On Tuesday, Gov. Phil Scott (R-VT) held a press briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, everyone.
00:16Yesterday the legislature voted to override six of my vetoes.
00:21As you remember, after the last week of a chaotic end of the session, where they passed
00:2670 bills in three days, I talked about how we were going to review each bill and weigh
00:31the good versus the bad when deciding whether to sign the bill, let it go without a signature,
00:37or veto it.
00:39And with each veto, I included a letter explaining my concerns and described a path forward where
00:47neither of us got everything we wanted, but we each gave a little.
00:53Unfortunately, what has become typical of the legislature is their unwillingness to
00:59meet me in the middle to come to a reasonable compromise.
01:03Yesterday, the legislature proved once again they don't need to consider my perspective
01:09or proposals.
01:12That's what's sad about this, is their strategy only hurts everyday Vermonters, because it's
01:18Vermonters who pay the price.
01:22When I travel around the state and talk to people, so many are worried about how expensive
01:28it is to live here, and they wonder how they're going to make ends meet.
01:34It's them who will pay a higher property tax while schools struggle to put forward reasonable
01:39budgets.
01:41It's them who will pay more to turn the lights on or heat their homes because of the renewable
01:47energy standard and clean heat standard.
01:51It's our rural communities who will continue to suffer in the future due to the expansion
01:56of Act 250, and will have fewer tools to help them with housing and making life more affordable.
02:04And it's Vermonters who are already paying 20% more at the DMV and will face a new payroll
02:11tax starting July 1, after all we've been through with being crushed by inflation.
02:20So as many will frame this as a loss for me and a win for the legislature, the reality
02:27is it's a major loss for Vermont taxpayers, workers, and families.
02:34For six months, the legislature has known about this property tax increase facing Vermonters.
02:41We warned them in our December 1st letter that there was an 18% property tax increase
02:47heading their way.
02:49But instead of sounding the alarm, they said I was fear-mongering, and the pro tem promised
02:54to get it down to 1.5, maybe 2%.
02:59Instead, Vermonters will face a historic double-digit property tax increase this year of about 14%.
03:08And yesterday, they were even declaring victory when they said they had gotten the property
03:13tax rate down more than 33%.
03:17But what they failed to mention was that 33% reduction is compared to the projected 18%
03:24increase.
03:26That's like raising the cost of a loaf of bread by 60% and then having a 20% off bake
03:33sale.
03:35They also failed to mention they raised taxes and fees in other areas to give you that 33%
03:41off.
03:43And because nothing was done to address the structural problems, we'll see the same thing
03:47play out again in about six months.
03:53From my first day in office, I've been clear about my priorities to make Vermont more affordable,
04:00protect the most vulnerable, and grow the economy.
04:04My team has spent this entire legislative session trying to keep costs down for Vermonters
04:10while working to make housing more affordable and more available, improving our education
04:16system for kids and taxpayers, and revitalizing communities so we can keep and attract the
04:22workers we desperately need.
04:25It's clear this legislature, led by the supermajority, has little interest in compromise or taking
04:32a moderate approach on almost any issue.
04:36As I've said, I feel obligated to be the voice of Vermonters, and I'm sorry that it was not
04:42enough this year.
04:45At this point, we simply need more balance in Montpelier and lawmakers who will put people
04:51and communities over their political politics.
04:54So with that, I'll open up to questions.
04:59Just to clarify, you said the pro-tenant promised at one point to get this down to
05:05one to two percent.
05:06When did that conversation happen?
05:08I think he did it in an interview, I think it was on CX, I believe, maybe Mark Johnson,
05:17on 802 something, something you can research.
05:23So let's imagine a scenario where the balance in the legislature does not change next year.
05:31In that event, how do you go about re-establishing some influence over the policies that are
05:38coming out of the statehouse?
05:40You know, it's frustrating and difficult.
05:43I tried to lay out that vision in the state of the state, the budget address, asked them
05:49to meet me in the middle.
05:50I didn't ask them to cross the aisle, I asked them to meet me in the middle.
