Last week Gov. Scott unveiled an important policy proposal that helps move the State of Vermont forward and provides a great model for Republicans everywhere to follow.

For years Democrats have been itching to add a payroll tax to every worker in Vermont.  It started gaining acceptance when discussed as part of a single payer health care program, then when that plan fell apart it became the golden goose for a proposed paid leave program. 

But from the beginning Gov. Scott and Republican legislators, fought against yet another expensive mandate on workers and businesses that were just trying to get by in this economy.  But instead of adopting a “Just Say No” policy, Gov. Scott has now put together a plan that provides that same basic benefit, but does so in a way that is better for Vermonters.

First of all, this plan is voluntary.  That means that businesses in a unique field, or with particular demographics, or other factors that could make them an outlier where none of the employees would want or would use the benefit – no one has to get docked a single dollar from their paycheck, or pay any new taxes.  This will also prove how valuable a benefit this really is, by how many people adopt it.
Second it actually blazes a trail of innovation in the free market.  While many companies provide some form of disability insurance, Gov. Scott’s proposal is accelerating the market for this kind of leave insurance.  Rather than the state hiring a series of over-paid contractors with dubious and unverifiable work products (like Jonathan Gruber did for Single Payer) to invent something from scratch, Gov. Scott has partnered with a private insurance company who has the experience in developing similar insurance products.  If this program becomes successful in Vermont, it might be the kind of benefit that Americans around the country could one day enroll in, just like they do when they buy disability insurance or life insurance.  Ten years form now a Texan employee could owe their family leave to a similar company offering a similar benefit, all based on the ground breaking work that is getting started in Vermont.

Third, this proposal does something that is completely unprecedented by democratizing a public sector benefit.  For decades state and federal unions have created a wall separating their benefits from the benefits available to “the rest of us”.  Government employees have enjoyed “Cadillac Plans” that were so prevalent they warranted special lobbying for the Affordable Care Act.  This has fueled tensions in many negotiations between taxpayers who feel like teachers are getting benefits far more generous than anything they see in the private sector. Governor Scott’s plan starts with state employees in 2023 to provide a larger risk pool.  But the next year it will become available to any business that voluntarily wants to adopt it, adding thousands of workers from even the most remote part of the state, and in 2025 when it rolls out to individuals of any type (even those whose employers don't opt in during the 2024 transition) regular Vermonters could be participating in the exact same plan with the same benefits as a deputy commissioner.  There won’t be a “special deal” for state employees that is off limits to everyone else.

Lastly, this proposal takes into consideration a growing portion of the Vermont economy; the self-employed.  In 2025, Phase 3 of the plan will allow independent contractors, freelancers and other generally self-employed workers to earn this benefit – if they want it.  This represents a group of people who were specifically excluded under the Democrat-proposed bill (H.107) that Gov. Scott vetoed in 2020.  Sole Proprietors and other self-employed people are an important part of our workforce and a group of workers we need to continue to grow and attract.  Governor Scott’s plan brings those people in as well.

But not only is this a better plan for Vermonters than what was proposed two years ago, this is a great example of the kind of approach the Republican Party needs to take more broadly.  We can’t continue a “Just Say No” policy.  If there is a problem that constituents see, we can’t ignore it.  We have to be a party that proposes alternative ideas and works to put them into effect and get creative about how to advance them.  In Vermont we don’t have legislative control, so we can’t legislate our policy proposals.  But here is an example where Gov. Scott took an innovative approach to work around the obstructionist Democrat-controlled legislature who refused to cooperate with his voluntary plan, instead adding it as an element to a collective bargaining agreement with state workers.  When Gov. Scott went directly to the people, the state workers in this case, they were on board because it made sense and was the right thing to do.  Likewise Republicans have to look for other ways to advance our policies even when a Democrat legislature is working against it.  This is one way that Republicans can win back the middle, by beating the Democrats at their own game.  Now state workers know that it was the Republican Governor, not the Democrat Supermajority, who was the first one to be able to deliver on a plan to give them paid leave.


Chairman Paul Dame