Montpelier, Vt. – At his weekly press conference today, Governor Phil Scott highlighted his concerns about additional costs associated with new proposals in the Legislature given the new budget reality the state faces. The Governor concluded by reminding Vermonters of the importance of making their voices heard.
A full transcript of the Governor’s remarks can be found below.
You can also watch the press conference by clicking here.
GOVERNOR SCOTT: Good afternoon and thanks for being here today.
As we prepare to head into Town Meeting Week – roughly halfway through the session – I want to remind you of the priorities I laid out in January: public safety, housing and affordability.
As I said in the State of the State, these are issues that are affecting Vermonters every day, so we have an obligation to prioritize them for the people we serve.
At the same time, they’re each essential to making sure we can keep, and attract, the workers and families we need to reverse our demographic trends, and address so many other challenges.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve shared my concerns about the lack of focus on housing and public safety.
And when it comes to affordability, unfortunately, I’m forced to play a little defense.
As I said in my Budget Address, I didn’t believe there would be much criticism for what I asked lawmakers to fund – it’s what wasn’t in the budget that I knew would draw criticism.
But we’re in a different fiscal reality than many lawmakers and advocates have been accustomed to over the past few years.
The simple truth is we just can’t do everything we want this year. We have to separate want from need, and we have to be realistic.
Which means we have to prioritize, and that’s what my budget does.
And prioritizing is about more than what you fund and what you don’t, it’s about looking across the entire field, understanding all the challenges and how they work together, and making strategic investments that give you the biggest bang for the buck.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear we’re all on the same page here in this building.
Now, I realize bills that have money attached need to go through appropriations, but many committees are talking about new initiatives, adding a few million here and quite a few million there, without a plan for what they’re going to cut, or what new taxes they’ll force on Vermonters to pay for it.
Because that’s the reality: Anything more than what I’ve proposed will have to come from another initiative or require more revenue. So, if they think I’ve underfunded something, they should tell us how they’re going to do more.
There’s nothing easier in politics than to claim we need to do more of something, without having to articulate the tradeoff, because there’s always a tradeoff.
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This year, more than ever, we have to live within our means, and work to drive down costs for Vermonters.
Just think about it: Vermont already had a high cost of living before the pandemic. Then came years of inflation and higher health care and utility costs. On top of that, as the result of bills passed by this Legislature over my vetoes, Vermonters now pay 20% more for their license and registration at the DMV. In July they’ll be paying a $100 million payroll tax. And next year, they’ll be burdened with the clean heat standard, which could cost people hundreds or thousands more a year to heat their homes and businesses.
And then there’s the looming $200-plus million property tax disaster that I’ve warned about for years.
It should be clear by now, that Vermonters can’t afford for us to pile on any more.
Which is why we need to be disciplined.
Legislators shouldn’t be overpromising without a plan, or underfunding new ideas which will only force Vermonters to pick up the tab later.
We also have to reject costly new initiatives that will push people behind further, like this renewable energy standard the House is working on, which could cost Vermonters one billion dollars – one billion – over the next 10 years. This is a difficult pill to swallow, because our Department of Public Service developed a less expensive plan that still achieves our environmental goals.
So I’m asking you to call your legislators and tell them you’ve had enough.
Your voice matters, so please use it.