 Good afternoon. As you all know, I've made expanding our workforce and reversing our demographic trends of top priority of my administration. For years we've seen our labor force, the number of people available for work, decline. We still have 15,000 fewer in our labor force than we did in our peak in 2009. It's frustrating because we have thousands of jobs available throughout the state, but we don't have the people to fill them. And I hear that every day from employers in every sector. And this reality shows up in our schools as well, our colleges that are small hospitals in our state budget. As I share to my inaugural address, we don't need more taxes, we need more taxpayers. While we have so much more to do, today I wanted to give you an update on some initiatives that were we've seen some positive results. This work is truly a collaborative effort across multiple agencies. And I also appreciate the legislature's support and ideas as well. This is an area where we must pull in the same direction. Unfortunately, there's no one solution to the problem our state faces. So we must utilize all the tools and resources available and create new ones as we work to reverse our demographic trends. We're looking for opportunities to train and retrain, as well as encourage new workers to our state as we try to keep the workforce we have. Part of this work is focused on increasing the number of Vermonters working and helping workers move up in their careers. To do so, we're expanding adult training in our tech centers, helping those in recovery gain employment, growing the apprenticeship program, and ensuring Vermont workers are trained and retrained through programs like the Vermont Training Program. Rachel Fitch from PC Construction will share more about this program shortly. As companies look to grow and fill new positions and as schools see enrollments decline, we simply need more people. Last year, Vermont made headlines across the country and, in fact, in Canada as well with the launch of our state-to-state weekends in the Remote Worker Grant Program. And we're seeing results. To date, 33 remote worker applications have been approved and those workers are coming with partners and families. All toll, 86 will move to Vermont through the program. Some with school-aged children or babies on the way. All but five of those are under the age of 40 and they are moving from large metro areas like Boston, New York City, Washington, Dallas, Portland, and Los Angeles. And here's even more good news. These newly minted Vermonters aren't just focused on city centers. Many are moving to rural communities as well. I'm pleased to have Beth Dow, who moved from the Denver area to Remote Work in Bennington, here with us today as well. This session we proposed and the legislature is considering a bill to expand this successful program to include people who move here to work for a Vermont company and help fill empty positions at companies like Burton Snowboards, Darn Tough Socks, and Chroma Technology. Our state-of-state program has also seen promising results. Last year we launched four pilot weekends in Rutland, Bennington, Brattleboro, and Burlington, targeted towards people interested in moving to Vermont. In total, 140 people attended one of those weekends, connecting with employers, realtors, community leaders, and others who got to really show them their communities to see the opportunity, to see if it would be a good fit, and if so, help them relocate. Today, 12 people have relocated to Vermont after participating, and in an additional 36 are planning to move here within the year. That's a 34% conversion rate. Already in 2019, over 100 people have attended these weekends. Jacqueline Posley moved here from Mississippi last fall and is here today to talk about her experience. I met Jacqueline at a young professional event in Burlington and found her story very interesting and encouraging. We're also working to bring more students into our higher education system and keep more of our graduates here in Vermont. Working with our colleges, universities, and partners like ESAC, the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges, and the Vermont Higher Education Council, we're offering two $5,000 scholarships to students who commit to a Vermont school. In just one week since the program launched, 1,000 students have registered for the scholarships. Again, there's no one answer to our workforce and demographic issues. However, with the initiatives I've described and hopefully other creative approaches, as well as working together across government and private sector, we can start to move the needle, bringing more people to our state and ensuring Vermonters are trained for the jobs of the future, allowing our businesses to grow right here in Vermont. I'd now like to introduce Rachel Fitch of PC Construction, which was recently awarded the Vermont Training Program Brand. Thank you, Governor Scott, and thank you to the commissioners who are here today who have supported our work. My name is Rachel Fitch. I'm the Director of Employee Development at PC Construction. PC is an employee-owned company, 100% employee-owned. We just celebrated our 61st year in business and we work across communities in Vermont and we also work up and down the Eastern Seaboard in 10 states in the Washington D.C. area. PC is a grateful recipient of the Vermont Training Program grant funds. It's supporting professional development of our Vermont workforce and we have 150 people in Vermont that we expect to train through this grant. We were awarded over $88,000 in grant funding from the state. We value our employees and we would like to