As their extended stalemate with Republican Gov. Phil Scott dragged on another day, Democratic leaders of the Vermont legislature put their foot down Thursday — sort of.
In separate announcements Thursday afternoon, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) and Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) offered an alternative to Scott’s proposal to mandate statewide negotiation of public school health insurance plans — a change the governor claims could save up to $26 million.
Johnson and Ashe characterized their plan, which would require the savings but allow school districts to determine how to achieve them, as a “compromise.” But it was, in fact, a repurposed version of the same proposal Ashe had offered the governor a day earlier.
On Wednesday, the administration rejected Ashe’s idea within a few hours. But on Thursday Scott sounded somewhat more amenable, telling reporters later that afternoon that he would offer a counterproposal to their counterproposal to his proposal. Throughout the day, Ashe refused to release a copy of his original plan — even after Scott’s staff made their rebuttal public Thursday morning.
The pro tem told the Senate late Thursday afternoon that it would vote on the plan Friday at 9 a.m. Johnson said the House would also hold a vote that day but wouldn’t specify when. They both suggested that they’d waited long enough for the governor to come around, but they also hinted that, perhaps, they could still find common ground.
“We continue to believe that we might be able to reach agreement, although frankly the avenues are getting narrower and narrower,” Ashe told his fellow senators.
News of the not-so-new proposal broke earlier Thursday afternoon at a meeting of House Democrats. Reps. Dave Sharpe (D-Bristol) and Janet Ancel (D-Calais) unveiled the repurposed plan, saying it would reduce residential property taxes by 3 cents per $100 of assessed value. “We’re going to return it directly to the taxpayer,” Sharpe said.
Addressing reporters immediately after the caucus meeting, Speaker Johnson struggled to clarify what would happen next. “I’m not sure who votes first and exactly how that all plays out, but I feel this is the thing that gets us closer.” She criticized the governor for repeatedly changing the parameters of the negotiations.
A mob of reporters surrounding her then moved upstairs and waited outside Scott’s ceremonial office for him to come out. Shortly thereafter, Ashe and Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle), an ally of both the pro tem and the governor, slipped into Scott’s office. After several minutes, the senators departed through a hidden backdoor into the Cedar Creek Room, bypassing the reporters.
Scott then emerged through the main entrance with the vague declaration that, “We are going back with a counterproposal that will probably have some other words added to it.”
One of those words, he said, would be “shall.” Whereas the legislature’s proposal suggested that districts could save by adopting an 80/20 premium split on a specific health insurance plan, Scott said he wanted to mandate that, by replacing “can” with “shall.” Democratic leaders, who’ve insisted that the state must not disrupt the collective bargaining process, appeared unlikely to agree with that.
Minutes after Scott’s declaration, Ashe and Johnson conferred behind closed doors in the Senate Cloakroom, while Republican senators stood outside grumbling about being kept in the dark. Then, the pro tem entered the Senate chamber to announce the upcoming vote. The legislature’s plan, he said, would result in savings “in a more guaranteed way” than the governor’s own proposal.
He went on to suggest that Scott was trying to commandeer the budget process for an unrelated political purpose. “We had never entered the budget discussions … thinking that the budget would be held up over a discussion about changing collective bargaining,” Ashe said. “Which is now what seems to be the thing that is the holdup.”
Before lawmakers left for the night, Sen. Kevin Mullin (R-Rutland) tried to get a little more clarity. “Should one attempt to find housing for tomorrow night?” he asked Ashe. “Is the goal to be out of here tomorrow night?”
The pro tem’s unhelpful response: “That’s a problem of other people’s making. Other people can answer how and if it will be solved.”
Disclosure: Tim Ashe is the domestic partner of Seven Days publisher and coeditor Paula Routly. Find our conflict-of-interest policy here: sevendaysvt.com/disclosure.
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One thing has become painfully obvious: Governor Scott has done a miserable job of developing educational policies. He needs to step back, listen to people with a real sense of what is going on, and then put forward a plan in a timely manner.
Springing surprises on the people of Vermont, including the legislators, is a POLITICAL game plan, and Scott”s political game plan is an extremely poor substitute for an educational policy.
I don’t care when Governor Scott’s plan to help slow down education costs was introduced. He is the only person willing to take on VT NEA to help taxpayers and local school boards. We are all cracking under the weight of the union’s unreasonable demands, demands that have driven Vermont to be the most expensive state in the nation for per pupil spending.
Local school boards do not have the ability to stop these constant increases which is why the school superintendents back Scott’s plan. If the union must negotiate with the state, they will be on a more equal footing. This situation is untenable but the NEA is fighting back hard because they love the status quo which has richly lined their pockets. Unions are good but they can become greedy and corrupt, they have bankrupted companies and cities across America. Governor Scott is sticking his neck way out for taxpayers, and deserves our gratitude and support. Please call your legislator and urge them to support Scott’s plan.
Stay strong Gov. Scott on your statewide teacher health insurance proposal! Local school boards have been at a disadvantage for too long against the VTNEA. Time to level the field and give some tax relief to the residents.
I believe a more accurate headline would have been:
Budget Standoff Escalates Between Scott and half of the Vermont Legislature.
The state budget is extremely bloated and a perfect place to look for saving money. We have two agencies that have 3 deputy commissioners each making over 100K each. Why do we need any deputy commissioners making over 2K among them? Does the agency of wildlife need over 20 scientists? Do we need a state department of education and a state school board? This is a small state with a low population. Can we get by with less government? Teachers have a tough job, one I wouldn’t want and are always an easy target for the state financial woes. It’s time for the governor and the legislators to start working hard to solve the financial problems.