[S]enate Democrats voted Thursday to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of a bill regulating the use and sale of toxic chemicals.
The legislation, S.103, creates a new agency that would regulate toxic chemicals. The Interagency Committee on Chemical
Management would evaluate the use of chemicals in the state and identify potential risks.
The bill gives the state health commissioner authority to outlaw certain children’s products that contain “chemicals of high concern.” The legislation also requires testing of wells and water supplies for specific chemicals. Several provisions are from recommendations made by a working group formed after hundreds of residential wells in Bennington were found to have been tainted with perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, traced to Teflon-products manufacturer Chemfab. The idea was to ensure that what happened in Bennington did not happen elsewhere in Vermont in the future.
After the vote Thursday, Scott said that S.103 would introduce needless complications for Vermont businesses.
“We’re already doing most of what they want by executive order, and by legislation that was passed in 2014, and for them to turn it around and complicate matters isn’t something that all of us would accept, and certainly not our economy,” Scott said.
“We have a process in place that’s working,” the governor said.
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson said given the lack of action on the part of the federal government, Vermonters must take it upon themselves to protect one another from industrial harms. The House will take up the bill next week. Democrats say they will also attempt to override Scott’s veto.
“It’s unfortunate that the governor is prioritizing corporate interests over public health and the safety of Vermont families,” Johnson said.
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, expressed similar concerns.
“Protecting children from harmful chemicals must always take precedence over the interests of polluters,” he said in a prepared statement. “Yet in vetoing S.103 Gov. Scott got it backwards.”
All seven Senate Republicans and one Democrat voted to sustain the governor’s veto; 22 Democrats voted in favor of the override.
The only Democrat to vote to sustain the governor’s veto was Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle.
“I think there’s enough safety nets” already in place, Mazza said. “I’m all for safety, on the one hand… but I want to encourage industries to come to Vermont. I’m concerned about the GlobalFoundries of the world.”
Mazza, who stumped for Scott on the campaign trail, said his close relationship with the governor was not a factor in his vote, noting that he voted against S.55, the gun control bill that Scott recently signed.
The legislation will proceed to a vote before House members next week, where the last time around it was approved 96 to 42 favorable vote, with 11 absences. An override of Scott’s veto would require the yes votes of at least 100 House members — or two-thirds of the chamber.
The Republican House leader, Rep. Don Turner, of Milton, said House Republicans see the upcoming floor action as a vote in support of the top member of their party.
“This is a different vote than voting for or against the bill,” Turner said.
With 53 Republicans in the House, Turner said, “I’m pretty confident we’ll sustain the governor’s veto.”
Sen. Virginia “Ginny” Lyons, D-Chittenden, said House members should vote on the merits of the bill, not as a symbolic gesture indicating support for Scott.
“It’s not about the person who sits in any particular office, it’s about a critically important issue, and so many people lose sight of that,” Lyons said. “We have to set aside politics and vote for the right thing to do.”
CORRECTION: Language from the bill as introduced was used to describe specific provisions. The story has been changed to reflect the final version of the legislation.
