Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Holcombe called for sweeping government transparency reforms Thursday, including multi-year bans on lawmakers and governor appointees from lobbying in the Statehouse as well as changing what she called Vermont’s “deny first” reaction to public records requests.
Holcombe, a former education secretary who resigned from the post in 2018 during Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s first term, said her recommendations are needed to remove any doubt that elected officials and appointees of the governor are working for Vermonters and not for personal interests.
“We are facing a crisis of confidence in government nationally,” Holcombe said at a news conference in Montpelier. “Even here in Vermont we see that there are some interests that are better able to place someone full time in the Legislature to represent themselves.”
Holcombe’s recommendations include expanding the authority of the Vermont State Ethics Commission to investigate claims of malfeasance and enforce penalties. She is also seeking a ban of five years on governors and appointed cabinet officials before they can lobby lawmakers.
Under her proposal, ex-lawmakers and state employees would have to wait at least two years before they can be hired as Statehouse lobbyists.
Holcombe also is calling for an independent position to be created to review public record disputes and wants to proactively make documents and data available online.
She said the lobbying prohibitions are an effort to cut down on the appearance of a “revolving door” in which lawmakers or cabinet members move quickly into the private sector. However, Holcombe was reluctant to claim Vermont has an issue with this type of turnover.
“It’s really about a revolving door, it’s about making sure you don’t set up your next job while you’re still working for the state,” Holcombe said.
“Proactively in the future I will make sure that people coming into my cabinet know that they’re there for the public and we are going to make sure that the state is just and fair and transparent,” she added.
Holcombe did not attack the Republican governor for his financial interest in Dubois Construction, a firm that Scott formerly co-owned. He sold his half of the business for $2.5 million after assuming office in 2017. Scott is being paid over time, a financial arrangement the Ethics Commission determined violated the state’s Code of Conduct because Dubois does business with the state. The commission later withdrew its opinion.
Holcombe did say, however, that if she is elected governor she would sell off her share in Highland Lodge, a Greensboro inn that she and her husband purchased with two other families in 2016.
“I do think that all of us have to be careful that our own personal interests don’t either confuse our judgment or potentially create an appearance of a conflict of interest as well,” she said.
Holcombe’s transparency recommendation comes a day after the Ethics Commission released a draft code of ethics for the Legislature to consider passing.
Among other measures, the ethics commission proposes a one-year restriction on government employees from becoming lobbyists.
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, who is running against Holcombe and Bennington lawyer Patrick Winburn for the Democratic nomination for governor, released a statement expressing support for a statutory code of ethics.
“Even the appearance of conflict of interest undermines the public’s faith in our government,” Zuckerman said.
The former education secretary, who has sworn off corporate contributions to her campaign, also shot back at questions Thursday regarding the support she has received from EMILY’S List, a national political organization that works to elect pro-choice women to public office.
“The Republican Governors Association has been pouring money into Phil Scott from day one,” Holcombe said. “When he says he doesn’t need to campaign, it’s because he doesn’t need to raise money because he can count on the RGA to raise it for him.”
A Stronger Vermont — the Republican Governors Association-backed PAC — has been busy on behalf of Scott while he has focused on the state’s response to the coronavirus.
The PAC has spent more than $50,000 during the campaign cycle — including paying for digital advertisements on Facebook and other social media platforms praising Scott. The PAC also paid for an early June survey conducted by the Republican phone polling firm “Victory Phones,” according to the latest documents filed with the Vermont Secretary of State.
In February 2020, the RGA gave $100,000 to A Stronger Vermont and in 2018, the PAC spent nearly $700,000 on Scott’s behalf — largely on television and online advertisements.