equip them with the skills to thrive in their current role and also prepare them for future opportunities within our organization. The grant is being used to build both day-to-day skills that will make our people even more effective on the job. So these are technical skills that we're teaching and their business skills. We're also preparing our rising leaders in terms of a manager training program and also in organizational leadership. So let me talk a little bit about those two areas of focus for us and what they mean for us as a company. The technical and business training is important to aligning our employees around our best practices and around sound business decision-making. As you can imagine, being in business for 61 years, being scattered across 13 states up and down the East Coast, there are many different modifications that people make in terms of their day-to-day work. They take shortcuts sometimes and they come up with different ways of doing the work. And so while we sometimes appreciate that innovation and that entrepreneurial spirit, we also find that it can be a challenge for our employees who often travel from job to job. And so while they learn a process at one job that works really well, they then move to another job and they have to relearn a process again that works for that next team. And so that's inefficient and it causes mistakes and it can sometimes cause conflict. So we have developed over the past year best practices. We've doctorated those in policies and procedures and resources that will then help our employees. And so we are delivering training around those processes and procedures to build consistency across our organization and those skills. In terms of developing our future leaders, we are in the process of developing a manager training program that's built around nine modules. It's also supported by the Vermont Training Fund's grant. We currently have a program in place called the Advanced Leadership Program, which provides more comprehensive development for people who have been selected for organizational leadership positions potentially. So this program is a two-year-long program. It consists of both individual skill development. It also involves four workshops around leadership and then a project phase of the program. So we have 20 people currently in this program and within the last 12 months, five have already received promotions into higher level leadership roles. So this is working and this is a program supported by our training grant funds. So I'd like to give a quick shout out to the Vermont Talent Pipeline as I close. In 2017, PC joined the Vermont Talent Pipeline, which at the time was focused on collecting data around the workforce needs in the construction industry. The Talent Pipeline has created powerful connections across all the stakeholders and supporters of the construction industry. And so we are no longer working to develop our workforce in silos based on companies, based on other stakeholders. We're working together as an interconnected team and it was through the Vermont Talent Pipeline in my involvement with that group that I learned of the support that was available from the state and specifically from the Vermont Training Program grant. So I appreciate that very much. So I'm grateful for the state of Vermont support for the construction industry. Working together, we're attracting and retaining a skilled workforce that earn good wages and they can support families, communities, and our state. Thank you very much. And next, Beth Dow will speak to the remote worker program. Good afternoon, my name is Beth Dow. I'm a recipient of the Vermont Remote Worker grant program. A year ago, the state of Vermont was the furthest thing from my mind until my husband Jonathan forwarded me an article about the grant program. Prior to reading that article, we hadn't thought much about leaving Denver, but it was something we had discussed. The article and the grant specifically turned our attention toward Vermont and our research began. By the time we were seriously discussing Vermont as a possibility for us, I approached my company. I worked for a third party administration firm as a commercial property claims adjuster. And I was thankful to hear that working from home remotely was an option. We were initially attracted to Vermont by the smaller towns, the proximity to all of New England and New York City, the beautiful seasons and scenery, and the vibrant artistic community in southern Vermont. I was also anxious to leave my 45 minute each way commute and stop and go traffic. But honestly, the Vermont Remote Worker grant program is what sealed the deal for us. Moving across the country is expensive, so knowing we could be reimbursed for those expenses was a huge deal. Another driving force behind our move was a dream I had held for many years to open an art gallery. My husband and I are both artists and we met in art co-op. We had research retail spaces in the Denver area and it was just too expensive for us. For a quarter of the price, we would be able to afford a retail space in Bennington. In doing my research, I learned that Bennington is ranked as one of the top 10 small town communities in the U.S. for artists. During our first scouting visit to Vermont, we fell in love with Bennington, and I started to imagine in my own gallery nestled among the Main Street storefronts. On May 1st, we signed a commercial lease for a space on Bennington's Main Street. The Beyond Gallery and Gift Shop will celebrate its grand opening during Bennington Arts Weekend, the first weekend in August. We will be open Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays, while