Vermont House Minority Leader Pattie McCoy (R-Poultney) and Vermont Senate Minority Leader Randy Brock (R-Franklin) support the main points of Gov. Phil Scott’s budget address Tuesday.
“Vermont’s greatest challenges are our demographic trends and stagnating workforce,” said Rep. McCoy. “Vermont House and Senate Republicans echo Gov. Scott’s focus in his budget address on making investments to both retain existing workers and recruit new workers to our state. These initiatives complement new efforts by Republicans in the Legislature to waive occupational licensing fees and expand licensing recognition for workers moving to Vermont.”
“Hand-in-hand with attracting workers to Vermont is ensuring they can afford to live here long-term. Legislative Republicans are encouraged by the Governor’s proposals for new housing construction using federal dollars, robust tax relief measures, and targeted loan forgiveness in critical sectors of our economy,” added Sen. Brock. “We are eager to partner with the Governor in these areas, including with legislation to modernize housing regulations and ease the burden of Act 250.”
“We cannot forget the fact that younger Vermonters have borne a great deal of the burden during the COVID-19 pandemic,” noted Rep. McCoy. “Gov. Scott’s focus on tuition relief, child care affordability, and after school programs will improve outcomes for our kids and help working families across our state.”
“Gov. Scott’s budget address lays the framework for a fiscally-responsible path built upon a stronger workforce, safe and healthy communities, supporting our younger Vermonters, and improving good governance,” said Sen. Brock. “We look forward to working with the Governor and his team to advance our shared goals across the finish line this legislative session.”
Democratic leaders Senate President Becca Balint and House Speaker Jill Krowinski released a statement noted the many areas of agreement with Scott, in particular supporting workforce development and essential workers. “We know that the workforce crisis is impacting all sectors of the economy, but that it is particularly difficult among the professions that keep our families and communities running. In recognition of this, the House Appropriations Committee doubled the Governor’s proposal in the Budget Adjustment to $60M for staff retention related payments to shore up critical provider systems for assisted living residences, nursing homes, residential care homes, home health agencies, designated and specialized service agencies, substance use treatment providers, and recovery centers. We look forward to doing similar work to prioritize our frontline care workers in the FY23 budget. And we’re grateful to see the Governor is proposing further funding of some of the critical workforce investments that the legislature built into last year’s budget.”