05:54And it seemed to fall on deaf ears.
05:56We met regularly.
05:59We had press conferences talking about what we saw that was coming.
06:05That frustrated them, and they said that I was getting ahead of the legislature, but
06:11when it all was said and done, they did exactly what I was warning Vermonters they would do.
06:17And that was with the housing in particular, the conservation bill that came along with
06:22it, and Act 250 reform that hurt rural communities.
06:26So we'll just have to see what happens.
06:30If I'm there, if they're there, and we'll try and find a different approach.
06:36But I just want to be honest with them about what I'm hearing, what I'm seeing, and I think
06:42most Vermonters would agree with me.
06:48The criticism in recent years, and I'm hearing the same thing from some in Democratic leadership
06:56too this year, especially with the property tax issue, is that you and your team weren't
07:03always involved in the conversation.
07:05When you were, it was like with a proposal from Commissioner Bolio, or the one that we
07:09saw last week that relied on deficit spending, or spending down reserves, that is.
07:16What do you make of that concern, the criticism that you and your team were absent from the
07:22negotiating table?
07:23It couldn't be further from the truth.
07:26I mean, we were actively pursuing some sort of a deal where we could get structural reform.
07:34We've been doing that for eight years.
07:36I mean, we can give you a whole list of litany of approaches that we've tried over the years.
07:44Again, falling on deaf ears.
07:46It's as though they weren't believing, weren't listening to what was going on, what was happening.
07:53Fewer students in our schools, the costs increasing.
07:58And it was clear that we needed to make some major changes, but they weren't willing to
08:05do that.
08:06So I thought this year that they may see that as being, when we issued the December 1 letter,
08:16as being a signal, a warning, that things weren't good and that they would take action.
08:26But they didn't.
08:27They doubled down, actually, and continued to raise the cost of living with increased
08:34taxes and fees across the board.
08:36So again, I don't know what to make of it, but we're doing our part.
08:43I'm only one voice.
08:46And with a supermajority, they really don't have to listen, as they've proven time and
08:50time again.
08:53This time last year after they overrode, you said something along the lines of, I feel
08:58like the governor should have a role to play in state government, and with the supermajority
09:01you mentioned it's tough at times.
09:03How would you compare your feeling and the administration's feeling this year compared
09:07to this time last year?
09:11Equally as frustrated.
09:12I believe that maybe even gotten a little bit worse.
09:18The supermajority really, I think the power has gotten to their head.
09:29I think they're being a bit arrogant in some respects to the needs of Vermonters and what
09:35Vermonters are actually seeing and feeling and living each and every day.
09:41They can't afford much more.
09:44And when we propose, for instance, with the yield bill, to use some of the reserves, some
09:51of the surplus, to buy down the rates with structural reform as well, intertwined with
09:58that.
10:00Because this is an emergency for taxpayers.
10:04And behind closed doors, some of them have said that Vermonters actually need a wake
10:12up call because it's out of their control.
10:15It's a local issue and they should be voting down their school board budgets.
10:23And I just think it's the wrong approach.
10:25We don't need to punish Vermonters anymore.
10:28I think they get it.
10:29They're looking for us, to us, for guidance.
10:32I don't know if you mentioned the Overdose Prevention Center bill yet.
10:39What do you make of that back and forth yesterday that ultimately ended with Senator Westman
10:44changing his vote?
10:46Yeah, we had known right along that Senator Westman was going to vote to override.
10:55So I think he truly, truly made a mistake in his vote.
11:01I'm surprised he didn't catch it earlier, as soon as he said it.
11:05And I think that could have been reversed at that point.
11:10Before you declared the results of the vote, I think that they would have given consideration
11:15to that at that point.
11:17But I take him at his word that he just made a mistake.
11:22And he had told us that he was going to vote to override.
11:27Did you have any conversation with newly appointed Senator Julio about the Overdose Prevention
11:39Center bill prior to the vote?
11:41I did not.
11:44When I interviewed him, I told him that there was no litmus test here.
