Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that he allowed the school employee health care bill, passed by the General Assembly, to become law without his signature. This typically happens when the governor disagrees with some aspects of a bill but chooses not to veto it. In this case Scott objected to an arbiter's decision for which there was a lack of transparency and which will result in higher school costs and therefore what he estimates will be higher taxes.
Governor Scott said in part: “I agree that changes to the bargaining structure established in Act 11 (in 2018) should be made, specifically when it comes to impasse proceedings and establishing reasonable cost containment principles. This was made clear in the first negotiation held by the Act 1l Commission on Public School Employee Benefits (“Commission"), which was not a transparent process. It ended, predictably, in an impasse between both parties that was settled by a single arbitrator from outside Vermont who is entirely unaccountable to Vermont taxpayers.
“The arbitrator's award, which was not explained to the people of Vermont or elected officials, has had a major impact on school district budgets, and therefore on property tax bills. It has been estimated the initial contract added $25 to $30 million in costs onto already overburdened taxpayers. Make no mistake, this bargaining construct, the rules governing it, and the costly and unsustainable outcomes it has produced are a product of how the Legislature ultimately chose to move forward on this issue in 2018.”
Scott added: “Unfortunately, H.81 does not adequately address cost containment. To the contrary, it puts taxpayers on the hook for still higher costs by removing uniform cost-sharing arrangements for premiums and out-of-pocket costs. The Commission now has the opportunity to begin negotiating a sliding health care contribution. Given the potential benefits to lower paid unlicensed employees, I am not opposed to this concept. However, I'm concerned that if higher paid teachers and administrators – who on their own earn 50 percent more than the average Vermont household – do not offset the cost through higher health benefit contributions, then taxpayers are, yet again, left making up the added cost.”
He concluded with: “This is the single biggest self-insured group in the state of Vermont, and it is publicly funded. This is very important work. As Vermonters continue to recover from an unprecedented pandemic, we must be very sensitive to – and transparent about – laws that are likely to lead to increased taxes and fees, such as this one.”
- H. 81, An act relating to statewide public school employee health benefits
The governor's three-page letter to the General Assembly explaining his decision can be viewed in its entirety by clicking here.
Source: Governor 4.8.2021