 This joint assembly is convened pursuant to the provisions of JRS 34, which the clerk will now read Mission to provide for a joint assembly to hear Governor Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives that the two houses meet in joint assembly on Tuesday, January 23 2024 at 1 o'clock in the afternoon to receive the budget message of the governor Chair would like to recognize the senator from Chittenden Central District for the purpose of making a motion Mr. President I move that a committee of six be appointed by the chair to wait upon his Excellency the governor and escort him into this chamber for the purpose of receiving his budget message Now the senator from Chittenden Central District has moved that a committee of six be appointed by the chair to wait upon his Excellency the governor and escort him into this chamber for the purpose of receiving his budget message Are you ready for the question? If so all those in favor, please indicate by saying aye Those opposed indicate by saying nay The eyes have it and the motion is carried The chair points the following individuals the senator from Caledonia district senator Kitchell Senator from Washington district senator Cummings and the senator from Windsor district senator McCormick The member from virgins representative Lamper the member from Brattleboro representative Kornheiser and member from Colchester representative Brennan Will the committee please assemble and perform the duties assigned to it Joint assembly may be at ease while we await the return Madam sergeant arms Madam sergeant arms Mr. President it is my distinct honor to present to you the governor of the state of Vermont Philip B. Scott It is now my distinct honor to present to you the governor of the state of Vermont the honorable Philip B. Scott Mr. President Madam Speaker members of the general assembly and fellow Vermonters Earlier this month I reported on the state of the state laying out three priorities affordability public safety and At the center of it all housing Solutions for these issues are within our reach Especially with the historic infrastructure investments were committed to If we address them head-on Will restore the working class refill our schools and revitalize communities and neighborhoods in every county But I also understand the realities of a supermajority Which means you don't have to listen or even consider my priorities or objections But I bet any of you do here Maybe even share some of my concerns More importantly, I'm pretty sure the majority of our constituents certainly do So let's put them first by doing the hard work to fix not just fund the problems they face Put party labels aside and listen to each other So we help our communities Just like the Vermonters I highlighted in the state of the state help theirs this work Especially when it comes to affordability Starts with a budget. I'm presenting Which totals 8.6 billion across all funds 353 million for transportation 2.4 billion for education and 2.3 billion in the general fund Now I want to talk a little more about the 3.57% growth in the general fund Because regardless of what you might think or hear It's not arbitrary. I didn't just pick it out of a hat It's what we can do within available revenue Without new or higher taxes and fees. I'm sure it's no surprise to you Given the growing burden they already face. I don't support asking Vermonters to pay more To me it does matter how much money we have Because every penny we spend comes out of the pocket of the people who live work and invest in Vermont And we hear from them all the time With stories of desperation and fear The very people I know many of you are trying to help Who want to do their part But they're being crushed by the burden of property taxes or the higher rents that come with it As well as by increased fees just a renewal license and register a vehicle Or the looming payroll tax and the unknown of higher fuel and electricity costs Not to mention inflation I truly believe most of us want to help people It's who we are But burdening them with more taxes fees and other costs is not the way to do it Especially when they have less expensive options So instead of taking the easy route We dug deep to fund existing work and priorities All within available resources And despite the recent upgrade in revenue This is still going to be a tough budget year And here's why Historic federal aid and the spending power it gave us has dried up But we still had to fund last year's 13 percent budget growth, which as you know, I vetoed and you overrode We had unexpected obligations like FEMA match In 9.5 million dollars for the first of three payments negotiated by the attorney general To settle the EB-5 scandal of 2015 We as a state are also impacted by inflation Rising costs and other increased pressures Nearly all the additional revenue is needed just to sustain our core services and programs This includes a total of 24.7 million for our existing hotel motel program Around 23 million for last year's extra staffing Incentives and overtime costs Due to those workforce challenges we all face 31.7 million for employees salaries and benefits Which is 10 million more than last year 2.7 million to fill deficits in E911 and fire safety And 5 million for another bridge payment to keep Vermont State University going And this year's payment for pensions Increased to over 485 million dollars As a reminder, we put almost 2 billion into it over the last five years And the experts say we're still about 4.7 billion shy of fully funding Some of this is for critical needs and services But a lot of it is because we didn't get ahead of the problem