Montpelier
But they’ll likely be back again in a few weeks.
Lawmakers left the capital without reaching a resolution with the governor over his proposal to shift teachers’ health care benefits negotiations from the local to the statewide level.
Gov. Phil Scott has repeatedly said that if lawmakers failed to pass a plan that meets his requirements, which he says could net up to $26 million annually in savings, he would veto the budget.
House Republicans have vowed to sustain Scott’s veto. They hold 53 seats in the 150-member chamber, enough to back Scott. It takes a two-thirds vote to override a veto.
Minutes after the House passed the final bills of the year — including a legislative response to Scott’s proposal — the governor made good on his threat. He reiterated that he believes policymakers have an “obligation to taxpayers” to ensure that the state nets as much in savings from teachers’ health care as possible.
“That has not yet been accomplished, therefore I regrettably cannot support the budget or the yield bill,” he said.
“But please understand this. It gives me no satisfaction to say that,” Scott said. “I truly, truly believe we can find common ground.”
The mood was cordial. When a group of lawmakers escorted Scott to the chamber, there were handshakes and smiles. After his speech, he received a standing ovation. But before lawmakers left for the night, they scheduled June 21 and 22 for the dates they will return for a special session once Scott makes a budget veto official.
After weeks of closed-door meetings to try to find a meeting point on the teachers’ health care issue, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, and President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, declared an impasse on Wednesday. They indicated they would proceed to wrap up the rest of the legislative business, including passing a budget, and move toward adjournment.
Despite the declaration, meetings between the administration and legislative leaders continued through most of Thursday. Ashe and Johnson walked in and out of the governor’s office. There were no news conferences, and no information released about what they were or were not considering. At times there were whispers around the building that the three parties were nearing an agreement.
By dinnertime, though, with hopes for consensus dashed, the Legislature began to move forward without a deal with Scott.
Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle, a friend of Scott’s and an ally of Ashe, said he sat in on five hours of negotiations between the leaders of the Senate and the House and the governor on Thursday.
“I just thought there was a possibility that maybe we all could all walk away with something and agree,” Mazza said. “I guess I’m satisfied now that at least it’s exhausted.”
The six members of the budget conference committee signed the bill setting the state’s finance package for the next fiscal year, signaling that the Legislature would begin the final steps before adjournment.
As discussions with Scott broke down, the House and Senate members of the conference committee for the education tax bill, H. 509, agreed to a proposal that will require all teachers’ health care benefits that have not been settled by July 1 to expire in September 2019, giving lawmakers another chance to examine the issue.
The idea first came up earlier in the day, when Ashe told reporters that in discussions with the governor, they talked about asking school boards and teachers to negotiate contracts with the same end dates to try to re-create what Scott has called a “once-in-a-lifetime situation” because all the teachers’ plans are to expire on Jan. 1.
Officials estimate teachers’ health care plans will cost $75 million less by moving to plans with health savings accounts. Scott’s plan was to give back $49 million of the savings to teachers to cover most of their out-of-pocket expenses. The $26 million in savings would either be used for property tax reform or to fund other programs.
Democrats and unions cried foul that Scott’s proposal would disrupt collective bargaining with local school districts. According to Speaker Johnson, Scott also sought to put some limits on what teachers could receive in raises so to not lose the savings achieved in health care, a claim Scott’s administration disputes.