Facing a recalcitrant Vermont legislature, Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s administration issued a blistering press release Thursday that accuses lawmakers of fiscal irresponsibility and putting “partisan politics ahead of progress” — while also demanding that lawmakers adopt the governor’s ideas for reducing the cost of public schools.
At the same time, Senate leaders sent the governor a letter pleading for constructive action to avoid a veto session.
The gubernatorial press release, issued Thursday evening and entitled, “The Lesson of Squandered Savings for Teachers, Taxpayers & Kids,” was written by Scott communications director Rebecca Kelley. She began by castigating lawmakers for “failing to take full advantage of the opportunity to save $26 million each year” by negotiating teacher health care benefits on a statewide basis — a proposal Scott floated in April 2017, and which the legislature rejected.
Kelley blamed a projected rise in teacher health care costs on lawmakers’ failure to act last year, and noted that if the statewide negotiation plan had been adopted, the state could have reduced tax rates and invested more in early and higher education. She then urged lawmakers to approve a plan that has yet to be unveiled. “The Administration will be presenting a path forward early next week that simultaneously stabilizes education tax rates and increases educational opportunities for our children,” she wrote.
She asked the legislature to “work with us” to “find common ground,” which seems a bit much when the administration is waiting until the last days of the session to finally reveal a far-reaching education funding plan. Especially when Kelley warns of dire consequences “if the legislative leaders treat the forthcoming proposal the way they treated the Governor’s statewide health plan.”
Which is not a call to compromise; it’s more like “take it or leave it.”
In an ironic and/or unfortunate coincidence, four top state senators sent a letter to the administration Thursday asking the governor to engage with them to resolve the education funding issue. Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden), Senate Appropriations Committee chair Jane Kitchel (D-Caledonia), Senate Education Committee chair Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden) and Senate Finance Committee chair Ann Cummings (D-Washington) all signed the letter, which Seven Days obtained from a source outside the Senate.
The four senators wrote that with a commitment from the administration to openly discuss “all possible solutions to fairly finance Vermont’s schools,” a reasonable agreement could be reached without the need for a veto.
They asserted that “a veto session is simply not necessary to fund school budgets,” and added, “the Administration could help avoid a veto by bringing forth its proposal even at this late date.”
This dramatic difference in tone and message comes at the end of a week in which Scott administration officials did not distinguish themselves in bringing proposals to lawmakers.
On Tuesday, Finance Commissioner Adam Greshin and Brad James, education finance manager for the Agency of Education, presented the House Education Committee with a plan to impose sanctions on school districts that exceeded the administration’s targets for staff-to-student ratios. The two men acknowledged that the plan had been developed in a hurry and hadn’t been “fully vetted,” in Greshin’s words. And the commissioner struggled to square the proposed penalties with Scott’s blanket opposition to new taxes and fees.
Two days later, Tax Commissioner Kaj Samsom appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee and refused to discuss the administration’s plan to keep property tax rates level through the use of one-time funds — the plan that, according to Kelley, will be released sometime next week. He also declined to reveal further details of the plan that Greshin had floated on Tuesday.
Committee chair Janet Ancel (D-Calais) reminded Samsom that “the clock is ticking” and that adjournment is only one or two weeks away. Committee members expressed frustration over the administration’s failure to deliver a proposal until the last minute.
Kelley’s press release appears to be an attempt to refocus the narrative and shift blame onto the legislature. And while Senate leadership is proffering an olive branch, the administration seems to be wielding a blowtorch.
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No ideas from Scott’s team, just complaints and passing the blame. Pathetic excuse for a governor of Vermont.
Hate to sound like a broken record, but there is a simple progressive way that balances revenue with spending to solve this stand-off. It is to reduce the amount paid out in income sensitivity benefits ( now $173 million ) by the amount in the hole in the Education Fund (now estimated at $58 million). Reduced benefits should come from those with the most wealth.
Since school boards have met the targets set by the Governor and the legislature is unwilling to make more cuts, this would be a non-gimmick solution. Politicians could then fight it out the broader issues regarding education funding and how we want to proceed in the fall elections.
The legislature knew this would be an issue from the start but did nothing to address the issue and now are upset that Scott is highlighting their fiscal irresponsibility.
The plan to bring the healthcare under the state’s umbrella was a sound one and would have been a far better than the mess that the teacher’s health plan is in now. There are times when local control is not the best choice and the legislators need to make the tough choice on this, not keeping the same old broken process
“There are times when local control is not the best choice…”
It seems that it’s not the best choice only when conservatives float a proposal.
If liberals governed this way, the right would be donning torches at rallies demanding heads. Maybe just once the reactionaries could treat situations the same whether their ideological friends OR foes rolled them out.
Getting tired of Scott’s attacks on education and teachers. I feel like he got lots of bad grades when he was in school and didn’t think he deserved them, so now he’s trying to get even or something. The changes to educators’ insurance policies were onerous, and health care professionals and facilities around the state are still waiting to get paid for services rendered; all brought to you by the man in the governor’s chair…
Dude’s a one-termer. Hope he’s got work lined up.
Can anyone take Phil Scott seriously? It’s May already, and his folks are throwing jury-rigged last minute schemes at the legislature and he’s demanding they agree to something he hasn’t even proposed yet. Talk about leading from behind! This is not an autocracy. If he had some ideas about this, he should have proposed them earlier so that the legislature could do its job. You remember the catch phrase: due diligence? How is it due diligence to cave to tinpot dictator?
per Barbara’s comment: “If he had some ideas about this, he should have proposed them earlier so that the legislature could do its job”
Perhaps the legislature should have done its job and come up with alternatives instead of waiting and wringing their hands….oh wait that might mean some voters might vote against them. Can’t have that or have a more fiscally responsible legislature now can we?
I can and do take Phil Scott seriously. Can anyone take Barbara Alsop seriously?