. We look forward to working with local officials and several local organizations in the coming weeks.
This work, along with other health and safety initiatives, like expanding drug prevention and mental health services, working to prevent suicide and overdoses, and addressing gaps in the public safety and criminal justice system, are key to building stronger communities and the revitalization I’ve talked about today.
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To restore the strength and vitality of communities like Springfield, it takes a holistic approach. All the pieces have to fit together.
For strong, healthy and safe communities, we need to grow our workforce. To grow our workforce, we need more housing, childcare, good schools, and thriving downtowns. We also need to help families keep more of what they earn, so they can actually enjoy all Vermont has to offer, instead of pushing them to the point where they can barely get by.
And we can’t forget about the need to retain and attract employers in all 14 counties, so we have the revenue to invest in our priorities.
And, as I said to the Legislature in January, every community is different so we need to pay attention to the individual needs of each one so we can lift all of them up – not just the ones that are doing better economically.
My proposed budget invested in every single one of these areas, as well as taking significant steps on priorities I share with the Legislature, including paid family and medical leave, increasing childcare subsidies, and addressing climate change.
And here’s the important part: we put together a plan to do all of this without raising a single tax or fee.
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Unfortunately, that’s not the approach the Legislature is taking.
First, they’ve reduced investments in several areas like our VHIP Program which brings rental units back to the market, middle income housing, weatherization, water infrastructure in mobile home parks, our plan to reduce tuition at CCV, our brownfield program – which I know has been hugely beneficial to this region – and more.
Second, they didn’t take up our tax reduction plan that would put money back in the pockets of Vermonters, like reducing the tax on social security to help seniors, and removing the tax on military pensions.
Third, they’ve increased base budget spending, meaning the amount we need to spend every year by 13 percent.
Now, my proposal increased base spending by eight percent, and to be honest, that was a stretch for me. But it’s what we felt was sustainable.
But 13 percent is beyond my comfort zone, and the Legislature’s own economist is predicting an economic downturn, which could mean painful cuts in the future.
Finally, this 13 percent growth doesn’t even fully account for the hundreds of millions of dollars in new programs they’re proposing to fund with new taxes, fees, and penalties.
Those include a $117 million-dollar mandatory payroll tax for paid leave; a $160 million-dollar childcare program that would require a new payroll tax, increasing personal income and corporate tax rates, or a combination of all the above; $20 million in DMV fee increases, which is a 20 percent increase for Vermonters, not because we need them for transportation, but because some have said we need to keep up with inflation; and $30 million in property tax increases for universal school meals, an increase so that even kids from more affluent families will get free breakfast and lunch.
These costs will hit nearly every Vermonter in every income bracket, including those on fixed incomes.
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At the same time, the Legislature just passed S.5, the so-called Affordable Heat Act.
Now, it’s hard to say exactly how much this will be, because despite working on it for years, the Legislature hasn’t figured out what it’s going to cost.
But my Secretary of Natural Resources, Julie Moore, who’s an engineer and cares deeply about addressing climate change, used her expertise to come up with an estimate.
It showed over time, this program would cost about $2 billion dollars, and could result in an increase in home heating fuel of about 70-cents per gallon.
Here’s my concern: we don’t know how harmful this bill could be for those who can least afford it.
Proponents say no one will be forced to do anything, but I look at things more pragmatically.
And if your choices are to pay thousands of dollars to upgrade your heating system or pay an additional 70 cents per gallon to heat your home, that doesn’t seem like much of a choice to me – especially for those who cannot afford either.
That’s why I think lawmakers have a responsibility to take this back up after the Public Utility Commission designs it, so we know the details and the costs, and it’s debated in full view of Vermonters.
Now, you may have heard the Legislature proclaim, we do have a ‘check back’ provision… saying it satisfies my concerns. Unfortunately, it does not.
On the very day they passed this bill, a couple of Democratic Senators who voted for it said they were taking a “leap of faith.” And I simply can’t rely on a leap of faith when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable, which is why I plan to veto this bill.
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Now, I know it sounds like there’ s a lot of disagreement and no way to resolve it. But remember what I said earlier, we can take meaningful steps in all these areas without raising taxes and fees.
My paid family and medical leave initiative is voluntary, and we’ve already set up the mechanism. State employees are going to be eligible on July 1, which we, the State, are paying for. And Hartford Insurance will be offering it to private employers within the year.
This is a much faster turnaround than the Legislature’s plan, which will take years to set up and capitalize. My approach also won’t require adding IT, and we don’t need 65 additional state employees to oversee it – and it can be scaled and customized.
For childcare, the $56 million dollars I had in my budget would cover 4,000 more kids which would let us take a huge step forward without raising taxes on working Vermonters who can’t afford to pay more.
And my team has been and will continue to do the proper planning needed to achieve the goals of the Clean Heat Standard, by helping people make this transition rather than punishing them.
At the same time, we’re investing a quarter billion dollars of federal aid to address climate change, including weatherizing thousands of homes, and electrifying the transportation sector.
There’s so much common ground, and me and my team are working hard to make progress on these shared priorities, but in a way that’s sustainable so we don’t have to make drastic cuts when there’s a downturn in the future. And most importantly, we can do it in a way that Vermonters can afford.
If you agree with anything I’ve said today, I hope you’ll let your legislators know – and sooner rather than later. These new initiatives, and the half-billion dollars in new taxes, fees and penalties that come along with them, will all be headed to my desk soon enough, and with the Super Majority they have I can’t do this on my own.