my husband and I continue to work our full-time jobs. It will be a welcoming space for local artists, makers and the community. In the five months we have lived in Vermont, we have bought a house at almost half the price of what we bought for a comparable Denver home and leased a commercial space. My husband has become locally employed and we have made some amazing connections in our new community. We have been welcomed with excitement, support and optimism. We are very thankful for the Vermont Remote Work Grant Program for giving us the opportunity to reimagine our lives and to live our dreams. Thank you. And next is Jacqueline Posley. Hello everyone. My name is Jacqueline Posley and I'm originally from Starkville, Mississippi. Thank you so much for listening to my journey with Stay2Stay and to Vermont. I'm really excited to be here today and in Vermont period. So my journey is very unique. It began with a quick Google search. I was just looking for a major life change and something drastically different. So I started Googling places for millennials to live, great places for opportunities for millennials. I ended up on the Vermont tourism website, which is where I would recommend anyone who's interested in these programs to start. I ended up finding Stay2Stay and sorting through the city choices and I found, similarly to Beth, I found Benintend. I immediately texted one of my friends and I said, four words, let's go to Vermont. And that was that. We signed up for the program and I, a couple of months later, so that was in about June of last year. By August 9th of that year, we hopped into our car and did an overnight trip from Mississippi all the way to Vermont. For those who are unfamiliar with the Stay2Stay program, the way it's set up is to give you a snapshot of view of Vermont life in a weekend. So it starts out on Friday and it ends on Monday and during that weekend, Friday starts with a mixer. But I also added job interviews to mine because I was extremely serious about the move. So we pulled in at, into Bennington at 2 p.m. by 3.30 p.m. I was interviewing. We then went to a mixer that night, which was excellent. I really appreciate the new Chamber of Commerce in Bennington because it really gave me an excellent view of not only Vermont, but the social scene and everything happening in Bennington. The next days, Saturday and Sunday are set up for you to explore whatever city you're in. And I'm extremely thankful for that because I believe from my memory it was Sunday that I said, this was my mantra for the rest of the weekend as long as I get a job, I'm moving here. So Monday came and it was the last day of Stay2Stay and they gave you an opportunity to meet with local employers. During that meeting, I got a call from one of the employers I interviewed with on Friday and I got the job. So my friend and I packed up. On our way back, I was already sorting out my move. It was 17 hours overnight, so I had plenty of time to do so. We ended up driving back into Mississippi at 7 a.m. by 7.30 p.m. I had typed my resignation letter. And by 8 a.m. I resigned with a 30-day notice. And I started planning my move to Vermont. It was an extremely quick turnaround, but I'm so thankful for it. I ended up moving to Bennington first. That was an excellent experience. Like I said, I'm extremely in love with the city of Bennington, everything it has to offer. I now work for the University of Vermont and live in the Burlington area. And most importantly, I just want to encourage all millennials who have hesitation, who are thinking about it, to reach out to our department, our tourism department. Wendy Knight was an extremely good resource for me. She answered all of my questions. I jokingly earlier said, I didn't realize she was the commissioner of tourism, because I was emailing back and forth with her about IT issues. It was an excellent experience, and I highly recommend this program for anyone who wants to go in separate lines. Thank you. So, maybe we can just open up for questions about some of the things we've talked about in the last 50 minutes. Then we can move on. So what's next? What would you like the legislature to do to help continue this? Well, again, expanding on some of the programs, taking advantage of something that we know works. And I think that, again, the legislature credit for the remote worker program in particular, it was one of their initiatives. I wasn't sure how it was going to work, but pleasantly surprised. And so, we know incentives work. We heard it here from Beth that that was really important. And so, we want to expand upon that and other opportunities as well, and other areas in different sectors that might be applicable. So, we're working with them. And again, I believe that the legislature understands that we have a problem, and we're moving forward. So, looking forward to working with them, whatever they come up with, I think will be advantageous for us. Question for Jacqueline. You were interviewed by State Line about this program a few months ago, I believe, about your experience. And I think at that point, you weren't sure that you wanted to stay a long term in Vermont. And you had found that Vermont wasn't maybe as welcoming as you expected. So, of course, I want to know, has that changed? Are you planning to stay a long term? And then also, what could Vermonters do to make, to be more welcoming to people moving from that state? Sure. So, first and foremost, I am officially a Vermont resident. I do have my driver's license to prove that. I'm extremely excited. That was a very big deal for me. So, yes, I'm planning on staying. The employment