11:50I wasn't asking for anything.
11:52I thought his experience on the school board and some of what he learned growing up in
11:59Grand Isle County was enough.
12:01And I thought he would make those decisions on his own.
12:05So I didn't have any conversations with him.
12:09What about data privacy?
12:11Did you make any calls or have any conversations in the Senate about data privacy over the weekend?
12:17Not over the weekend, no.
12:20Before the weekend, like Friday?
12:22Me, myself?
12:23No.
12:24About your team?
12:25Oh, sure.
12:26Or maybe I should say your administration.
12:27Sorry.
12:28You didn't clarify.
12:29Your administration.
12:30Yeah, we were checking in with legislators to figure out where they were going to be.
12:38Nobody likes surprises.
12:41So we were doing all we could to at least get in the information.
12:45And what we're hearing and what we're hearing from, you know, is that every day we receive
12:50more and more calls from small businesses throughout the state.
12:54And that was increasing, not decreasing.
12:58And it wasn't just the larger ones, the Orvis's of the world and so forth, it was some of
13:02the smaller vendors.
13:04So we just wanted to make sure they were paying attention to that, especially because there
13:09was another approach that we could take.
13:11The Connecticut model being one that I think universally everyone could live with.
13:17And then you could build upon that.
13:20New Hampshire went with the Connecticut model.
13:23Maryland is similar.
13:24Having a northeast coalition of like-minded data privacy language I think would be helpful.
13:31It doesn't look like, it should be a national issue, Congress should be doing something,
13:36but it doesn't appear they're going to be able to agree on that.
13:40So I think this regional approach makes a lot of sense.
13:44It sounds like you're saying on one hand Vermonters, I'm the guy that has your back on affordability
13:52in this state.
13:53I'm the guy that's going to fight for lower taxes, I'm the guy that's going to fight against
13:56things like the increases of the DMV, I'm the guy that's going to fight against regulations
14:02that are going to squeeze businesses.
14:05And on the other hand you're saying to them, but I don't really have the power in this
14:11context to meaningfully advance my affordability agenda, and I'm wondering how you think they're
14:17supposed to reconcile those two things.
14:19Well I think they saw my approach in the first six years.
14:23We were fairly successful in keeping taxes from being increased, fees from being increased,
14:30affordability was front and center, and we were able to make some gains in that area.
14:36It was just been the last two years with a super super majority, we had faced one before
14:41but it was smaller numbers.
14:44This was by far the most difficult because of the numbers.
14:49So there wasn't that veto threat, they didn't have to take it seriously because they knew
14:53they could override it, they could hold everybody together, and they did, again putting I guess
14:59party before their constituents.
15:03But now that you have that super super majority as you call it, what good is your position
15:11on these issues if you don't have the ability to execute on your mission?
15:18Well the executive branch should have a say in this, and in other times, I don't know
15:25of any other governor who's experiencing what I'm experiencing in terms of this type of
15:29super majority, but when you look at history, there was I think more respect for the executive
15:35branch, and it seems as though they're learning well from D.C.
15:41D.C. is dysfunctional, it's all about partisan politics, and it's all about leverage and
15:49who gets what, and making sure that you have the majority.
15:54And they've learned well.
15:55It's turning in the same thing here in Vermont, which is unfortunate.
16:04Alright, we'll go to the phones, Keith Whitcomb, Rutland Herald.
16:12Keith, are you there?
16:24Alright, we'll move on.
16:26Tim McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine.
16:29Thank you, Amanda.
16:31Governor, I was thinking about what's transpired not only this year, the last couple of years,
16:37and looking back historically to things like Act 200 and civil unions being passed.
16:43You know, you look at civil unions, it flipped the legislature, just that one thing.
16:47But a lot of things don't seem like a big deal at the time, and then over time, they aren't.
16:54And obviously the property tax is going to have a big impact on everybody, but is there
16:58another of these issues right now, is there another that you can see that's going to have
17:03a really long-term effect?
