Anthony Pollina

Vermont Sen. Anthony Pollina, P/D-Washington County.

Everyone should know that the budget Gov. Phil Scott says he will veto actually funds many of the priorities of the governor, the Legislature and most Vermonters.

There is more money for child care, our state colleges and mental health workers; support for small rural towns, commercial loggers and foresters; and a major investment in much-needed affordable housing. And, it got there without raising taxes, just like the governor asked. It passed the Senate unanimously and in the House got all but one vote.

So why the veto?

In the final weeks of the session, the governor surprised the Legislature by demanding we eliminate the longstanding right of school employees to collectively bargain with local school boards for their health care benefits. Without this, he says he will veto the budget.

The governor says it is all about saving money. And I know that saving millions of dollars is a better message than the need to support collective bargaining. But there is a lot more to it.

The nonpartisan Vermont Joint Fiscal Office questions the actual savings and nonpartisan legislative lawyers circulated a five-page memo outlining some of the issues raised by the governor’s plan. And, contrary to what Gov. Scott says, not everyone covered by school health care will be held harmless. Para-educators and other lower-income school staff are among those who will see big increases in co-pays and premiums.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the darling of the far right, says, “Let me be clear: Collective bargaining isn’t a right; it is an expensive entitlement.” Gov. Scott’s position is starting to sound the same. But the fact is collective bargaining — the right of an employee to negotiate directly with his or her employer — has helped raise millions of people out of poverty and into the middle class. And in this case it has predominantly helped women, who make up 80 percent of Vermont school employees.

Vermont taxpayers already have a voice in school budgets, including staff costs, with local school boards and on Town Meeting Day when they vote on their school budget. And, our investments in our schools and their staff are paying off. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s annual report card on the nation’s schools, Vermont ranks in the top five of every metric it evaluates.

That’s why every year over 90 percent of all school budgets are approved on the first vote — a testament to how hard school board members work to balance a quality education at a fair price to most taxpayers. The governor’s plan would change this local decision-making.

It also sets a bad precedent to threaten a budget veto over something that is not really part of the budget process. What happens next time the governor, with two weeks left in a legislative session, says, “I am introducing a proposal to eliminate some important policy and if the Legislature doesn’t pass it, I will veto the budget.”

Yet, that is what the governor did when he surprised us in late April with his proposal. And, the majority of Vermont legislators responded as you might hope they would by saying, “Wait; slow down, Governor — this may be a good idea but it’s not something we can decide on with just a few weeks left before adjournment.”

The Senate went further, proposing legislation that would actually achieve the savings the governor asked for, while preserving local control and setting up a commission to look at the idea of statewide bargaining so we could consider the idea next session.

But even that was not good enough. The governor seems more interested in politics rather than good policy.

The bottom line: Whether you support the idea or not, eliminating local collective bargaining is a big deal. It needs to go through the legislative process with testimony from all sides before moving forward. It is not something you do quickly.

I have to believe the governor knows that.


Anthony Pollina, a Progressive/Democrat from Middlesex, represents Washington County in the Vermont Senate.

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