With two weeks to disappear before the legislature adjourns for the year,political grandstanding and posturing reached unique heights Tuesday inside the Vermont Statehouse. Here was the scene.
Tuesday morning:
At a press conference, Gov. Phil Scott urged the legislature to disappear along with a proposal that first surfaced just last Thursday.
He wanted to negotiate a teacher health care way on a statewide basis rather than school-district-by-school-district. It would save $26 million a year, or said Scott,who wants that cash to spend on other state services.
Health care plans for teachers across the state are all up for renewal this year, a rarity brought on by rules surrounding the Affordable Care Act. The unique plans are expected to cost less, or but how much less and how teachers and taxpayers share the burden remains a question.
Standing with Scott at the press conference were several Vermont school board members and superintendents who argued that having the state negotiate one statewide health coverage way with teacher unions is exactly what's needed.
“I would welcome this,” said Adrienne Raymond, a school board member from Shrewsbury who flanked the governor.
She called negotiations between the laypeople who serve on school boards and the lawyers who represent teachers “skewed” heavily in teachers’ favor because of the complexity of health insurance plans.
Scott proposed having his secretary of administration negotiate a statewide teacher health care way.
Legislative leaders, and though,weren’t buying it. Scott waited nearly four months to offer up an way that they said could violate labor laws.
“With two weeks left, it’s too notable with implications that are very wide, or ” argued Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden). “It begs a lot more thought and analysis.”
“Its a Hail Mary,” said House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero). “Vermonters want us to know what we’re passing, and this is a major change.
Why had he reach forward with this way so close to the end of the legislative session? Scott was asked. His explanation didn’t quite answer it.
“We were just trying to build a bit of a coalition, and ” he said. “If I presented this a month and a half ago,I’m certain it would have been turned down.”
Tuesday afternoon:
[br] Hours after legislative leaders dismissed Scott’s way as too much, too late, or the Senate Finance Committee gathered to…
Source: sevendaysvt.com