Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott announced on June 4 action on several bills passed by the General Assembly. Along with signing five bills into law, Scott vetoed H.645, An act relating to the expansion of approaches to restorative justice. He said he did so in large part because the legislation is unfunded, despite requiring additional work for the Attorney General's Office.
Attorney General Charity Clark supports the bill and urges the Legislature to override the veto.
The Legislature will hold a "Veto Session" June 17, during which any legislation can be addressed.
On June 4, Governor Scott signed bills of the following titles:
- H.614, An act relating to land improvement fraud and timber trespass
- H.661, An act relating to child abuse and neglect investigation and substantiation standards and procedures
- H.704, An act relating to disclosure of compensation in job advertisements
- H.867, An act relating to miscellaneous amendments to the laws governing alcoholic beverages and the Board of Liquor and Lottery
- H.886, An act relating to approval of amendments to the charter of the City of South Burlington
On June 4, Governor Scott returned without signature and vetoed H.645, An act relating to the expansion of approaches to restorative justice, and sent the following letter to the General Assembly:
Dear Ms. Wrask:
Pursuant to Chapter II, Section 11 of the Vermont Constitution, I’m returning H.645, An act relating to the expansion of approaches to restorative justice, without my signature because of my objections described herein.
While I understand the desire to help those, particularly youth, who need second, third and even fourth chances to get their lives on track, H.645 is not workable because it is not funded.
The bottom line is this bill expands the responsibilities of the Office of the Attorney General, which will require additional resources, and yet the new work is not funded.
There is no guarantee we will have the taxpayer money needed to fund it next year. For this reason, I’m returning this bill without my signature.
Sincerely,
/s/
Philip B. Scott
Governor
To view a complete list of action on bills passed during the 2024 legislative session, click here.
Governor Scott recently discussed his decision-making approach to the bills passed by the Legislature, highlighting the challenge of balancing benefits, costs and risks, and concerns about the realities of new costs and short timelines for numerous new initiatives coming out of the Legislature. In part, Governor Scott said, “As I’ve always done, I will carefully weigh the good against the bad to make a decision based on whether the benefits outweigh the negative impacts for our entire state. These decisions aren’t easy and they’re not always popular here in Montpelier. But I’ll take that heat when I believe I’m making the right choice for the everyday Vermonter.” Read his full statement here.
Source: 6.4.2024. Governor. 109 State Street | The Pavilion | Montpelier, VT 05609-0101 | www.vermont.gov
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