The Governor in town - safety first

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott addresses the crowd Monday at the annual Governor’s Luncheon at the Hartness House Inn in Springfield. Scott outlined far-reaching plans that touched on school safety, employment, taxes and development.

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Gov. Phil Scott touched on several issues here Monday but focused one in particular — recent gun violence in schools and what the state is doing about it, including a plan to use $5 million to upgrade school security. Scott spoke to about 80 community members at the annual Governor’s Luncheon, hosted by the Springfield Rotary and the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, on Monday at the Hartness House Inn. “Are we doing everything we can?” he asked. The governor referred to the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and said that just a day later, his office learned of a plot at Fair Haven Union High School, only about an hour’s drive from Springfield. The accused young man had a “kill list” and kept a journal of an active shooter, with the goal to cause more deaths than the 2007 shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia, which resulted in 33 deaths, Scott said. The reality of how close Vermont came to a tragedy such as the one in Florida “caused me to do some soul searching,” Scott said. The Vermont State Police charged 18-year-old Jack Sawyer, of Poultney, on Feb. 15 with attempted aggravated murder, attempted first-degree murder and attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after a police investigation found that Sawyer had allegedly communicated a desire to “cause mass casualties” at the Fair Haven High School, state police said in a news release. Authorities were able to make an arrest after people came forward and shared information, Scott said. Scott said several times that he is a proponent of the Second Amendment and that he learned to hunt and took a hunter safety course at about age 13. However, he said Vermont was such a tight-knit state that a school shooting such as in Parkland could not happen there. Scott said that public safety is “our number one responsibility” and that as governor, he takes that responsibility seriously. His office is already a “triage” action plan, he said. Part of that plan is an immediate security assessment of all schools by the state police, underway now and to be completed by the end of the year. Scott also said he has asked the legislature to work with him and that lawmakers are doing so. Vermont state Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Windsor 3-2, is helping the governor’s office to appropriate $5 million in grants as soon as possible to update security in schools across the state. Another part of his plan is to engage the media to help establish a “see something, say something” campaign, with which the legislature is also assisting. Scott also said he will soon be issuing an executive order to create a Violence Task Force to examine school safety. Another part of the plan is to ask for reforms that do not infringe upon Second Amendment rights but that would ban bump stocks, remove weapons from violence situations, call for background checks and that may also include a consideration of raising the age from 18 to 21 to purchase guns, with the exception of members of law enforcement or the military. “No child should be afraid to go to school,” he said. “And no parent should be afraid to put their children on the bus.” Scott said he wanted people to hear directly from him what is being done in Vermont to address gun violence. While the action plan is moving through the legislation phase now, there is still work to be done, he said. Scott also touched on current issues affecting the state, including what he described as 6-3-1. Those numbers sum up a challenge facing the state, which is six fewer workers in the state workforce, three fewer children in grades K-12, and nearly one baby per day born to addiction. Because the workforce is made up of the people who buy homes, pay for services and pay taxes, fewer in the workforce means the tax burden remains more with the rest of the state’s residents. Scott said he hopes increase to the size of the workforce, along with providing incentives for local youths, people of retiring age, people in the recovery community, and those serving in the National Guard to remain in the area through workforce development and recruitment. His office is introducing a state tax reform package to help protect working Vermont families and is looking at how education is funded. He said the state has seen a drop of about one-third in its student population over the past 20 years. Despite that, the state is spending $1.7 billion to do it, Scott said. Vermont has one of the highest per-pupil spending rates in the country, he added. While legislative discussion has proposed lowering property taxes, income taxes increased to balance that out “but what we wanted was lower education taxes,” he said. Scott also said he wants to invest more in other forms of education besides K-12, such as early child education and technical training, and that the administration will continue efforts to “improve the situation” without raising taxes or fees for Vermonters. “We need more technical education,” he said. Scott also said that “to level the playing field,” he is proposing free college in Vermont for those who want to serve in the National Guard and to remove tax on military pensions for veterans. He also touched briefly on the possibility of raising the minimum wage, stating that the legislation’s economists said that may have a negative impact on jobs, especially in the eastern part of the state, which borders tax-free New Hampshire. Scott also took several questions from the audience on current issues. He said he has been opposed to carbon tax “since day one,” and that he was thrilled to see the local Woolson Block redevelopment proposal in downtown Springfield receive a Community Development Block Grant. When an audience member mentioned that youth have been talking about voting ever since participating in local marches against gun violence, Scott said that he, a former business owner and stock car racer before he was governor, would advocate anyone to step up and perform public service at local and state levels. Chamber President Dan Harrington, Chamber Executive Director Caitlin Christiana, Scott, Springfield Rotary President Jim Fog, and Rotary President-Elect Jeff Mobus attended the luncheon, along with several public officials. Vermont state Reps. Emmons and Robert “Bob” Forguites, D-Windsor 3-2, Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell, three members of the Springfield Selectboard, and the superintendents of both the Springfield School District and the River Valley Technical Center also attended.