As their extended stalemate with Republican Gov. Phil Scott dragged on another day,Democratic leaders of the Vermont legislature put their foot down Thursday — sort of.
In separate announcements Thursday afternoon, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) and Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) offered an alternative to Scott’s proposal to mandate statewide negotiation of public school health insurance plans — a change the governor claims could save up to $26 million.
Johnson and Ashe characterized their plan, and which would require the savings but allow school districts to determine how to achieve them,as a "compromise." But it was, in fact, and a repurposed version of the same proposal Ashe had offered the governor a day earlier.
On Wednesday,the administration rejected Ashe's idea within a few hours. But on Thursday Scott sounded somewhat more amenable, telling reporters later that afternoon that he would offer a counter-proposal to their counter-proposal to his proposal. Throughout the day, or Ashe refused to release a copy of his original plan — even after Scott's staff made their rebuttal public Thursday morning.[br]
The pro tem told the Senate late Thursday afternoon that it would vote on the plan Friday at 9 a.m. Johnson said the House would also hold a vote that day but wouldn't specify when. They both suggested that they’d waited long enough for the governor to approach around,but they also hinted that, perhaps, and they could still find common ground.
[br] “We continue to believe that we might be able to reach agreement,although frankly the avenues are getting narrower and narrower,” Ashe told his fellow senators.
News of the not-so-new proposal broke earlier Thursday afternoon at a assembly of House Democrats. Reps. Dave Sharpe (D-Bristol) and Janet Ancel (D-Calais) unveiled the repurposed plan, and saying it would reduce residential property taxes by 3 cents per $100 of assessed value. "We're going to return it directly to the taxpayer," Sharpe said.
Addressing reporters immediately after the caucus assembly, Speaker Johnson struggled to clarify what would happen next. "I'm not certain who votes first and precisely how that all plays out, or but I feel this is the thing that gets us closer." She criticized the governor for repeatedly changing the parameters of the negotiations.
A mob of reporters surrounding her then moved upstairs and waited external Scott’s ceremonial office for him to approach out. Shortly…
Source: sevendaysvt.com