Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s weekly briefing today focused on a new initiative aimed at helping municipalities become more inclusive and equitable.
Scott, a Republican elected to a fourth term this month, announced that IDEAL Vermont, or Inclusion, Equity, Action and Leadership, launched in October with 14 towns signing onto the project. While he wants to see more towns join, Scott says it’s an impressive start.
“As we work to increase equity and make sure Vermont is a welcoming, inclusive state, getting communities directly involved is important," said Scott. "This can’t be just about a top-down approach. We need to help at the grassroots level driven by communities themselves. And that’s what this initiative aims to do. We want to encourage municipalities to commit to this work and to take action that fits the needs of their community.”
Member communities will share data and strategies to take concrete steps to become more inclusive. Office of Racial Equity Executive Director Xusana Davis says it’s not about more training but rather helping municipal leaders move forward with policy implementation.
“Ultimately this is an initiative that creates a bridge. Not just between municipalities, but also between municipalities and the state," noted Davis. "There’s a lot of built-in injustice in this country that has manifested over the years at the local level. Think redlining and zoning. Think education policy. Think policing and community safety. These are all issues that could in part be addressed at the state and federal levels, but that absolutely have to be tackled at the local level as well if we really want to move the needle. And so what we’re hoping to do is work with municipalities to help them accomplish what they uniquely are situated to do and to also gain insight and strength from them in ways that we can make our work at the state level more effective.”
This was the first opportunity for Governor Scott to answer questions about the results of the general election. He is the only Republican to hold a state constitutional office and he expressed disappointment that the GOP lost seats in the state legislature.
“I had hoped that we would have and maintain the numbers in the Republican party to have some more balance in the state, but we lost ground," lamented Scott. "I’m sure we’ll get a lot done but we’re going to have to make sure that we’re all working together in order to do that. I mean this has been a trend for a number of years. It’s been over a decade and I’ve been the only statewide Republican office holder in the state. So this isn’t exactly something that’s changed, but it isn’t getting any better at this point. And I think that some of the national politics has played a hand in this. We just need, we need to do better.”
The IDEAL Vermont initiative will receive $220,000 in state funding over two years, which will be supplemented by the Vermont Community Foundation for specific equity initiatives in municipalities.
