Updated 5:08 p.m.
Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday vetoed a bill to double legislative salaries by 2027, calling it unfair given the additional costs lawmakers are imposing on Vermonters.
Scott used his veto message to again skewer lawmakers for what he describes as an unnecessary series of tax and fee hikes they approved this legislative session.
“This year, the General Assembly passed several pieces of legislation that will significantly increase costs for Vermonters through new and higher taxes, fees, and penalties,” Scott wrote. “In my opinion, it does not seem fair for legislators to insulate themselves from the very costs they are imposing on their constituents by doubling their own future pay.”
The pay bill, S.39, would not affect the salaries of current lawmakers but would begin increasing them in 2025, while making lawmakers eligible for the same health care benefits that state workers enjoy.
Rank-and-file lawmakers receive $14,616 plus allowances for food and lodging during the 18-week session, which runs from early January to mid-May. Under the legislation, the salary for rank-and-file members would rise to $29,766 annually by 2027.
Democratic and Progressive lawmakers billed the proposed changes as a long-overdue way to bring salaries up to those of the average Vermonter and to stem the exodus of young lawmakers who say the low pay makes it virtually impossible for them to serve.
But Republicans blasted the move as a self-serving effort to turn the state’s part-time legislature into something closer to a full-time job. The bill would increase weekly pay during the session and would also pay lawmakers for one day of work per week in the offseason.
Scott has previously argued that if lawmakers wanted to increase their pay, they should shorten the legislative session to prevent taxpayers from footing the higher bill.
The vetoed measure also calls for a study of various changes to legislative operations that might help more people be able to serve in Montpelier. These include changing the length of the session, giving pay boosts to committee chairs, providing lawmakers childcare options and beefing up legislative staff.
It’s not clear if the Democratic-controlled legislature will be able to override Scott’s veto. The measure passed the Senate 18 to 9; it passed the House 102 to 44 . The Senate would need 20 votes to override and the House 100.
Jim Dandeneau, executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party, told Seven Days he’s reviewed data that show Scott has given his own staff generous raises. He added that “for the governor to talk out of both sides of his mouth on this issue is pretty embarrassing.”
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