Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Veto Session Update

 

Legislative Update, Veto Session

Rep. Anne Donahue

June 11, 2024

Five bills have been vetoed thus far since the end of the legislative session, with some not yet acted upon by the governor. The legislature will be meeting next Monday and Tuesday, the 16th and 17th, for possible votes on overrides of the vetoes.

Constituents have begun to reach out to urge for or against voting to override. One note said the person assumed I was going to vote against any overrides, since as a Republican I will support my Republican governor. So I want to be clear from the outset: a veto from a governor, from either party, would never affect my previous decision of whether it was a good bill or not.

The only reason I would change my prior vote would be if I received new or different information to consider that developed after we passed a bill. That has not been the case for any of the vetoed bills thus far, so I do not expect to change any of my votes, whether they are in line with the governor’s position or not. I have always been a fairly independent Republican and in fact, in the interest of greater transparency, that is why I am running this year as an Independent.

A lot has been made of the record number of vetoes by Governor Scott. That should not be surprising. For as far back as my history can recall, this may be the first time that we have had a governor of one party and a legislature with a supermajority from the opposing party. A “supermajority” means that a party has two-thirds of the legislative seats, enough to override any veto. If power is divided between legislative and executive branches, there is a range between 50% and 2/3rds that forces efforts to compromise. If the majority in the legislature passes a bill but has not listened to concerns by the minority, it faces a potential veto that it may not be able to override. In that situation it is in everyone’s interests to work together. There could still be an override of the governor if there is enough minority support to reach the 2/3 threshold, but it is far from guaranteed.

Once the supermajority number is reached, the only way an override will fail is if some members of the majority party itself do not support the bill. That happened earlier this year, for example, when there was no override attempt of the governor’s veto of the flavored vape and tobacco ban. The majority knew some of its members did not support it, so it did not call for a vote at all and left the veto standing. (It was a bill I had supported.)

Given that level of power – where compromise is not needed – one party can fully control outcomes. Inevitably, it means that some bills will go farther to an extreme on a spectrum of viewpoints. Unless a governor wants to simply concede to every such initiative instead of communicating her or his beliefs about better outcomes for Vermonters, there will be more vetoes than if there was a more level balance of power.

While Governor Scott has voiced concerns about many bills passed this session, he has only vetoed a few. Those we already know will be on the agenda next week – and my earlier votes on them – are these:

H.887: An act relating to homestead property tax yields, non-homestead rates, and policy changes to education finance and taxation.

This is the bill setting property tax rates, which must pass in some form every year. Voters pass the spending amount in their school budgets, and the legislature must set a rate that will raise the money to pay the bill. We have known for years that the system, within its very effort to create fairness, is fundamentally flawed. Towns vote on individual budgets but must pay a designated amount of the statewide spending, regardless of the reasonable of its own spending. When big increases in home values combine with big increases in budgets, everyone feels it most harshly, which happened this year. Rates have skyrocketed.

The bill passed by the legislature adds stopgap funds from other sources to reduce those rates a bit for this year but does nothing to resolve the fact that the same thing will keep happening in the future. I am less deeply concerned by this year’s increase as I am about the ongoing deferral of tackling the underlying issue. I voted against the bill and will vote against the override. This is potentially the only bill that has some Democrats feeling nervous about voter reaction, so it is possible that there will be an effort to develop and pass a new bill rather than to override the veto.

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H.706: An act relating to banning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

The focus of this bill is the critical protection of pollinator bees. The governor is concerned that it is anti-farmer, because Vermont is a tiny market and can’t control the availability of seeds that are not treated with these chemicals. I voted to support it, because I believe it has protections built in against adverse consequences. It doesn’t take effect until the New York State law does, and that state’s market can ensure access to seed. The bill also allows for suspending the law if crops or economic stability are significantly threatened. I will support an override.

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H.289: An act relating to the Renewable Energy Standard.

In contrast to H. 706, the RES bill has no protection against an unknown, but potentially severe, financial consequence. It seeks to expedite our existing, aggressive standards towards fully renewable energy, but experts can’t predict the costs with any degree of confidence. I voted against it and will vote against the override.

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H.72: An act relating to a harm-reduction criminal justice response to drug use.

This is the “safe injection site” bill, to fund a program in Burlington where illicit drugs can be used under supervision so that if a person overdoses, they can receive an immediate medical response. The mantra is, it will save lives. I have supported broad access to Narcan, the overdose reversal drug for that reason. I support strong resources for prevention and treatment.

But will a site like this actually save lives? Or do we shoot ourselves in the foot by educating on prevention and yet sending a public message that it’s OK to use, as long as you practice “safe use” – when we know there is no such thing as safe use? We could lose more lives in the longer term, and in a world of limited resources, choosing one thing ($1,000,000 for the safe injection site) means fewer resources for existing, proven interventions. I voted against it and will vote to sustain the veto.

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H.645: An act relating to the expansion of approaches to restorative justice.

I found this bill to be a tough call. I believe in the evidence that restorative justice for non-violent crime is more effective than punitive measures. I strongly believe that there should be equal access to these programs in Vermont, regardless of county. That isn’t true now.

This bill works to ensure access across the state. It will be expensive, and there is no money in the budget to pay for it, since the costs won’t come until next year. The governor’s veto was based upon the fact that we don’t know where the money will come from to implement it.

For me, the bigger problem is that although it professes equity in access, it doesn’t actually create it. It will require every county to have a program, but in the name of local prosecutorial authority, it doesn’t require that the standards be the same. The same crime will block access to a restorative justice program in one county, but not in another. That’s still not equity. I voted no and will vote against an override.

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Given the supermajority, will my votes make a difference when I oppose an override, given that the original House and Senate votes have it locked in already? Not likely. Fortunately, the Legislature still retains degrees of collaboration at the nitty-gritty level of committee work.

While some majority priorities can be and are rammed through, most committee chairs do want to build consensus, and bring bills to the floor that have a unanimous committee vote. Democracy survives there, even within a supermajority legislature. Once a bill gets to the floor, no one is listening to debate anymore because the votes are pre-ordained. This is even more true, when a veto override vote is called. Don’t expect any surprises.

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Thank you, as always, to all those who make contact and share your concerns. You can reach out any time to Rep. Ken Goslant at kgoslant@leg.state.vt.us or me at adonahue@leg.state.vt.us. And have a great summer!

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