MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont lawmakers from all parties are trying to chart a path forward following Tuesday’s election upheaval.
Voters ousted the democratic supermajority at the Statehouse, spurred by concerns over affordability. But the question remains if lawmakers will be able to make meaningful progress to address the thorny issue of education finance reform and raising property taxes.
Vermont voters sent a message Tuesday.
“Making Vermont more affordable will be our top priority,” said Gov. Phil Scott.
The increased cost of education, and other factors, led to historic property tax increases this year that resulted in a school budget revolt by many voters on Town Meeting Day.
Senate Minority Leader Randy Brock, R-Franklin County, says Republicans are still huddling with new members to come up with specific proposals to bring to the table with their new mandate. “There’s some short-term fixes that we can make. There’s some things we can do to expand the window we have in which we have the ability to make those large changes,” he said.
Vermont schools have some of the lowest student-to-staff ratios and oldest facilities in the country. Lawmakers will grapple with how to grow our economy and raise more taxes at the local level or make spending cuts in school budgets.
Former Democratic House Speaker Shap Smith says that with the new balance of power, state lawmakers will have to make a decision on a core question. “How do you put together the scale that’s appropriate for kids and kids getting the right education in rural areas where you have so few students,” he said.
Smith served a decade ago when 35 school budgets failed, in part leading to Act 46, an effort to consolidate school districts. He says Vermont’s aging population and shrinking workforce able to support education and health care is the crux of the problem. “You can’t fix one without fixing the other,” he said.
He suspects the Legislature will come to a deal to buy down tax rates next year as a temporary fix while addressing what is driving the costs of education — health care, staffing, and school consolidation — in the second year of the biennium. “There are significant changes that are going to have to be made and they are going to be politically unpopular and they won’t necessarily split on party lines. They often will split on urban vs. rural,” Smith said.
But unlike previous years, Governor Phil Scott’s veto pen will wield more power against Democrats.