Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ray Stout, of East Montpelier, who is director of organizing and operations for the Vermont State Employees Association.
[G]ov. Phil Scott, who are you making Vermont more affordable for?
In recent weeks, I have noticed a significant disconnect between our current governor’s rhetoric about making Vermont more affordable and his actions, which are making Vermont less affordable and less attractive for many of those who are already here.
While the current administration is spending millions of dollars to attract out-of-state families to move to Vermont, the governor talks about cutting school budgets and increasing class sizes. Increasing the student to teacher ratio in classes is not an attractive educational scheme for the young families he is trying to retain or those he wants to move to the state.
Just a few weeks ago, the administration worked to impose a contract on state employees; this contract included the doubling of many co-pays for health care and a wage increase below the rate of inflation. This administration just made Vermont less affordable for almost 10,000 Vermonters and their families, as well as 14,000 more retirees in the health plan. Those 14,000 retirees are some of the most vulnerable citizens of Vermont.
With these cuts, the state of Vermont is significantly less competitive as an employer. With both the ageing of the state population and the state workforce, this administration should take steps to be a more competitive employer and bring new employees into the state. Instead the administration has made it less affordable for those who are already working and living here.
It is becoming evident that this administration is interested in the privatization of state services. Privatization makes Vermont less affordable for working people. Privatization allows the state to replace a working Vermonter who is making a livable wage as a state employee with an employee who is paid far less working for a private company. There is currently a bill in the Vermont Senate (S.111) that would require private companies who are hired to do state work to pay employees the same wage as a state employee doing that job. The Scott administration is continuing to openly oppose this bill. Every time they do, they are saying to Vermonters it’s OK to pay you less for the same work.
The question I want to ask the Scott administration is: Who are you making Vermont more affordable for? The answer will be not working people, and more specifically, not young families.
