WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Whether Phil Scott wins a third term as Vermont governor or one of the many people vying to replace him prevails, whoever holds the office at the start of 2021 will have to start work with a mop in one hand and a broom in the other.
Among Scott’s Republican challengers is John Klar, of Brookfield, whom Scott will face in the Aug. 11 primary, and his would-be opponents in November include three Democrats vying for the right to face him in November: Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, of Hinesburg; former state Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe, of Norwich; and Patrick Winburn, of Bennington, past president of the Vermont Trial Lawyers Association.
The economy has slowed to a crawl as the state tries to turn back the novel coronavirus and Vermont’s finances are in tatters, with a projected revenue decline of 17% in 2021, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. As a small state buffeted by big national and global challenges, Vermont might be better off if solutions can be worked out in Washington. But in the absence of such solutions, state government can use the tools at its disposal, candidates said.
Without more substantial federal intervention, Vermont “will have to implement a marginal tax increase” on the top 5% of earners, “and we’ll need to look at whether we can bond to keep our school system strong without hitting taxpayers,” Zuckerman, who operates an organic farm with his wife, said in a phone interview.
Zuckerman was a Progressive state legislator for 20 years before being elected lieutenant governor in 2016. He is the only other statewide officeholder running for governor, but in a recent interview with Seven Days, the Burlington weekly, he acknowledged that Scott’s handling of the state’s coronavirus crisis makes the incumbent very hard to beat.
Scott, a Berlin resident who turns 62 early next month, has so far done little campaigning, saying he feels he shouldn’t be on the stump while dealing with the coronavirus crisis. He did not respond to requests for an interview, but in a debate among Republican contenders on Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS, he made his case that Vermont needs a steady hand.
“I’m like the last person standing at this point in time between common sense and some of what we’re seeing in the legislative process,” he said, noting that the GOP holds only six seats in the state Senate and 43 seats in the House.
The other candidates agreed that the coronavirus and its economic fallout are the biggest challenges the next governor will face.
Holcombe called it, “the economic equivalent of lightning.” In the short term, the main challenge is keeping people healthy, and in the long term it’s “investing money for prosperity and stability,” she said in a phone interview.
Such investments would include broadband internet infrastructure, more comprehensive and affordable child care and health care systems and a transition to green energy and a stronger food system. As COVID-19 has shown, “without public health, there is no economy,” she said. And “people can’t go to work without child care.”
Holcombe, 53, plans to press hard for further payment reform as a way to curb the cost of health care. And the state’s declining school enrollment provides opportunities for schools to host day care operations, which could defray costs.
At the same time, the state should revisit how it pays for education, she said. The funding formula leans too heavily on the property tax and doesn’t provide sufficient funding for districts with higher levels of children in poverty, she added. Holcombe taught at Mascoma Valley Regional High School in West Canaan and at Richmond Middle School in Hanover, before becoming principal of Samuel Morey Elementary School in Fairlee. She served as education secretary from 2014 to 2018, but departed after a split with the Scott administration on key aspects of education policy.
Vermont is not just a small state — it’s not particularly wealthy, either, Holcombe said. Its dependence on tourism and hospitality made it particularly susceptible to the coronavirus. Investing in green energy would reduce the amount of energy spending that leaves the state and would bolster the economy, she said.
The other two Democrats made similar arguments on the same issues.
Winburn, 64, a longtime trial lawyer, said that if elected his first-term agenda would include a $15 minimum wage, health care for all and further attention to the state’s opioid crisis. If Joe Biden wins the presidency this fall, Winburn said, his administration would improve on “Obamacare.” “I think it will probably be mostly a federal matter,” Winburn said of improving access to health care.
Like Holcombe, Winburn said he supports the Transportation and Climate Initiative, an effort by 12 states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to address climate change by improving public transit and weatherization, providing incentives for electric vehicles and charging stations and making it easier to cluster growth in ways that minimize energy use.
On schools, Winburn said he wants to see funding shift more to the income tax. “The property tax system really pits the taxpayers against the teachers,” he said. And “the top 5% really need to pay their fair share,” he said. He also would advocate for universal school meals, which provide breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of income.
Zuckerman, 48, said he sees Vermont’s efforts to tackle some of its biggest issues as potential win-wins. Housing affordability has been a growing problem, as buyers with jobs tied to the Boston or New York economies can pay much more for homes than residents who earn Vermont wages.
“We can’t simply wave a wand and make housing more affordable,” he said. But Vermont has been a leader in building affordable housing. Zuckerman has advocated for retrieving some of the Trump tax cuts, which went mainly to the wealthy. Even half of the cuts would furnish Vermont with $100 million to pay for affordable housing, weatherization and broadband, he said, adding that such projects provide jobs and leave Vermonters with lower housing costs, which means they have more money to put back in the economy.
Vermont’s small size doesn’t mean it can’t act on its own, he said. “When we acted on marriage equality, we were a small state and we had a global impact,” he said. Climate change is a similar issue. Zuckerman sees it as an opportunity to attract young people to the state, which would help with the state’s aging population.
On education funding, “I think the main issue is to continue down the path of making it income-based,” Zuckerman said, adding that the wealthiest are still paying a much smaller share of their income.
In the only instance in which he brought up Scott in the interview, Zuckerman said he was disappointed that the governor vetoed the paid family leave bill, and asserted that the state would have been better prepared for the current health crisis if it had a family leave program in place.
As a challenger for the Republican nomination, Klar, 56, can’t help bringing up the incumbent’s record. In the Republican VPR/Vermont PBS debate, he went after Scott on gun rights, while other candidates questioned Klar about his stance on vaccines. “I’m not anti-vax,” he said, but “there are constitutional issues here.”
(Holcombe has also gone after Zuckerman for a 2015 vote in the Senate where he unsuccessfully sought to continue letting parents opt children out of vaccination if they had a philosophical exemption.)
The widest plank in Klar’s platform is greater support for farming in the state. He has issued a “farming manifesto,” which calls for reduced taxes and regulations on farms.
“The big export for us should be food,” Klar said. “We have huge growth potential for farming.” The state doesn’t do enough to assist the current model of farm growth, smaller vegetable and fruit farms that sell produce and make value-added products. Improving the farm economy would also bring more young people into the state, he said.
A lawyer who has also worked as a substance use disorder recovery coach, Klar would like to see an end to the use of synthetic opioids in treatment for opioid addiction. Recovery needs private-sector solutions, he said, as it’s too expensive for government to fix.
In reference to proposals to combat climate change, Klar said that “inaction in the face of environmental calamity might be better than a false panacea.” Lawnmowers should have pollution controls, he suggested, and fireworks, too, cause pollution.
“You know how you reduce pollution? You consume less, and no one wants to hear that, whether you’re on the right or the left,” he said.
Also on the Democratic ballot is Ralph Corbo, of Wallingford, who is also running for the U.S. House. Other Republican candidates for governor include Emily Peyton, a frequent statewide candidate from Putney; Bernard Peters, of Irasburg; and Douglas Cavett, a convicted sex offender from Milton. Two perennial statewide candidates, Boots Wardinski, of Newbury, and Cris Ericson, of Chester, are on the Progressive ballot.
Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.