opportunities I've found at the University of Vermont have been incomparable. And from ergonomics to the way they take a personal interest in the health of their employees, I'm extremely satisfied with my employment at this point. And that was extremely important for me, with staying in Vermont. As far as Vermonters being more welcoming. So, I can't complain about that, honestly. I've had an excellent experience here. I've made just so many friends. As the governor mentioned, I've been promoting young professionals. I do a lot with the Chamber of Commerce. There's so many opportunities in the area. I don't think that there's any one rule that we can say this is how they would be more friendly. It's been a very welcoming environment for me, and I really appreciate it. And as you can see from past patterns, if I wasn't comfortable, I would leave. So, thank you. So, would you say Manhattan is a great town, or the greatest town? I would say... You lose from Manhattan. So, maybe you want to use Manhattan. I would say that was probably the best introduction I could have ever gotten. It's an excellent city. It really is. It has a lot to offer. And I want nothing but great things for Bennington. I go visit a lot. I have another good friend through State of State, named Nicole, who still lives there. So, she visits me in Burlington. I visit her in Bennington. It's a good trade-off. Jacqueline, how old are you? I'm 23 and 0.5. So, I'm 24 in August. And where in Mississippi did you live? So, I live in Starkville, Mississippi. It is the one excellent town. It is an excellent place to live, but definitely not better than my current situation. What are you doing here? Mississippi State University at all. And what did you do down there? So, I actually worked for the city of Starkville. I was a community development administrator there. What do you do at UVM? At UVM. So, currently I'm the executive assistant to a dean of Continuing and Distance Education. Looking to move more into the program coordinator role if she's watching. If she's watching? Thank you. And do you want to see what makes a point for you? Bennington for us was great because, again, like I said, my husband and I are both artists. And we really felt the artistic community there as soon as we were in the community. And the better Bennington Business Bureau, John Shanahan, the director, has been instrumental in helping us get the art gallery going. And as soon as we told anybody about the gallery, everybody's just been so welcoming. They're like, oh, we can get you connected to this person, connected to this person. I go into a store and people say, oh, I heard about you from so-and-so. And in Denver, I've never had that. I know I was just another face in Denver, Colorado. It really just felt like we were the right place at the right time. To both of you, how did you like your first winter? I thought it was fine. I mean, I've worked from home now, so I don't have to drive on it. Most young Vermonters to the opposite of where you did. They wanted to go somewhere bigger, Denver, wherever out west. What's the case you would make to young Vermonters who are thinking of doing that? You know, honestly, I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and I've lived in a number of major cities, Seattle, Houston, Denver, Toronto, in my life and in my adult life. And in all those cities, you really are a number, your face. It's hard to find your niche of people. I was able to meet local artists in Denver at a co-op, and that's where I met my husband. But when it comes to a smaller town, I've gotten to know my neighbors already better than my neighbors in Denver. It's just a different kind of welcoming. How roughly are you and your husband? I'm 38, my husband's 46. And moved here when? We signed our house on January 3rd. And another question. Oh, how much were you reimbursed? 5,000. Jacqueline, do you want to answer the winner question? I absolutely do. So that was the first thing everyone said to me back home to not give me a movie. You know it snows there. So I actually went to boarding school growing up in the North Georgia mountains, so I learned how to ski there. So that was an incentive for me. At work, they're always like, why are you excited? I'm like, it's snowing outside. Have you seen it? And they're like, yes, you've seen it. I adjusted very well. I love Killington. It's excellent. I love skiing, so it's been a great experience for me. Not adjusting well to the 60 degrees yet, actually. Real mad. Any other questions about that? Is the sea collecting data on how many of the people who moved here through either program would not move otherwise? It seems like for both of these women that it was very important in their decision, but is there data on that? Joan or Mike? So we have collected some data on how much it made a difference, and in almost every case, it was a contributing factor. We couldn't say it's the only factor, but it definitely is contributing factor to them. But in many cases like that, it wasn't on their radar until they read about it. And as we've explored expanding this program to supporting Vermont businesses, we're putting more force there as well. One of the things we've been talking about with the legislature about is even if we can accelerate the move, if someone is predisposed to make, the sooner we can get them here, the sooner we can fill a job, in that case for a Vermont employer, and the sooner, frankly, there's a little bit more tax revenue that comes into the state. So it's a win-win if we can just accelerate the move. Lots of different ways for success in this kind of program. And Mike, where are your $5,700 