[D]elivering his second inaugural address Thursday, Gov. Phil Scott urged lawmakers to find “consensus and compromise” with his administration as it seeks to reverse Vermont’s troubling demographic trends and expand the workforce.
Addressing a Legislature dominated by Democrats, who possess a newly-bolstered majority, the second-term Republican governor renewed his commitment to making Vermont more affordable for residents and small businesses.
“An affordable Vermont, with opportunity and economic growth, with great schools in every corner of the state and policies that benefit all Vermonters,” Scott said standing before a packed House chamber. “This can be our legacy.”
Scott’s address was viewed by many Democratic leaders in the legislature as an “olive branch:” a call for collaboration that comes after the past two legislative sessions ended in bitter standoffs between lawmakers and the governor’s office over education spending.
Scott harped on Vermont’s struggle to grow and maintain its population, highlighting a statewide labor force that has lost 15,000 members in a decade, and schools that have seen plummeting enrollment — down by as much as 25 percent since 1997 in some counties.
To attract more young workers to Vermont, Scott will focus on expanding the state’s affordable housing stock. He said his budget will include a package that would grow the state’s housing supply “by revitalizing properties and investing in existing neighborhoods.”
Improving the quality of education offered in Vermont, and reducing inequality that exists between school districts, would also draw young families to the state, he said. So would investing in a more robust and affordable childcare system.
“If we can work together on a high-quality childcare system that’s affordable and accessible — along with a stronger education system — we could set Vermont apart from other states as an education destination for families,” he said.
In a bid to recruit residents from out of state to move into Vermont, Scott said he would once again pitch a labor force development program that markets Vermont to out-of-staters and applies a “regional sales team approach to close the deal” with those who express interest in moving here.
This program, which the Scott administration called ThinkVermont MOVE in the last session, was rejected by the Legislature.
Scott’s speech came after about an hour of pomp and circumstance that included the swearing in of other statewide officers — all Democrats — before legislators and VIPs including former governors Jim Douglas and Peter Shumlin, who made his first trip to the capitol since leaving office in 2016.
The ceremony included a rendition of the national anthem from Rep. Kevin “Coach” Christie, D-Hartford, and performances by a youth choir. A lone heckler also made it into the press gallery, making himself known as soon as Scott took the podium and throwing paper money into the crowd in protest of what he said was the governor’s prioritization of the economy over the environment.
Speaking with reporters after the governor delivered his speech, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, suggested Scott’s workforce development plan focused too much on drawing in new residents.
“We have young people who don’t have access to higher education; we have young people who would have fantastic careers in the trades,” Johnson said. “I don’t think the sole solution is bringing people in, there are a lot of Vermonters that we can be working with as well.”
Sen. Anthony Pollina, P/D-Washington, said the governor was unwilling to make genuine investments to attract new residents and instead, relied on gimmicks, like the program offering remote workers $10,000 to move into the state (which originated in the Legislature).
“Rather than giving people moving expenses to move to Vermont, let’s make free state college tuition for people who move to Vermont, let’s make sure we have a higher minimum wage when people move to Vermont,” Pollina said. “In other words, make Vermont a place young families want to stay.”
In his address, the governor announced that he plans on pitching a voluntary paid family leave program for workers, the details of which will be rolled out in the coming weeks.
The legislature passed a bill last year to institute a statewide family leave program last year, but Scott vetoed the measure because the program would have been mandatory and funded by a payroll tax that he opposed.
Following Scott’s inaugural address, Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, signaled he would not support a voluntary paid family leave proposal.
“Most experts believe that you cannot have a successful program if it’s voluntary because too few people would participate and there won’t be enough funds for people to benefit,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers, including Ashe, said that they were glad to hear the collaborative tone in Scott’s speech.
During the governor’s first term, the legislature criticized the Scott administration for not working closely enough with legislators and coming forward too late with its policy proposals—including a five-year plan to revamp the state’s education funding system.
“Hopefully they’ll start aggressively reaching out to legislators, something we really haven’t seen in the last two years,” Ashe said.
Scott also drew criticism from Democrats over the last two years for making frequent use of his veto pen. In the last legislative session, he killed a record-tying eleven bills, including two budgets, prompting a weeks-long impasse that brought the state to the brink of a government shutdown.
Now that Democrats have a larger majority in the House, and Republicans no longer have the numbers to automatically sustain the governor’s vetoes, it will likely be harder for Scott to deploy the same hardball tactics.
Senate Majority Leader Becca Balint, D-Windham, heard the governor’s speech as a sign that he may be more willing to work with legislators.
“I think we got a subtle but strong admission from the governor that perhaps the strategy from the last two years was not as productive as it could be,” Balint said.
Scott also gave some specifics about what would be in his budget speech later this month.
• Reforming health insurance to make it more affordable, particularly for young people.
• Using money from a legal settlement with VW to help subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles for Vermonters.
• Using existing revenue sources for long-term funding of water quality initiatives (Scott did not say what it would be).
• Investing in lead testing at schools so that every school could be tested within a year (the current plan would make that happen in 3.5 years).
• Investing in expanding high-speed broadband access to more of the state.
Mark Johnson contributed reporting