Scott pledged during the campaign to divest himself of his stake in DuBois Construction to avoid questions about a possible conflict of interest because the company does business with the state.
Scott announced Monday he would not receive a lump sum for his ownership interest but would instead receive payments over time, raising questions about whether he was fully giving up his ownership stake.
In comments about the president-elect, Scott — who did not support Trump’s candidacy — promised to protect Vermonters against any federal policies pushed by Trump that would hurt the Green Mountain State.
But he also made clear he would give Trump time to govern before becoming an oppositional force, saying that “we will stand up when it’s appropriate to stand up.”
Scott said Vermonters could benefit from a solid relationship with the president-elect.
“I think we have to deal with reality. This is going to be our president, at least for this term,” Scott said. “So we have to look for ways to work together. We rely heavily on federal funding, so we have to make sure there is a rapport there — that we can work with this new administration.”
Scott did take issue with some of Trump’s recent rhetoric, including a Monday tweet where the president-elect proclaimed, “The F-35 program and cost is out of control.” The Vermont Air National Guard is expected to receive 18 F-35s to replace the current fleet of 18 F-16s in South Burlington by the fall of 2019.
The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2016
“I’m a huge supporter of the F-35,” Scott said. “I think it is essential for Vermont and retaining our base here in Vermont is certainly important for our military. So, there’s an area that I would — I might, at least — disagree, as far as the deployment of the F-35s to Vermont.”
Scott also shared more details regarding his decision to sell his ownership stake in DuBois Construction, which is worth approximately $2.5 million.
Scott said he will be paid over a number of months. He said he would finalize the paperwork by the end of the year and share more details. Jeff Newton, the current general manager at DuBois, will take over for Scott as a partner in the company and hold some of the shares Scott is giving up.
Scott bristled at any suggestion that by holding the loan he would still hold an interest in the company and its financial success, and that his moves as governor may be influenced by this ongoing connection. He said a lump sum payment would have required DuBois to take out a loan. He said it’s difficult to obtain bank capital for such large purchases, so other options needed to be explored, including self-financing.
“When we first talked about this I was just going to create a blind trust, and then thought because of what was being said during the campaign that I needed to sell the business, which wasn’t an easy decision to make, to be perfectly blunt,” Scott said. “But as well, I want to make sure the business moves forward.”
While Scott was reluctant to broadly criticize Trump’s rhetoric, he was also cautious when discussing the president-elect’s recent Cabinet appointments. Scott called the appointments “interesting and surprising,” but he declined to offer any real criticism of any of them. He reasoned that Trump’s recent decisions were likely made in an effort to keep campaign promises and that Trump has “proven to think outside the box.”
“I’m trying to fulfill the promises we made as well,” Scott added.
He went on to hail his own recent appointments, which include Deputy Attorney General Susanne Young as secretary of the Agency of Administration and Al Gobeille as secretary of human services.
Scott said he had been thinking of Gobeille as a potential AHS secretary for about a year. The governor-elect added that Gobeille’s appointment did not necessarily mean the Scott administration would keep pushing for the all-payer model, though Scott said it “could be the answer.”
“It doesn’t change my feeling, to be honest with you, about the all-payer model, other than we have somebody now within the administration who understands it fully. I think that’s important,” Scott said. “I’m still looking forward to having more briefing of what that really means to Vermont.”
Scott said he had received more than 1,000 referrals and resumes from interested candidates for posts in his administration and that additional appointments would be announced Tuesday.
The governor-elect said he is considering new leaders for every state agency but that a number of current secretaries and commissioners had applied to retain their respective jobs.
Scott acknowledged that the already difficult process of state budgeting had been made even harder by his campaign pledge not to raise taxes or fees.
“There are more challenges than we thought, but at the same time I knew it was going to be difficult, and we are up for the challenge,” Scott said.
The uncertainty sowed by Trump regarding federal funding in certain areas, like health care and environmental cleanup, has also complicated the budget process, but Scott promised to “continue to build our budget facing the unknown.”
Responding to reporters’ questions about state marijuana policy, Scott said he supported Shumlin’s decision last week to consider pardons for Vermonters convicted of possessing up to an ounce of marijuana.
The governor-elect added that he was caught off-guard by the announcement, and he said he has urged Shumlin to approve all the pardons before leaving office so the Scott administration isn’t stuck with hundreds of applications to pore over.
Scott also sounded more disapproving of any attempt at marijuana legalization in the next legislative session, arguing it was a distraction from more pressing economic issues. He also said he would push for a permanent ban on ridgeline wind developments but acknowledged that such a proposal would not likely make it through the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
Scott also voiced support for a 2011 directive from Shumlin that the Vermont State Police not ask foreign nationals to prove they are in the country legally in cases involving civil violations, such as routine traffic stops — only when they are suspected of committing a crime. The directive has cast Vermont as a sort of “sanctuary state,” where immigration status is not openly questioned.
“I believe that we have a responsibility to take care of those who come here and are displaced in their own countries, and so forth,” Scott said. “So, I’m doing whatever I can to calm the fears.”