incentives right now? The first years, remote worker incentives are expended with 32 folks who've gotten awards. Those awards average about $3,780 a piece. That translates into 89 total new Vermonters. And I think we've surpassed the $5 million market in terms of collateral advertising and marketing benefit from the programs in session. Pretty good return on investment for an initial $125,000. That's just a straight PMB calculation. It is done for us by a marketing firm that's helping with this. I just wanted to add on this day-to-day program, we did a survey as well, and we have data that we can share with you. We asked, was the program instrumental in moving here and why they chose to move here? So happy to share that with you. The other thing I think is important to point out is because of the marketing, there are lots of people who have moved to Vermont or are now considering Vermont as a place to live, work, or bring a business. So there's been this sort of collateral benefit as a result of the national media attention that we have, which you're not going to see those folks count it on, the 12 people that relocated here or the 89 that have come here from the Vermont worker grant. That's just an added benefit that won't be calculated. Anything else on that? May I excuse, unless you want to answer some questions for me? The Senate has scaled back dramatically the Havis' Pay Family Re-Plan. Much less payroll tax there. Is it turning to something closer to what you might be able to support? Well, certainly moving in the right direction. I will still say I have concerns about opening up the payroll tax. I'd like to see us move forward with this initiative on a volunteer basis and try it out. We can always move to that eventually if we want to. But I still would advocate for a volunteer plan initially. And again, let's try it out for a couple of years. But are you open to... Always willing to listen? Always willing to listen. Could you support the clean water plan that's likely to pass today on the House Board and the software tax plan? You know, there's a lot of concern about that. We had those, I remember when I was in the Senate, we had that battle about the cloud tax debt and we decided that we didn't want to do that anymore. I think the same concern is today. So again, we'll see. It's got a long ways to go. It's got to pass the House and then they have to get together with the Senate. I will add though that my budget initially had water cleanup, funding built into the budget for the estate tax and dedicating that source to that initiative. So I'm concerned, as I said, I think I believe it was last week, I'm concerned about the aggregate amount of revenue being proposed, additional taxes being proposed. And it's just one small thing after another. But water cleanup is a big initiative that was not, is not in either budget that I know of and is outside of those parameters. So again, you couple that with a family leave and a number of other initiatives. And it's not bad up quickly. I know a lot of, you know, we're talking about maybe, oh, I don't know, $40 million more than I propose. And keep in mind that the budget that I propose was I believe about, we spent maybe $50, $60 million more than we did last year because of organic growth and some increases in fees and taxes in my proposal. So this is over and about that. Is there a point at which you're going to say I won't accept $20 million more than what I propose? Yeah. Oh, again, the closer we get to where I was, the more comfortable I become. So I'm always willing to listen to their proposals and we'll see what they come up with eventually. But we haven't had any of those discussions. Could you see yourself meeting the budget this year? Well, you know, I'm not going to rule anything out. But again, I've been very careful not to use the V word this year. I'm looking to work with the legislature a collaborative approach and we have an opportunity to do that. Just to clarify, I don't know if I caught that. What's your position on the projects? When I was in the Senate, we decided that we actually weren't going to do that anymore. I mean, it was proposed and repealed but I believe that's where it went. So it has its issues. And we want to be more welcoming in this state. That sends a message, I think, to many other states that were just another high-tech state. So again, I'm willing to listen to their proposal. It's still going to get through the House. I've got to go to the Senate. I'm not sure how they feel about that. So even though other states now have high-tech and that sector of the software industry has grown somehow some lawmakers are saying that the situation has changed and that's why they want to revisit this. Again, I'm willing to listen. But again, I remind you that my budget didn't have any increase in the cloud tax. If you think that the middle of the way it should be growing up at a rate faster than it is right now, what's your problem? I want to see all the mothers make more money. I'm not sure. And again, I've been very consistent in my belief that this would be detrimental to different parts of the state. Certainly in the Chittin County area this would have as much of an effect. But get outside of Chittin County and get to the rural areas of the state where they're literally up across the river from New Hampshire and they're competing. I mean, they're already paying more. It's more expensive to live here than, let's say, New Hampshire. So they're already at a disadvantage and I believe that this would put the businesses at a disadvantage. What increase in the minimum wage? By any amount. Well, again, I'm thinking