PHIL SCOTT ON FRANKLIN COUNTY
By Latimer Hoke
Vermonters will have three choices to lead the Green Mountain state when they hit the polls next week: the Libertarian candidate, Bill “Spaceman” Lee; the Democratic candidate, Sue Minter; and the Republican Candidate, Phil Scott.
Plenty has been publicized about the three, and how they plan to improve Vermont, but we wanted to know how they’d help locals in and around Franklin County. Specifically, we asked what each Candidate’s election would do to help Franklin County.
The Courier reached out to these candidates, both by email and phone, with mixed results.
Phil Scott
Scott will round out his 6th year as Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor in January of 2017. He answered the Courier’s guiding question via email.
Scott wants to “make the economy and affordability top priorities in Montpelier.” He writes, “I will not sign a budget that grows faster than the economy, or your wages.”
Scott says his proposals “work to revitalize county economic centers through a number of initiatives designed to expand economic growth beyond Chittenden County, where the majority of growth has been concentrated. It is essential that we give every region of the state an equal opportunity to grow and prosper.”
“My plan to support such regional growth includes a goal to triple the number of innovation centers that are helping support small businesses and foster entrepreneurship. This plan would use the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) and other privately funded centers as a model that we would expand to the Northeast Kingdom, and Franklin, Lamoille, Orange, Rutland, Windsor and Windham counties,” he added.
On the issue of water quality, Scott said that cleaning up Lakes Champlain and Carmi is vital to Franklin County’s tourism among other economic drivers. In doing so, Scott says he wants to “ensure local communities have a strong voice in those discussions.”
Scott recognizes that education and employment are key economic drivers. “The stronger our education system, the more appealing our state will be to employers and working families.” His plan calls for school systems to align their sizes to match their student populations and ability of taxpayers to support those systems. Scott also would like to eliminate the “benefits cliff,” which refers to the quandary families face when they immediately lose state support and benefits if they earn over a certain amount of money.
With respect to cell service and broadband internet, Scott’s plan identifies that many Vermonters are frustrated with a lack of coverage, but rather than invest directly in additional infrastructure, Scott would like to try to “persuade providers to continue to build out to rural areas more rapidly,” with incentives like eliminating sales tax on network equipment, similar to farming equipment exemptions.
Scott supports the increasing use of clean energy, particularly solar, natural gas, and biomass energy, and would like to see Vermont become more energy independent; this would include incentivizing efficient building designs.
Scott would like to see more affordable health insurance options for Vermonters.
Regarding the opioid crisis hitting Vermont hard, Scott says he wants to expand treatment options for opiate addiction, as well as giving law enforcement more flexible discretion when dealing with drug users.
