MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Democrat-led Vermont House of Representatives approved a new state budget, but the future of the plan is uncertain because it doesn’t lower nonresidential property tax rates as Republican Gov. Phil Scott has been demanding.
If no budget can be passed by July 1, Vermont state government is facing an unprecedented shutdown.
Vermont Public Radio reported the measure approved by the House late Friday includes several provisions that are part of Scott’s five-year plan to reduce education costs. The plan angered many Republicans because they said it reneged on promises made by Democratic leaders to reduce all property tax rates.
The Senate, which unanimously passed a different version of the budget that was amended by the House, will review the House bill early next week.
In a statement issued late Friday, Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, a Democrat, said senators would “look forward to reviewing the changes being sent to the Senate.”
The governor said he was disappointed that the bill didn’t fully address his concerns, but he’d withhold judgment.
“I’m going to wait till the final product,” Scott said. “We’ll see what the Senate does, and then I’ll weigh in at that point.”
The Legislature is in a rare late June special session because Scott vetoed two previous budget bills.
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