we're having organic growth in wages because of supply and demand. We see it every day. We have companies looking for people when they compete for people. Wages generally go up. That's what we're seeing. Has a median household income actually fallen in the past 10 years? I'm sorry, hasn't median household income actually fallen in the past 10 years? Yeah, I don't know. I'm not sure about the data. I think you could work that in and use any number of reasons that could happen if it did happen because there's other dynamics involved. So I would leave that to the economists to figure out. But some of the economists that I've seen read articles believe that this would be for a high cost state and we need to do something about bringing more people there. House approach is supposed to kick out its minimum wage proposal. I don't know what's happening tomorrow. Sometimes soon. I don't want me to worry about being overriding this bill. If we make it something that's a little more modest, less aggressive, something close to that, I'd be able to find a way to answer that. Is that false optimism? No, I don't think it's false optimism. I think that I've said a tone here this year when we're conversing and willing to listen. Hopefully they're listening to us with some of our initiatives. I'm very appreciative of some of the inclusion of some of the ideas that they've kept. Again, there's some give and take but I'm willing to listen to whatever the proposal is. It's just one body as well. This bill, whether it's the House or the Senate, they have to and so we'll see what happens in the end. Last week, you had Matt with leadership. Have not yet, but we are talking and we're going to set up a meeting today or two. Have you made any inquiries to the Public Service about their decision not to issue a waiver to represent a spreadsheet? I'm looking for more information. I'd like to see the data on how the decision was made. Obviously it's something that I read about and I just want to make sure that when you're following the appropriate procedures, I believe they are, but I'd like to see some of the data and some of the procedures turned out. I can see the complexity of this as well. I have not discussed this with Representative and I'm more than willing if there's a grievance there, if he feels he's being unfairly treated like it was always open. Can you talk about the appearance of it? I mean, he's notably taking positions obviously of your public safety commissioner and the brass of the state police. I mean, it might all be on the level. I understand your point and certainly the optics aren't good and I have to acknowledge that. So that's why I'm saying I'm more than willing to talk and look forward to speaking with him. I want to make sure that he doesn't feel as though this was something that was targeted against him personally in his position. And this is a unique dynamic and unique experience. We've never seen anything quite like this in public safety in particular. We've seen other state employees who have run to the legislature but this is a little different and I can see again both sides of this when the troopers on call at certain periods of the day and night they need to be close to where they're being on call. So that's something that they all acknowledge. And I believe most troopers understand that but at the same time when we have a representative that can't you know, has to represent their district and we can't ask them to move because they won't be able to sit in their jurisdiction and not be able to serve in the legislature. So again, I see both sides of this will be more than willing to talk with the representative to have it as well. There would be, it seems to be a departure from the usual at least tradition that we ask employers to accommodate people who run a certain public office. Yeah, and I would just counter that with this is really unique. This is much different than we've contemplated and I believe they followed all the procedures and rules and so forth that have been in place and would stay in practice but again, it's a unique experience unique situation and that's why I'm asking for the data and I'm looking forward to talking with everyone about this. I think we're working on the statewide teacher health care contract has gotten off to somewhat of a rocky start arguing about who could be in the room for negotiations I don't know how closely you've been following that but has that had an impact on your optimism or your support for that kind of process? First of all, I had not been following the process. Secondly, I would say that you could be having about you know pick a number, the number of districts that we have now, we could have be having those individually. So I'd rather have the discussion all in one place so that we don't have all these separated throughout the state. So no I would say this is appropriate I think that this will take some of the burden off from school boards who would be going through this in different sectors throughout the state right now. When we last asked you, I think you said you weren't sure yet about plastic bag carry-up plastic bag ban attack or charge on paper bags Yeah, it was the paper bag portion that made it quite understandable and come to understand more Alright, so let me ask you what's your view on plastic carry-up bag ban and the charge on paper bags? Yeah, well again, I believe that the legislature is working its way through with this. I'm okay it sounds like the groceries and retailers are okay with this as well they'll find other means of bagging your groceries in a different sort of way. So if they're okay with it then I'm okay with