Gov. Phil Scott said what needed to be said during his State of the State address on Thursday. The four-term Republican told lawmakers of all stripes that Vermont cannot keep on the path it is on if it wants to be affordable for all Vermonters.
He knew he was addressing a supermajority. He knows that all he can do it make his best case, and hope that Vermonters will help persuade Democrats and Progressives to help change the course toward one that he deems necessary.
Just hours before he was walked up to the podium in the House of Representatives to address the joint assembly, the House handily overrode Scott’s veto of the bottle bill, 112-31. It was one of several overrides during the past two years.
The governor sounded like a broken record. But with added urgency this time around. In his fourth such address, he gave nods to some of the good things going on across Vermont. But most of the hour-long speech hinged on the sticking points that are keeping Vermont from prospering.
The state’s demographics are not improving, despite concerted efforts to turn things around. More Vermonters means the tax burden is spread among a larger number. Without more people coming to the state, the burden of paying for services falls on a smaller pot.
“It continues to be an issue we must solve to meet today’s obligations, and make every investment needed for the future. And to have any chance of reversing our demographic trends, there are three issues we can’t ignore: public safety, affordability and housing. These challenges are urgent, immediate, and we must address them this session.”
He is not wrong. Others in the chamber have their own list of priorities — a few of which might rise to the governor’s top five. Housing is first among them. Scott acknowledged that solid foundations have been put down — literally — but without more units the state is hogtied. His urging for more steps toward affordable housing across Vermont is, in fact, critical.
But this governor knows that through the filter of politics, most of his speech was relegated to the trash bin. That is why he tried to keep the focus on what “could” be changed with tripartisan reaching, and placed hope on setting aside party playbooks for the good of all Vermonters.
We like that approach, but know too well there are lawmakers who would never dare to deviate from their party platform that they rely upon to get reelected. There are too many of those short thinkers at the moment.
Yes, fiscally, the challenge is real. The governor alluded to his upcoming budget address, calling the picture there “sobering.” Where Thursday’s scene-setter was one of hope, the reality of the scene will be revealed in a couple of weeks — at which time the blood sport of politics is pushed into overdrive. The call for unity should not be ignored.
Of course, Scott has the advantage of saying what he thinks a majority of Vermonters — not just Republicans — want to hear. That way, when lawmakers deny him his promises or plans, he can say he tried. That is all one can do when they do not own the high ground.
But that gamble can cause political bruising, especially in the polling booth. Vermonters have long memories, and if they do not like where lawmakers are taking the state, even if the governor is providing a map, the voters will get to decide who calls the shots.
Ultimately, the governor is right, and by the sound of the applause he received on Thursday, no one really wants to put the state in the same kind of gridlock that plagues Congress. No one wants to be seen as ineffective, or not thinking in the best interest of Vermonters.
Very tactfully, for a second year in a row (because of the supermajority, of course), the governor tried to use the speech to ratchet down the politics, ratchet up the sense of community and well-being, and reiterate the concerns everyday Vermonters are talking about around the dinner table. Phil Scott is a lot of things, and a good listener is one of them.
“So, while the lobbyists and advocates will have their agendas, and being an election year, political parties and partisans will have theirs as well, we owe it to Vermonters to put all that aside and make real progress on public safety, affordability, and housing needs — because these issues don’t discriminate based on your party affiliation,” he said.
It is always refreshing to hear a politician talk about us — the people they serve — with respect.
“The burden of citizenship, and all who aspire to it, is the work to fulfill the promise of a more perfect union. This is the great gamble of our republic — that everyday Americans, and everyday Vermonters, will show up, do the work, and carry out those “small acts of decency that build community,” he said, pointing to many examples of coming together.
We would submit the next gamble for our state does not rest with any political answer, but with one another.
