The Vermont Legislature gaveled in the second half of its biennium Tuesday. Senate Pro-Tem Democrat/Progressive Phil Baruth told his colleagues that their focus must be education reform. During a conversation on his expectations for the session with WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley, Baruth stressed the need to continue work on those reforms.
Education is number one. Property taxes have been skyrocketing, partially because of health care costs. So we passed some legislation last year, Act 73, that needs still to be triggered and implemented. But what I'm pushing for is a more immediate containment of the growth in spending, because Act 73 it looks like will not control costs for four or five years and the education growth is eating into our general budget.
Well, a lot of people criticized the task force that was supposed to look at redistricting. How is the Senate going to approach that issue?
Well, we're going to take a look in our committee of jurisdiction, education, they're going to look at what the task force came up with. I've read through their report. There's some useful stuff in there but there isn't a map that would trigger the cost containment. And that's really at this point, my number one priority is how are we going to rein in the growth in those budgets? We have 119 school districts. They all have unlimited spending authority and as I say, it's starting to gobble up our general fund which is housing, mental health, etc., the million needs of the state. So we have to bite the bullet and figure out a way to control that spending.
You mentioned health care. The legislature and the Scott administration was criticized for not focusing on it more in the first half of the biennium. What are your plans regarding health care for Vermont?
So we passed a measure last year that instituted reference based pricing. So it's a more uniform pricing across our state for various medical procedures. And the thought is that that will bring the high charging hospitals down, and that will start to control costs that way. That comes online this year, so I'm hopeful that will have a meaningful bite at that growth in spending. But we're also going to look at strengthening the Green Mountain Care Board, which is our oversight organization. And Ginny Lyons, who's our chair of Health and Welfare has some more specific ideas, but that's the general direction.
Phil Baruth, the Trump administration has been pushing the measures that are in the Big Beautiful Bill as they call it. How concerned are you about all of those provisions and their effect on Vermont and is there anything the Senate can do if it's felt that the provision is negative for the state?
Yeah, well, I think New York and Vermont, all the 50 states, have to be concerned with the quote, Big Beautiful Bill, because in terms of health care it looks to be throwing tens of millions of people off their health care. They've also killed the subsidies, the extended subsidies, for Obamacare. Put those two things together, you're talking about maybe 100 million people who will lose health care. You know, Barack Obama could finish his term and say I helped to cover 100 million people. Trump seems destined to say I stripped health care from that many people and I'm proud of it.
The President has been criticized for his move in Venezuela...
Yes.
And the Vermont Air National Guard was sent to Puerto Rico. Have you heard anything from them since the events in Venezuela over the weekend?
No. They have operational security and should have. But what I will say is I resent the move on Venezuela from 100 different angles. But the thing that makes me the angriest is that people from our National Guard who are serving, who are courageous folks, they were put in harm's way for an invasion that Trump says is explicitly so that we can control their oil and run their country for them. And I just think that that's imbecilic behavior.
Now this came about because of some sort of clause in federal law that allows the president to take over the National Guard even though it's the governors of states that are supposed to control it. Is there anything the legislature can pass or do to prevent presidential usurpation of the governor's right?
I don't think so. And it goes to the various powers of the federal versus the state governments. So when Trump federalizes those National Guard soldiers, this case just went before the Supreme Court, they sort of split the baby and they said that he couldn't send National Guard troops into cities with no authorization. But when it comes to this mission, I think they would probably find in favor of what he did because he's given them enough of a fig leaf to do so. So I doubt that there's a lot we can do there. Same with ICE and Border Patrol. They have federal jurisdiction that, in many cases, supersedes ours.
And Phil Baruth, you are the pro-tem of the senate. It is an election year. How much do you think the legislature will accomplish when people are trying to decide their elective future?
Yeah, well, you know, we have elections every two years here. Basically everybody from the governor on down, every two years runs again. So, in my mind, there's always an election running. People are always thinking about the voters. That's a good thing. You just hope that people, when push comes to shove, will be profiles in courage rather than the reverse.
Have you decided if you'll run again?
You know, I'm going to wait until maybe April. You know, when the next legislature sits down I would be turning 65. And there's only one good thing about turning 65 and that is you don't need an excuse to lay your tools down. So if I do decide on that, my hope is that people would think it was a well-deserved rest.
More than 100 bills were introduced in the Vermont House and Senate on its opening day.