it. Just on the state-of-state then. Wait a second. Well Well, it's really a paid leave question. We go to all this trouble to try to lure people from other states and we get about a thousand bucks if they're going to come and better still if they have kids and yet our birth rate is terrible here, never been as low Wouldn't, I mean isn't helping more of our board to have kids get them into childcare maybe give them later weeks off when they have a newborn just as important to growing our population. I think it's one more tool in the toolbox and again it's an area where we agree it's just that we have a different approach mine is volunteer and that we can offer this approach and then transition to something more but we can't go and start it off at the level that we may not be able to afford and we don't even know what we're doing with it and there's all kinds of problems so why not start off with a volunteer plan structure set it up to figure out to receive some data and see how the participation rate and we may find for a family someone coming to the state a family who they're going to expand their family they would take advantage of this program for about a dollar for working day and that might be worth it so I think we both have the same goal it's just a different approach to do that. Would you acknowledge that that's a barrier for parents to have kids? Well a barrier and this would alleviate some of that burden as well so having this in place where they have an affordable rate would take some of it enough for folks to have a family. Have they asked about proportion of the candidates that they one of your conditions is the opt-in for local communities why is opt-in that much better than opt-out? Well I think it takes some action by the community and I think that's important it's very controversial throughout the state some communities are welcoming others are fearful and I think that they should have the opportunity to weigh in on that with an opt-in approach it's just one more thing that we can do to alleviate their fears that opt-out is not sufficiently well I think it's a lot harder to opt-out in some respects you know if you give a blanket approach and everyone feels as though they're inundated they have to take action to prevent it I think this approach would just be more conducive to the front-on approach just allow them to weigh in and decide and if they decide they want to is it a concern at all for the developing industry assuming we take this step where they're dealing with kind of a patchwork where probably you know if it's an opt-in approach you might have communities slowly adopting you might have initially just opt-in would it get in the way of developing the cannabis marketplace in the industry? I would think that they might welcome this approach this transition to grow it so to speak to grow the industry within the state at a rate that they can take care of you know instead of it might alleviate some of the concerns in terms of full commercialization and I will say that for those who think this is going to be a quaint industry for Vermont I think that we should learn some lessons of the past and this commercialization is going to lead to more of a national commercialization I don't say how to prevent it but this might be a way that the version that House DevOps passed is local opt-in for retail but not for growing or processing I'm more concerned about the retail right now so that would be exciting opt-in at opt-out to take on whether people should opt-in or opt-out for vital better health records to have that great record share yeah I haven't I haven't looked into that to see what the fear is I know that having the electronic records is beneficial to the whole system but at the same time privacy is important and we just have to make sure we're satisfied about that so we're willing to listen to it sorry, the better medical monitoring Bill we're still I know that I did veto that bill last year and we've been working very hard diligently with the legislature and still hopeful that we'll come to resolution I think we're getting closer what are the conditions that we're getting into this? well this I mean we've had a number of different agencies weighing in on this they know that we want something for the business community as well as protecting from others so we're getting closer hopefully we'll come up with a solution that works for everyone you're setting up you have met with legislative leaders yourself but I assume that your team is communicating with the relevant committees to try to express your views rather than the legislature trying to make policy of the dark communication absolutely, but it's a patchwork and again my concern is with this patchwork of different policies comes more spending and we're doing it individual so again we're not looking at this as the aggregate and when you have that patchwork you start to you can spend a million dollars here and increase another you can hear maybe half a million there pretty soon you're talking about some real money so that's my concern that we look at this from a broader view that's right before you set me so how would you consider this or what would make you consider this a successful concluding you know weak what does a successful session look like do you know vetoes? I'm not looking forward to vetoing anything I think a successful session is where we can come together where we're both maybe not elated and happy with the end just like any negotiation where you both go away giving up a little bit and coming out with something that you can live with and that's what I'm hoping that we can do thank you very much appreciate it