Statement on Gov. Phil Scott’s Jan. 21, 2020 Budget Address

Gov. Phil Scott used his Budget Address today to lay out a clear vision of the role state government can play to improve the lives of Vermonters. Child care, transportation infrastructure, affordable housing, climate change, job creation, mental health care and suicide prevention, small town revitalization, and refugee resettlement were just some of the items on his long list of worthy targets for public investment.

He rightly identified the challenges Vermont faces and even seemed eager to the take on the task, as the head of state government, to solve these problems.

But the speech also contained a major contradiction. In the governor’s view, taxes—the means for making these critical investments in the state’s future—make the state unaffordable. So while much of his address outlined modest additional funding for programs and services that the governor said had shown proven results, he said it all could be done without raising taxes. In fact, he makes several proposals to cut taxes.

Vermont does face many new challenges, and it’s going to take additional effort if we’re going to address them in time to make a difference—especially for the youngest Vermonters. As we note in State of Working Vermont 2019, state and local taxes in Vermont, as a share of the economy, haven’t changed in 25 years. Today’s problems won’t be solved without major new public investments. Major investments were nowhere to be found in the governor’s address.