17:07Well, again, you know, I look at housing and our demographics, and I think it's all
17:14intertwined with my fear about the future of Vermont.
17:19And I talked, I spoke about this when I was first elected.
17:23I remember it was 6-3-1.
17:25Well, 6-3-1 is still hampering us today.
17:29Six fewer workers in the workforce every day.
17:32Three fewer kids in our schools every day.
17:36And that is exactly what we're facing, what we're struggling with, which is why we need
17:41more housing, and that's why I said we need much more housing and much more help with
17:48housing than we received from the legislature this year.
17:52S-3-11 was a great start.
17:55We talked about that at the beginning of the session.
17:58We had tri-partisan support on that piece of legislation, and that should have been
18:02a no-brainer.
18:03That should have been passed.
18:05If you wanted to intertwine it with the Conservation Act 250 proposal, so be it.
18:12But they only took a portion of S-3-11, not enough of it.
18:18And that would have made it more palatable because we could, again, attack the demographic
18:24issue, more housing, attack the worker shortage with more housing.
18:32And this isn't going to do it.
18:34This isn't going to suffice.
18:36So we're going to be struggling for a while, I'm afraid, without some more relief.
18:45Thank you, Governor.
18:48Tom Davis, Compass Vermont.
18:51Thank you.
18:58Thank you.
18:59Sorry for my delay in getting on.
19:01Governor, I noticed that a lot of the mainstream media that is read or listened to in Vermont
19:08use the repeated phrase that in different forms that H-687 was a bill that seeks to
19:15balance promoting housing growth and environmental conservation.
19:19But the reading of the bill and the discussions that took place really don't show where they
19:24promoted housing at all.
19:26And I wondered if you and your team had tried to ask some of these media to go back and
19:33look at this from a different perspective than the one that is provided by the quotes
19:37that come out of the Statehouse.
19:40Well, I think balance is accurate, but it's not an even balance.
19:45It's out of balance, as a matter of fact.
19:48They took, again, I think what they really wanted to pass was what they did.
19:54And that was the Conservation Act 250 provisions in the bill.
19:59And they got that across the finish line.
20:01And they did it by sprinkling in just a little bit of housing, just enough to gain a few more votes.
20:08And they aren't, I don't think they're being sincere about the dangers to rural Vermont.
20:15I think Rep. Williams, if you saw or listened to what she had to say in her explanation of her vote,
20:26I think it was very powerful, very telling, and real.
20:30And that's the way Vermonters in the rural sections of Vermont feel.
20:34Now, if you live in Burlington, Population Center, Essex, Barrie, Montpelier, Rutland,
20:43you would think this was fine, this works.
20:48But if you're living somewhere in the Northeast Kingdom or somewhere in the middle part of the state
20:55where there isn't that much population, this is going to make their economies worse in the future,
21:03make it more difficult to build the housing they desperately need, too,
21:07if they want to revitalize their economic centers.
21:10And they do. But they need some help from us in order to do that.
21:14It was as if they wanted to take and preserve the rural parts of the state.
21:21But the folks in the rural parts of the state want to live.
21:25And they would like to prosper a little bit, too.
21:30And we're just holding them hostage in some respects in doing so.
21:38Thank you. No other questions?
21:41Ed Barber, Newport Daily Express.
21:50All right, back to the room.
21:52Governor, back to the housing for a second.
21:54Given some of the bigger picture housing challenges, labor, lumber, lending, high interest rates,
22:01the jobs and demand is also in the more urban parts of the state,
22:06even if we went forward with S-311, would it make a difference?
22:12Or how much of a difference do you think it would make?
22:15Well, it would have made a lot more.
22:18It would be much more significant than what we received.
22:22I mean, to be perfectly frank, S-311 wasn't enough from my standpoint.
22:28We would have liked to have seen more in that bill.
22:30But it was a compromise amongst many parties, tripartisan support.
22:37And again, looking back, that wasn't even taken up, that S-311 approach.
22:45That tripartisan bill wasn't even taken up in the House.
