During his weekly briefing, Vermont Governor Phil Scott offered his assessment of the just-adjourned legislative session and made his first comments about his decision to run for a fifth two-year term.
The Democratically-controlled Vermont House and Senate adjourned in the early morning hours Saturday following a flurry of action to pass a number of bills.
Republican Governor Phil Scott said on Wednesday that now that legislators have finished their work, the administration has to review the bills and decide how to act.
“To put this all into perspective, a little over 100 bills were passed since January. Sixty of them between Wednesday and Friday of just last week. About 40 were passed on the last day alone and that includes major bills with substantial amendments,” Scott said. “The end of the session is always hectic. But I don't remember another year when this many bills, with at least one of them with a124 page amendment, jammed through in the final days. And I question whether those voting had enough time to read through them, much less consider all the ramifications.”
Scott added that he will take the five days that are allowed to review the bills.
“As you know, which is often the case, there are parts of the bills we're fine with and parts we aren't,” said Scott. “And considering the major flurry of bills at the very end you can expect more letters than usual to point out our concerns and where lawmakers should make improvements when they return in June. And this may be the case whether the bills are signed, go into law without signature or are vetoed.”
Less than a day after the Legislature adjourned, Scott announced that he will run for a fifth two-year term.
“I thought it'd be irresponsible for me to walk away at this point in time,” Scott asserted. “You know I vetoed the budget and some other bills last year. They overrode them, imposed more taxes, more fees. And I just think it's taking Vermont in the wrong direction. I have a sense of responsibility. To be honest, I could have gone either way. But in the end, I thought somebody needs to be there to be the voice of Vermonters. And right now, I think we're so out of balance in the legislature that we're not hearing from everyone.”
On Saturday, the Vermont Republican Party will hold its spring convention. Governor Scott will appear as a keynote speaker alongside North Dakota Governor and former presidential candidate Doug Burgum.
“He and I became governors at the same time,” recalled Scott. “I developed a bit of a friendship with him. But our two states are very, very different. We're at bookends. They are one of the top three most conservative states in the country. But person to person he's a good guy.”
Earlier this week, Vermont Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Dandeneau criticized Scott and said he is moving away from his moderate philosophy by deciding to appear beside Governor Burgum.
“He is turning to his base in the Republican Party for support,” Dandeneau said. “He is planning on speaking alongside retrograde abortion opponent and anti-trans bigot Doug Burgum at the state Republican convention on Saturday.”
