The two major party candidates for Vermont governor debated in Burlington Wednesday evening. While the candidates were, for the most part, cordial, they displayed sharp contrasts in their governing philosophy.
Online investigative newspaper VTDigger brought incumbent Republican Phil Scott and his Democratic challenger Brenda Siegel together as part of a series of debates ahead of the November 8th general election.
Siegel previously lost a gubernatorial primary in 2018 and the 2020 lieutenant governor’s race. She repeatedly attacked Scott’s record on low-income funding while Scott responded that he had increased funding to such programs. The rift was evident as they answered an introductory question to outline the most pressing issue facing the state. Scott focused on how demographics are affecting the state’s economy.
“In the last six years we’ve made record investments in housing, climate change mitigation, prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts, child care, water, sewer and stormwater projects, economic development and much, much more. And we’ve done all this without increasing the tax burden. But no matter the issue or investment we won’t be able to afford any of it if we don’t keep and attract more people to grow our workforce. And that’s why we must continue to grow the economy and make Vermont more affordable.”
Siegel, an affordable housing advocate who spent nearly a month in October 2021 camping on the Statehouse steps to advocate for an emergency housing program, countered that housing must be spotlighted.
“We can’t address any of our challenges until we insure that every Vermonter has a safe and affordable place to live. We need to ensure that we have a long-term and short-term strategic plan that includes emergency, transitional and permanent housing. Because when our Vermonters do not have a place to live it is not good for our communities and it is not good for our workforce.”
Scott periodically claimed Siegel was relating inaccurate information. When discussing Vermont’s record opioid overdose deaths in 2020 and 2021, Scott challenged her characterization of a veto he penned.
“There were three bills that would have supported people with opioid use disorder and all three were vetoed despite the fact that this governor has presided over the most death in the history of our state. In order to solve this crisis we have to be willing to study the new solutions.”
“First of all," retorted Scott, "I think misinformation in some respects. I believe in harm reduction. We’ve implemented a number of different steps with harm reduction. But just think about the practical aspect of a safe injection site. Are they going to come from Milton, are they going to come from St. Albans, and drive to Burlington to go to a safe injection site? I think not.”
During an exchange over Scott’s veto of a state clean heat standard, he again bristled when Siegel said his record number of vetoes were due to a lack of interaction with the legislature.
“Quite frequently the Legislature doesn’t know whether or not the bill is going to be vetoed because the governor does not come to the table. And that’s a huge problem with the way we govern. We’re not always going to agree. But I’m always going to come to the table because we don’t get to benefit from this legislation when we aren’t staying at the table until the work is done.”
“I can’t let that go." rebutted Scott. "I meet with legislative leadership every single week. I meet with the Pro-Tem one week. I meet with the Speaker the next week and it alternates from there. Every single week we meet and I tell them clearly what I can live with and what I can’t. So they knew exactly where I stood on those issues.”
Independents Peter Duval, Kevin Hoyt and Bernard Peters are also running for governor. A former state Senator and lieutenant governor, Scott is seeking a fourth two-year term.