22:48It sat on the wall.
22:50It was passed out of committee in the Senate and stalled out in Senate Natural Resources,
22:58which is what I predicted it would do at the beginning of the session.
23:03So do I think it would have been everything to everyone? No.
23:14Would it have solved our housing problem? No.
23:17But it would have been enough, enough to put an end to that.
23:22And we need to continue to put dents in this in order to move forward.
23:27And I don't think what we received, again, what we received in this bill that they overrode my veto on,
23:37687 will be helpful for a short period of time.
23:41But when you look at the parameters, I think we'd ask for some of the relief for until at least 2029.
23:49I think the Senate had 2028, and then they settled on 2027.
23:56It doesn't give you a whole lot of time to get anything done.
23:59So we'd ask, that was one of the things we were asking for, stretch it back out to 2029
24:05and include some of those for tax stabilization.
24:10I think it was Grand Isle that didn't, Essex didn't, and was it Bennington that didn't?
24:16So give them tax stabilization too. Why exclude three counties in Vermont?
24:25And why the legislators in those areas, those counties, didn't fight for that is beyond me.
24:38In terms of some of the meetings that we've been talking about,
24:41like with the menu of options for reduction in the tax burden a couple weeks ago,
24:47why wait until after the legislative session was over to do those meetings?
24:52Everything that we proposed after the legislature adjourned were things that we had asked for during the session.
25:05So it's a misnomer, it's misleading for people to think that we didn't propose anything during the session.
25:12We had our tax commissioner in finance, ways and means, any place where we could have an audience.
25:21We were talking about our proposal.
25:24We met with legislators as well from the House and the Senate,
25:29and were able to, we thought, make some gains.
25:34Again, not everything we wanted.
25:36And for 24 hours, the House actually took that information that we all somewhat agreed,
25:44the direction we thought Vermont ought to go,
25:48and had a press briefing, I think, on what they proposed,
25:55which is something that we agreed to as well, for about 24 hours.
25:59And then they got tremendous pushback.
26:01I mean, this is, none of this is easy.
26:04And I'm sure, and they took it off the table and said we need to study.
26:09So this study that's in there is going to be a fairly long period of time,
26:14and I would say it will be, by the time you study it, come up with something in bill form,
26:21get it across the finish line, you know, it will be two years before we see any relief.
26:29So we have something to look forward to.
26:32Can you also give us an update as to where your administration is with the 10-year telecom plan?
26:36I understand we're coming up July, I believe it is.
26:40There's some dates in the statute.
26:42What are you hoping to get out of this?
26:44I'm wondering if Commissioner Tierney is on.
26:48She is not.
26:58I admittedly am not up to date on that at this point in time.
27:04I'm happy to try and get some information to you, though.
27:09Back to safe injection sites,
27:11what are some of the impacts you are hoping to avoid by vetoing that,
27:15and what do you expect the results to be now that it will go through?
27:19Well, again, just from a practical standpoint,
27:25once again, I think it takes resources, money, away from the rural areas of the state
27:32that rely on prevention, treatment, recovery,
27:37you know, three legs of the stool that I think we all agree on,
27:42the money will go to Burlington,
27:45the safe injection site that isn't going to be set up for a year or two
27:50and cost millions of dollars.
27:55Burlington gets it once again, gets some help, some relief,
27:58but the rural areas of the state are not going to get those resources.
28:03So we talk about saving lives.
28:05I don't know how many lives we would save with more prevention,
28:09more treatment, more recovery,
28:12but those resources are going to Burlington.
28:18Is there any, and this may not be true at all, but I'm just curious,
28:22is there any sort of executive action or something that the administration
28:26could take to prevent an overdose prevention center from going there somehow?
28:30I don't think so.
28:31No, I mean, I did all I could with the veto, and we came close,
28:37but it's going to become law, and we'll just have to, as the executive branch,
28:43we'll have to do our part to follow the law.
28:48Governor, you talked about the need for more balance.
28:51You said that you were actively trying to recruit more moderate, pragmatic folks.
