Phil Scott on Budget & Economy

We don't need more taxes; we need more taxpayers

Last term, we worked together to create more housing Vermonters can afford. My budget will propose a package focused on growing the housing supply by revitalizing properties and investing in existing neighborhoods. It's not enough. We must do a better job telling our story and use it to aggressively recruit new Vermonters. Last year we launched a program offering incentives to remote workers who moved here. My budget will again propose a package that targets those likely to move.

I won't sign a budget that exceeds reasonable limits

Republican Bruce Lisman presented what he calls a multiyear approach to recast state government. "I'd manage the damn budget. Set spending at 2-3 percent per year to reset our finances and no new taxes. And find 2 percent efficiencies with a brilliant, motivated management team. Recharge our government by bringing real managers into it, those people we find not because we know them but because they're talented," Lisman said.

Both Republicans have said the state's health exchange has hurt the business climate in the state.

We're spending beyond our means; but cuts instead of taxes

There were a number of areas within the speech where I do have concerns, one being that, while I agree we have a structural problem with the Medicaid cost shift, I'm hesitant to fund the 'fix' through a payroll tax. Opening the door to even a small increase will, in my opinion, lead us to further tax growth. Once that seed is planted, we have a te over-fertilize, and I fear there will be further proposals to increase taxes on Vermonters and small Vermont businesses, who are already struggling to make ends meet.