The Senate has unanimously voted to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of S.286, a pension reform bill brokered between lawmakers and the state’s public sector unions.
Republicans joined Democrats and Progressives to advance the measure by a vote of 30-0 on Wednesday morning.
In an interview after the vote, Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, said she was “so incredibly proud of my whole chamber.”
“We were able to show that when we come together and take our time, we really can do good work together across party lines,” she said. “And I think the governor has not seemed to respect that process. And I think that’s why we had such a strong vote today.”
The House is scheduling its override vote for Friday, according to Conor Kennedy, chief of staff to House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington. Veto overrides require a two-thirds majority in each chamber. Since the measure originally passed both chambers unanimously, House leadership also expects a successful override. (In his veto letter to lawmakers, Scott himself predicted his decision would be overturned.)
S.286 is the result of more than a year of debate over what to do about Vermont’s $5.7 billion unfunded retirement system liabilities, and it would require the state and workers to both pay in more.
Unions agreed to cost-of-living adjustments and higher employee contributions. Lawmakers have promised a $200 million lump-sum payment in exchange and said they would reinvest returns on investment from the reforms into more aggressively paying off the system’s debts.
The bill, if enacted, would trim an estimated $2 billion in unfunded retirement system liabilities off the state’s bottom line. But Scott has said that’s not enough, and demanded additional changes. His top request is that new state employees be given the option to opt out of the pension system and instead enter into a 401(k)-style retirement plan.
Democratic leaders in response criticized Scott for not participating in pension talks until the very end. They said re-opening the deal this late in the process was a non-starter.
Before casting his vote, Senate Minority Leader Randy Brock, R-Franklin, echoed many of Scott’s concerns on the floor. He predicted that even after S.286 passed into law, the state’s long-standing pension woes would continue.
But he also suggested that now was simply too late to make major changes.
“As far as this bill is concerned, it’s not just the 11th hour. It is 11:55 p.m. And I think we have to move on,” Brock said.
Sen. Corey Parent, R-Franklin, sat on the special task force that met throughout last summer and fall to write the blueprint for S.286. While he agreed with Scott that the bill “won’t fix the problem forever,” he argued it was the best possible deal to be made at the time.
“I think every side fleshed out their ideas, made hard decisions and came to the best compromise that helped correct the path the pensions were on and helped secure retirement for our state employees and our teachers,” Parent said.
