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MONTPELIER – Vermont Governor Phil Scott said this week that he will not seek the creation of two new positions, despite public pressure. Due to the suddenly megalomaniacal Attorney General’s policies demanding payment for photos of public records, some have proposed an Ombudsman be appointed to oversee policy enforcement. Also, now that marijuana is legal to possess, many in the state are pushing for a Budsman to be appointed to oversee cannabis regulation.
“We don’t need more government,” Gov. Scott said on Thursday. “We’ve got plenty of government as it is. I mean, you’ve got me. Are you saying I’m not enough for you anymore? I’m happy to do a little more around the house and the senate if that would help, but we don’t need anyone else, and that’s final.”
Neither the ombudsman or the budsman would be elected officials, and there are no current plans to regulate either cannabis or TJ Donovan, so the decision on whether or not to appoint them remains with the governor. One idea currently floating around the statehouse is to potentially combine the duties of the two proposed positions, along with other duties from other unfilled appointments, to create an Omnibusman position.
The Governor has not yet weighed in on the Omnibusman position, which would be comprised of at least three other positions, although sources close to his office say that he is at least considering it over the individual positions. As of this writing, only one position had been created by the governor in 2019, which is the newly created job of Rhombusman, created to oversee angles in state parallelograms.