28:56Are you going to be actively campaigning with potential Democratic
29:00and or Republican candidates as well to help in the community?
29:04When we get through the primaries, yeah, I would say that I would be more than happy
29:11to help any of those moderate centrists of either party get elected.
29:17How big a role will this dynamic we've been talking about just now in terms of,
29:23I mean, even with the number of vetoes this year play in that campaign messaging
29:29that you would plan to do?
29:34You know, I think I've said this before.
29:39I would rather not veto anything.
29:41I would rather find compromise along the way and not have to veto,
29:45not go through all the drama associated with vetoes.
29:48That's not what I'm aiming for.
29:50I'm not out for any records.
29:53I just want what's right for Vermonters.
29:56I want to help Vermont survive.
29:59And there are so many, particularly the working class, who are suffering today
30:07with property taxes, inflation, all kinds of other taxes that are being imposed upon them.
30:14And we can do better.
30:17I know we can, but we need the right people in place.
30:20We need the right legislators in place that will have an open mind
30:25and will actually listen to those who elected them
30:30so we don't end up in this place in the future.
30:35Like I said, if I didn't have to issue a single veto ever again, I'd be happy.
30:47It's also wicked hot this week, like all over the Northeast.
30:53What is the state doing to, I'm thinking homeless Vermonters,
30:58I'm thinking elderly Vermonters,
31:01what is the state doing to make sure that people are checked in on and that type of thing?
31:06I'll have our Director of Emergency Management, Eric Foren, talk about this a little bit
31:12because we've been working with the Department of Health
31:16and the Department of Public Safety, the Emergency Management, and so forth
31:21to get messages out.
31:23But I really do would ask Vermonters to check in on their neighbors,
31:29their elderly neighbors in particular,
31:32and make sure your animals as well, your pets, don't leave them in the car,
31:39and your kids, make sure you pay attention to this
31:43because as you said, it's going to be very hot, very humid,
31:48and it's not going to take much to cause a catastrophic event.
31:54So just pay attention. Be aware.
31:58Eric?
32:00Yes, Governor. Thanks. I'd like to echo you as well.
32:03We're trying to push that Vermonters are there to support other Vermonters,
32:07so making sure that you check on your neighbors, making sure that you...
32:18It's slightly too hot to freeze.
32:24We'll get back to Eric here shortly.
32:28Maybe we'll take another question, then we'll get back to him.
32:32I just had one to circle back on data privacy.
32:35I know you mentioned getting outreach from both large businesses, like you said,
32:39the Orbises, and also small businesses too.
32:42Were there any other key stakeholders that came to you or to the administration
32:47that really influenced your thinking on that and led you to veto it?
32:52More the businesses than anything else.
32:55And again, not just the large ones, the small ones.
32:59So yeah, that was where we were focusing on.
33:04But there were also other associations that came and said there was one piece or another
33:09they didn't like about it, the private right of action they thought was going to be detrimental
33:14in the long term in other areas as well.
33:18So again, it's unfortunate it got to where it is because there wasn't an alternative.
33:28And sometimes you have to walk before you run, and you can build upon success in one area.
33:35And it seemed as though there was universal agreement
33:39that the Connecticut model would work for Vermont.
33:43And I think we should have taken that and then built upon it.
33:47By association, do you mean like a Chamber of Commerce?
33:50Yeah.
33:51What does that mean?
33:52Chamber of Commerce, Bankers Association, you know, others who said
33:58the private right of action was an issue.
34:03What about from like big tech?
34:05I mean, that was the other criticism that I think most of us have heard
34:08is that there's potentially like national big tech,
34:13I hate to use that word, but like lobbying organizations.
34:16Did you hear anything from national organizations?
34:18I'm sure we did, but I didn't read anything from them.
34:22I didn't receive any personal outreach from them.
34:26So no, for me, it was all the small businesses, any business in Vermont that got my attention.
34:39I don't think we're going to get Eric back.
34:44All right.
34:48Well, thank you all very much.