Editor’s note: You can see how your representatives in Montpelier voted on the most divisive issues of the session with VTDigger’s searchable roll calls.
[A]s the legislative session ended with Democrats failing to pass paid leave and minimum wage bills, there was lots of finger pointing between House and Senate leadership — and a recognition that “shadow boxing” with Gov. Phil Scott derailed the whole thing.
But Scott’s opinion, and whether he would veto certain versions of the bills, wouldn’t have mattered at all if House Democrats were able to get more votes on the priority bills. The House needs 100 votes to override a veto, but on roll call votes during the session on paid leave and minimum wage, the lower chamber failed to reach the magic number.
Paid leave got 92 votes, while minimum wage got 90. Five Democrats voted against the paid leave bill, along with four independents, plus three Democrats were absent. On minimum wage, seven Democrats and three independents voted against the bill. Two Democrats and an independent were absent. Rep. Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington, was the only Democrat to vote against both bills.
Who did not support the paid family leave bill H.107)?
Who did not support the minimum wage bill S.23)?
So unless legislators come up with a way to get Scott on board with the bills, which seems unlikely, the House will need to flip five votes to override a veto on paid leave and seven to uphold minimum wage.
In an interview earlier this week, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, said the focus during the end of session on the preferences of House and Senate leadership overlooked the dynamics of the chambers.
“It’s not about leadership on both sides accepting it, it’s about making sure the chambers can accept it,” she said, “because I can accept a higher minimum wage, but if there’s a significant chunk of votes in my chamber concerned about small rural business and services people rely on from Medicare agencies, then I’m hamstrung there.”
House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said Democrats would work over the summer to create “better and stronger bills” that will pass both chambers and reach the governor. “We are 100% committed to getting minimum wage and paid leave across the finish line early next year and that is a promise,” she said.
Last week, Johnson said she was surprised by the amount of support in the chamber for minimum wage during this year’s roll call vote. And she said a veto override was “within very narrow striking distance” on House-passed versions of both bills.
“The House’s vote on minimum wage was far more votes than I would have guessed possible back in January,” she said. “So I actually feel good about where we are. I in no way have written off a veto override on them.”
In order to get those votes, however, the House had to make major changes to the minimum wage bill, linking increases to inflation and stretching out the timeline to $15 from 2024 to at least 2026, and maybe later.
Many House Democrats had wanted to see a faster minimum wage increase, and the Senate outright rejected the House compromise proposal.
Democrats were also missing one vote. House leadership would have been able to count on the support of Rep. Robert Forguites, D-Springfield, but after his untimely death earlier in the session, Johnson and Krowinski said it left a hole in its caucus.
But even with Forguites’ replacement and assuming the absent Democrats and Progressive will support the wage increase, leadership will still need to flip seven votes on minimum wage to override a possible veto from Scott. (Forguites did cast a vote in support of paid leave.)
Democratic Reps. Browning, Sam Young of Glover, Lucy Rogers of Waterville, William Notte of Rutland City, Daniel Noyes of Wolcott, and Theresa Wood of Waterbury all voted against the bill.
In addition to signaling he could veto minimum wage, the governor also indicated he would oppose any paid leave program that is not voluntary, which Democrats say would be ineffective.
In April, the House voted 92-52 to approve a paid leave program that would be administered by a private insurance carrier and grant employees 12 weeks of family leave or eight weeks of medical leave per year. It also allows employees to take paid time off for personal disability.
There were three Democrats and two Progressives who were absent for the vote, but even with their support, House leadership would still need to flip three of the five Democrats who voted against it to solidify a veto-proof majority.
Browning of Arlington, and others, expressed deep reservations about levying a payroll tax on employees to fund the $76 million program. She was joined in opposition by fellow Democratic Bennington County Reps. Christopher Bates and Tim Corcoran, as well as Dave Potter of Clarendon and Linda Joy Sullivan of Dorset.
“We will be able to find a path and we will be working with our Senate colleagues over the summer and the fall so we can hit the ground running,” Krowinski said. “I’m eager to get working and preparing for January.”