early enough So now the added money doesn't necessarily bring better outcomes or more services It just keeps us afloat It might say to the state I said it We needed to listen to each other and learn the lessons of the past And these are some of them When we spend beyond our means it catches up to us And ultimately with taxpayers And when we fail to address the fundamentals of decades old problems They get worse Making it harder to find money to catch up Before the pandemic we saw that discipline budgeting Without higher taxes resulted in organic revenue increases Which is the real and lasting economic growth we need to support more public investments And with post pandemic federal aid We've shown that smart strategic investments can put us in a better position to grow And provide resilience in leaner times This budget does both It aligns with our fiscal reality and prioritizes the fundamentals And it makes smart new investments Which along with our policy proposals Will build on our resiliency And help communities recover Not just from the flood But in response to each of our top challenges We know Affordability isn't just about taxes and fees So let's talk about health care In the past we've acted to support dental care home health and more This year let's stabilize rates for nursing homes and rehabilitation centers With a 4.2 million dollar increase Which secures another 4.7 million from the feds So we're not reliant on emergency funding year after year And we'll continue to move away from fee for service The centers for Medicare and Medicaid services are advancing a national model on healthcare reform It's called AHEAD Which builds upon the innovation of states Specifically citing Vermont's all-payer ACO model Like our approach it includes Medicare Medicaid and commercial insurance Using a global payment Instead of paying for each service Increasing investment in primary care and emphasizing collaboration amongst providers We know we've had our share of challenges But we're moving in the right direction And we can work with the Biden administration to do more So my budget includes 3.9 million to transition to these new tools To improve patient outcomes increase health equity And slow the growth in costs for Vermonters While this is important work Job number one for addressing affordability and sustainability Is to bring more working families to our state Remember those three numbers that I shared in the state of the state 14, 28, and 48 14,000 fewer kids 28,000 fewer in their prime working age And 48,000 more over the age of 65 Those numbers make a big difference Whether it's healthcare, education, or overall cost to our systems Until we address demographics We'll continue to struggle So while we fix these fundamentals We'll need to constantly look for ways to contain costs and improve outcomes That includes education Where taxpayers could see their property tax bills rise by an estimated 17.3 percent Vermonters can't afford this increase And when you consider it comes with stagnant or declining enrollment and troubling test scores None of us should be okay with it But we have to be honest It's not something we can simply buy down or take from another pocket Because getting it to 2 percent, as some of you have suggested Would take about 213 million dollars So we need to work with school boards, administrators, parents, and teachers Because the reality is, changes need to be made before budgets pass At a minimum, we need to address the factors that fuel these increases year after year Even if it won't reduce costs this year I truly believe if we'd acted on any of the proposals I put forward in 2017 Or 2018 or 2019 We'd be better off today As I said, I'm willing to discuss any of those past ideas From right-sizing schools and classrooms To better addressing health care and retirement costs To property tax caps and adjustments or more And maybe we need to revisit and undo some of the things we've done That added to school pressures Or rethink the funding formula But I'm not naive Without a willing partner, I'm sure any proposal I put on the table Will be used to drive divisive attacks and headline clicks And we won't get anything done To be clear, I'm here Ready to work on these ideas or any of yours Whenever you are To contain costs and improve outcomes So for those who understand the challenges at hand Who recognize this is not a political issue It's a people issue And agree that trajectory we're on is not sustainable Or good for our kids Let's work together And not just about cost containment Because there are opportunities to better serve students within existing resources National and state tests show Less than half of our third and fourth graders Are reading at grade level And the results are similar when it comes to math So we're proposing new strategies and more tools to improve reading levels Strengthen training and refocus on proven techniques to help teachers And students We can also make real progress on career and technical education For years, I've been proud to stand here and talk about my own trades education CTE is a good way to give kids hands-on experience A deeper set of skills And multiple paths to a great career But we can't do that If kids have to wait until high school Before choosing one path or the other Without ever having been exposed to the possibility Of a career in the trades So let's get to them earlier and show them the opportunities If we fund CTE centers directly We can put an end to the competition between sending schools and tech centers For students and tuition dollars We can eliminate the barriers keeping kids out of programs because their center happens