Montpelier
Republican Gov. Phil Scott has said he will veto the bills, in part, because they violate his campaign pledge of no new fees or taxes.
Scott also hopes to use one-time funds, a combination of money from a settlement with the tobacco industry and unexpected tax revenue, to maintain property tax rates at the current level for the next year.
Democratic leaders said that would be an ill-advised decision.
“I think that is fiscally incredibly irresponsible and it sets us up for another showdown next year, because when we used one-time money last year to artificially lower rates it set us up for a big increase this year,” Democratic House Speaker Mitzi Johnson said during a news conference in her office.
Lawmakers also were greeted by four vetoes by Scott, including bills that would require paid family leave and another that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Scott also has threatened to veto the budget and a property tax bill. He has until Tuesday to issue those vetoes. Democratic leaders would rather use the funds to pay down future pension obligations, which they said would save the state $100 million over the next two decades.
The property tax increase is largely driven by an increase in school budgets, which were approved by voters earlier this year.
Johnson said the Legislature’s plan maintains a connection between a community’s voters and their budget, which helps keep spending in check.
Members of the House Republican Caucus said they were trying to bring a compromise position to the table with a plan they introduced on Wednesday. Their proposal would use the one-time funds to pay down property tax rates, but pay back the money with expected revenue from future school consolidations.
Some Republicans are opposed to aspects of Scott’s plan.
“We don’t support using one-time money for ongoing expenditures,” House Minority Leader Don Turner said.
Republicans also said they hope to avoid this standoff in the future. Their proposal would require the tax commissioner to let school districts know how a budget increase would affect future property tax increases.
The bills passed by the Legislature received support from Vermont’s three major parties during the normal legislative session.
“We would be in a very different position, I think, as speaker and pro tem if we had passed party-line budget and tax bills,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe, a Democrat and Progressive.
Johnson and Ashe held a news conference to address Scott’s vetoes of the paid family leave and minimum wage bill, proposals that had been a priority of the liberal wing of the Legislature. Scott reiterated his opposition to new taxes and fees, which Ashe said would make Vermont more expensive for low-wage workers.