MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Democratically controlled Vermont House will reconvene to decide whether to override Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of the second budget bill.
The House meets Tuesday to determine how to respond in the ongoing dispute over the second version of the state budget bill. To override the veto the Democratic majority will need two-thirds of the members present to vote in favor. Democrats will likely need to peel off some Republican votes for the measure to pass, although because the rules only specify they need two-thirds of those present, Tuesday’s attendance may determine the fate of the vote. If the override passes the House it will move on to the Senate, where the Democratic majority has the two-thirds needed.
The Vermont State Employees Association, the union that represents over 6,000 state workers, encouraged its members to lobby Republican representatives that voted for the first budget bill but against the second version. Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a Progressive and Democrat, also asked constituents to contact their representative and urge them to vote for the override.
Scott vetoed the second budget bill last Thursday. The bill was originally introduced as a compromise that would fund the government and prevent a shutdown while allowing negotiations to continue over property taxes. Democratic leaders said the second budget bill excluded all points of contention, but Scott argued that was not true. The second budget bill does not have a tax increase, but there is a provision that would automatically set the nonresidential property tax rate at the statutory level if no new rate is set. In reasoning his veto Scott said the statutory level amounts to an increase and violates his pledge to oppose new taxes and fees.
If the override vote fails the House will need to craft a third budget bill, but to pass one before July 1 they need Republican support to suspend the rules.
With less than two weeks before the end of the fiscal year, many in the state are beginning to wonder whether the government will open on July 1. The shutdown would affect everything from hospitals to prisons, and would likely leave the state parks closed during the lucrative Fourth of July tourism weekend.
The Scott administration has remained confident that the Democratic majority will sign on to its plan and has not introduced a contingency plan.
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