to be full We can show students the variety of careers and skills available By making sure everyone Regardless of track Has the chance to explore tech courses and real career opportunities There is no doubt we need more tradespeople More construction and healthcare workers Auto and aviation techs, IT professionals and more Just to keep all the things we count on going We also know a large number of students graduate from high school And don't pursue further training With CTE, we can set them on a better path With jobs waiting And local businesses willing to hire them on the spot We're already working with many of you on literacy and CTE And I truly, truly appreciate the collaboration Because I think we'd agree We owe it to our kids To give them the tools they need to succeed in the future A nation leading cradle to career education system Is essential to keeping and attracting more working families And revitalizing communities throughout the state So is making sure we solidify our place as a safest state in the country Let's start with something you don't hear too often in this building I may have been wrong I've supported and signed some of the very legislation I'm asking you to change today I agree People deserve second chances And maybe even third or fourth Especially when it comes to mistakes made as a young adult Or when struggling with addiction But I wish I'd better anticipated the challenge of implementing laws to raise the age of criminal accountability Because we weren't ready We put the policy idea ahead of the fundamentals The real work of actually helping our youth Like many other areas, we moved too far and too fast into a policy experiment And we didn't plan for or build the system needed to address the extreme cases Or have the workforce to support it We focus so much on our well-intentioned goals We didn't think through all the possible consequences Like what adding older more violent youth to dcf caseloads would do Or how traffickers would exploit young adults To run their deadliest drugs and expand their markets in vermont I'll admit the same for bail reform, which I sign Because I agreed with the goals But again, there were negative consequences Because we limited a valuable tool And on top of that conditions of release weren't effects effective Which makes it harder to prevent people from harming their neighbors and communities over and over and over for example In the matter of a year Two murders in st. Johnsbury involved multiple people out on conditions of release One of them had seven criminal charges pending But they were all free and involved in these homicides On at least four different occasions a woman in franklin county Was arrested for narcotic sales and released on conditions So instead of being jailed She continued selling crack and fentanyl And by the way, she was also involved in a homicide in lester All because she wasn't held accountable A man in rotland had 35 35 criminal charges pending in state court And 18 earlier cases have failing to appear He continued to roam free Two who was picked up for stealing a firearm And finally a federal court had the good sense to detain them Pointing to a state record All these policies were well intentioned But we must be honest Some of the changes we've made Are harming our communities You don't have to take it from me Just talk to some of the police chiefs you see up in the balcony From bennington, essics, rottland, and springfield Or braddleboro police chief norma hardy Who spoke with my team noting She believes reforms were well intentioned But given what she's seeing on the front lines Asked at what point you decide things have to change Or small business owners in middlebury Who made clear you can have empathy For the factors that drive people to crime And still want that crime to stop For dr. Levine Who works every day to improve public health And address the tragic loss of life to overdose But also shares the concerns of law enforcement That our policies and lack of accountability leave us vulnerable The major drug traffickers Who see vermont as quote A destination state We've spent months talking to members of your communities Local police and select boards Judges states attorneys and health professionals To build our reform package It includes repealing 2018 bail changes And increasing accountability for those who violate conditions of release I'll ask you to adjust raise the age To make sure we have the systems and tools in place before we take the next step I'll also ask you to add to the list of violent crimes Which allow prosecution of a juvenile to start in criminal court And move to a system of universal sealing Rather than expunging records So we give people a second chance But hold repeat offenders accountable And we need to continue talking about a secure facility for those who are mentally ill and in danger to the community And a process to restore competency when possible Building on our previous collaboration I also propose updates to our drug laws To account for the rise in deadlier And more addictive drug combinations Which are being injected into our communities by dealers and gangs controlled by international cartels And when a death results from their lethal products We should hold dealers accountable I think it's time we start thinking about addressing this crime and violence as harm reduction We already have some agreement in this area, so let's make sure our laws aren't doing more harm than good At the same time, we know issues like addiction and mental health are intertwined And are often at the root of why people commit some of these crimes in the first place And despite the trends