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Vermont Governor Reflects On First Term And Looks Forward To His Second

Vermont Governor Phil Scott  (file photo)
WAMC/Pat Bradley
Vermont Governor Phil Scott (file photo)

patb1-3governor-scott-part-two.mp3
Second part of interview with Vermont Governor Phil Scott

Vermont Republican Governor Phil Scott will be sworn into his second term next week. His first term was sometimes turbulent as the legislature locked horns over the budget and overrode his  budget vetoes.  He also received praise and reproach for signing the first significant gun restrictions in the state. But in November, voters overwhelmingly sent him to a second term in Montpelier. In this first of a two-part conversation, Governor Scott tells WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley that he feels he had a number of accomplishments during his first term."I think that no new taxes or fees in the general fund was something that we’re I’m very proud of. It took a lot of work, a lot of cooperation amongst many. But I think that signaled to Vermonters that we understand the burden that they’re facing and that we could do things differently and that we could live within our means without raising taxes and fees. So in doing so we avoided a projected $70 million worth of property tax rate increases. We also lowered income tax rates and saved Vermonters about $30 million. And then we were able to eliminate the tax on Social Security for low and middle income Vermonters and so that provided relief for them as well. So that and doing some other things with workers’ compensation rates and unemployment insurance rates and so forth I think we did some good work and I know that many times what people hear on the news or read in the papers and so forth is negative but I think we accomplished a lot when you think about the thing in its aggregate."

On tomorrow’s Midday Magazine, Governor Phil Scott Will discuss his expectations for his second term and working with the Democratically-controlled legislature in 2019.

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