we're seeing Vermont remains a leader in addressing the opioid epidemic and addiction overall I know other places have taken what some would call bold action But in many cases their trends have gotten worse Our hub and spoke model and focus on prevention, treatment, recovery, and enforcement Is still effective But we know fentanyl and now xylosine have changed the game So I agree, we need to do more We need to do more And we are The department of health and community partners Are expanding treatment and recovery services Adding satellite treatment hubs using outreach workers to find those in need at shelters homeless encampments community spaces and social service agencies And putting recovery coaches and emergency departments in correctional facilities And to reduce overdose deaths We significantly expanded Narcan distribution And increased access to tools that test drugs for fentanyl and xylosine We can build on this with 4.9 million in opioid settlement funds available this year With it We should expand staff and hours of operation in three or more existing hubs While also finally Opening one in Bennington And support reentry and recovery center work for those leaving corrections As well as providing medical care and wraparound services With another million we can make sure people don't lose out on the chance to recover Simply because they relapsed And we can help others in recovery for the housing they need Prevention is still our best solution to this challenge So we should dedicate 1.4 million to expand our school-based prevention services In the general fund We're increasing investment in mental health with one million in one time To follow through on opening a youth inpatient facility in Bennington And as a result of our successful pilot Which put 12 mental health workers in our state police barracks This budget makes those permanent And adds eight more We're also aligning our tools and teammates From public safety human services labor commerce and digital services Through a public safety enhancement team Along with local partners They're identifying specific community hotspots To interrupt the trends and better serve our most vulnerable By connecting our teams on the front lines We can improve safety and health Linking people to services when they're most likely to take advantage For example, in Springfield Turning Point Recovery Center and the fire department are working together for the first time And in Bennington they put a social worker in their local police department Connected EMS and recovery coaches And trained outreach workers to identify and intervene in domestic violence situations Having a multi-pronged approach is what will turn the tide Because the reality is that's what it takes Hard work every day across many partners There is no easy solution As much as you all want to stop the pain and loss If we want to do more Let's do more with proven solutions So we can reverse our overdose trends Provide people treatment and recovery Helping them rejoin their communities and families And prevent more of our kids from ever entering this harmful cycle in the first place To really get ahead of these issues And so many others We need to give more families than young people The security and stability of a good home in a vibrant neighborhood Most of us agree We need to act on our housing crisis State and federal data and BHFA analysis Showed there's a significant gap in every county And our experience with historic spending And decades of anecdotes and case studies from home builders Including trusted nonprofits Shows it's too expensive Too slow and too complicated to close this gap But we have an opportunity to change this With tripartisan bills in both the house and senate First, let's spark more investment In our smaller, more disadvantaged areas By supporting the tax proposals in H719 This will turn abandoned or run down properties Back into good homes for low and middle income working families It will brighten up neighborhoods that need it most And give everyday Vermonters the opportunity to invest in their community And we should increase the downtown and village center tax credits to five million dollars Next, with more common sense changes to local zoning And especially act 250 jurisdiction and triggers We can see more homes where we have the infrastructure to support them Act 250 was supposed to prevent sprawl So to limit housing density in the place that we want it And enforce a home builder to move five miles away to build more It's counterintuitive That seems to encourage sprawl, I think It makes individual projects more expensive with fewer units It just doesn't make sense to me Neither does an appeal system That allows a small number of people to stop a project the vast majority want And can also be used to exclude people from neighborhoods The common sense changes in H719 and the similar version in the senate Will make a real difference So will the six million I'm proposing for VHIP To get more units online quickly and affordably As well as four million for healthy homes And two million for the mobile home improvement and repair program To help keep people housed Will also fund VECB with nearly 24 million Add 7.1 million to gross shelter capacity And a new base budget initiative for permanent supportive housing for homeless families Without real change to jumpstart reinvestment Will continue to see talented young professionals decline jobs Because they can't find a decent affordable home Seniors force to stay in a house that's too large for them to maintain Instead of something smaller and more affordable nearby And then we'll lose the working families who could have called that larger home their own And our smaller more rural communities will further erode With more properties falling into disrepair You see our communities And all those looking for or struggling to afford a decent home don't they don't have the lobbyists They don't have the money or the time to push back on the campaigns we've already started to see To keep you from taking action So those everyday Vermonters need us To represent them over the special interests they need us To withstand the pressure make the right choices and have the courage to act So they too can afford a home and a life here in our beautiful state Here's the important part All this hard work We're making Vermont more affordable And improving our health care and education systems To maintaining our reputation as a safe estate in the nation And housing that meets the needs and budgets of working families This is how we keep and attract the people we need To reverse our demographic trends Revitalize our communities and restore economic equity and opportunity in every corner of the state And while I haven't detailed this today This budget also includes ongoing investment for workforce As well as economic and community development, which also support these goals It's these fundamentals that help us do all the things we need to do To have welcoming strong communities Invest in the social issues we care about And support the people of our state so they can all lead healthy safe and independent lives full of opportunity By investing to address our core challenges Rather than just spending We'll get a better return now And into the future And we're seeing that with our peddlers Which continue to pump money into the economy Generating the revenue that's supporting budget growth And more investment in communities The same is true of the money we dedicated to the state's match for federal iija funds Which gets us at least Four dollars from the feds for every dollar we put in We've already moved forward with dozens of water improvement projects in places like Castleton, Brighton, Shaftsbury and Bethel As well as transportation projects in Linden, Grandville, Fairfield and more These are communities that don't always get the support they need but are benefiting them So let's make sure we follow through with the match money We set aside the fund infrastructure projects that will eliminate sewer overflows and remove lead As well as bridges and places like Bradford, Elmore, Searsburg, Springfield, Westminster, Worcester And many many many others These initiatives Make for monitors safer And healthier And support the economic growth we desperately need in so many of our rural communities Now I want to make sure you hear what i'm saying Walking back from this strategy would be a huge mistake Because these smart investments will serve the communities we're here to represent They make our state budget more resilient to future ups and downs Helping us weather both financial And literal storms that are bound to come our way And we'll see the same kind of results as we help communities mitigate the impacts of future floods And build resiliency that benefits the whole state That's why our BA proposal includes 36 million for both state and some of the municipal match money Which will secure the hundreds of millions of dollars available through FEMA To repair the damage done for a public infrastructure It also transfers back the 20 million we use for a GP gap Which helped over 500 businesses non-profits and apartment owners To help them make repairs to open their doors Bringing back employees and customers and returning renters to their homes My budget also includes 21 or 12.5 million Getting us half the match needed to secure 75 million in FEMA hazard mitigation funds Which will give us a total of 100 million for this work This funding will support buyouts and floodplain restoration projects To better protect homes and kidneys like we did with Melrose Terrace in West Bralabur And Water Street in Northfield And it will fund infrastructure upgrades like the overflow culvert and branding Which has helped the downtown devastated by Irene withstand the storms that follow While often necessary, we know the negative impact buyouts can have Including on municipal budgets and the ad funds So I propose a disaster resilient investment initiative Which will offer a tip-like approach for recovery projects To keep or add property for the grandmix The Winooski Memorial and West Rivers and the trivicaries extending to them Continue to suffer damage with every major storm For this budget funds a study of the Winooski watershed To build out storage capacity and protect the kidneys throughout the river basin And we're working with partners on similar strategies in these other regions And it's important to get our long-term resiliency policy right In the partnering with COVID-19 centers To look ahead beyond our current work To build a truly comprehensive strategy We should align it to the risks of hand-in-hand And it's strategic, project by project approach But to assess the whole area May be seated Will the committee please reassemble and escort the governor from the chamber The joint assembly may be at ease while we wait for the return of the committee Before I declare the joint assembly dissolved I'd like to offer that we would please rise And that our guests in the center of the chamber, the supreme court, the federal delegation Our other statewide office holders Guests from the guard and their friends and guests to depart before we Have a chaotic departure Please go ahead And there being no further business I do hereby declare this joint assembly dissolved