This was a very busy week for Team Scott with events, debates and more. It is always great to connect with Vermonters and share Phil’s plans for economic growth and making Vermont more affordable. Check out this week’s highlights from the state’s most energetic and hardworking campaign.
PHIL CONTINUES TO SHARE HIS ECONOMIC MESSAGE
Last week Phil released a comprehensive economic development plan, demonstrating why he is the only candidate who will make the economy and affordability the top priorities in Montpelier. (You can view the full plan HERE). One of the key elements of his plan is protecting jobs and retaining employers. He will work to ensure Vermont’s job creators can be competitive in the regional, national and global markets.
To help Vermont retain and grow its employers, Phil will create a culture that encourages and supports all employers, respects the investment they’re making in our state, and fights to protect every job and every company in every sector. A Phil Scott Administration will work to aggressively promote the export of Vermont products and services and will build a healthy and respectful open dialogue with Vermont’s businesses. Read more HERE.
Phil has made clear throughout his campaign that he will not propose – nor will he sign – a budget that grows faster than the economy or wages, and that he does not believe Vermonters can afford any more taxes.
Now that his opponent has proposed expanding a sales tax to services, Phil assured Vermonters this week that he will veto any legislation proposing a new sales tax on services.
“Child care, cleaning services, accounting and bookkeeping, home heating maintenance and repair, barbers and hairdressers, website developers – the list goes on and on and on,” said Phil in a statement. “Add to this the $700 million in costs imposed on Vermonters by my opponent’s party over the last seven years – and the promise from some legislative leaders to advance a new ‘carbon tax’ on transportation and home heating fuels that could add as much as 88-cents to a gallon of gas – and you get a very clear picture of what is at stake in this election.”
Read Phil’s full statement HERE, and read more about the impact of his opponent’s plan to raise a tax on services in the Times Argus and Caledonian Record.
Phil participated in a forum this week sponsored by the Vermont Commission on Women, the League of Women Voters, and Vermont Federation of Business and Professional Women. At the event, he highlighted the influence of independent women in his life – his mom, his aunt and his daughters, to name a few – and his support for equal pay, women’s rights, affordable childcare and STEM programs.
Phil made it clear in the debate that, despite how his opponent’s surrogates have tried to paint him, he is pro-choice and supports both marriage equality and equal pay for equal work. Scott touted his record of supporting legislation to require equal pay for equal work regardless of gender, among other initiatives. Phil also expressed his commitment to enhancing early education opportunities and identifying new ways to make childcare more affordable.
Read more about the debate HERE.
A FEW FAIRS IN BETWEEN DEBATES
While participating in forums for the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition and the Vermont Commission on Women, Phil and Team Scott also attended a POW ceremony at Camp Johnson and a meeting of the Essex Rotary. Phil swung by the Tunbridge Fair, Sandy’s Drive-in in Sharon, and the National Street Rod Association show, before walking in a Plainfield parade.
YOU’RE INVITED: WE WANT YOU AT OUR DEBATES
By the end of the General Election, Phil will have participated in 11 debates (plus many more during the Primary!). But each debate is important, and we want you there with us! We have two debates this week, and we hope you will join Team Scott to support Phil and hear directly from him about how he’ll fight for you in Montpelier.
Join us this week at:
Windsor County Gubernatorial Forum Event
September 25
4:00 pm – 6:30 pm (Forum is from 5-6:30 pm)
Damon Hall, 1 Quechee Rd, Hartland, VT United
VT Digger Debate
September 28
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Paramount Theatre, 30 Center St. Rutland, VT 05701 United States
Caledonian Record: The right choice for Vermont
“Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, the Republican candidate for governor, said Monday that he will veto any sales tax on services. We think Scott has a lot better grasp of economics, and the facts of life in eastern Vermont, than Minter.” (Source: Caledonian Record: Full Story)
Phil: My focus is on the economy
“My standard for evaluating public policy is very clear: If an idea decreases the costs of living and doing business here, I will support it. If it increases costs, I will oppose it. It’s that simple.” (Source: VT Digger: Full Story)
Time to abandon our disastrous health exchange
“If elected, gubernatorial Republican candidate Phil Scott has said he would abandon [Vermont Health Connect], while Democratic candidate Sue Minter says she will expand the program.” (Source: Vermont Watchdog: Full Story)
Phil: We have to do more
“It’s impossible to be a dad today and not see that there’s work to do. I look forward to working with all of you to make sure that our daughters have every opportunity.” (Source: Burlington Free Press: Full Story)
Phil: Enforce our current gun laws, and focus legislative efforts on the economy
“Scott’s platform is simple: he thinks Vermont doesn’t need any new gun laws. He says he’d veto new gun laws unless they expanded funding for firearm training. ‘We should enforce the ones that are on the books and we should focus on the economy,’ Scott said.” (Source: WCAX: Full Story)
Rob Roper: Is expanding sales tax to services really Minter’s goal?
Ethan Allen Institute President Rob Roper took a look at the impact of expanding sales tax to services, after Phil’s opponent said she’d consider expanding this tax last week. Roper points out, as have many others, that a services tax would add a tax to as many as 168 services including legal fees, childcare, home repairs and haircuts. “That’s a lot of day-to-day expenses that will all of a sudden be between 2 and 6 percent less affordablefor Vermonters,” writes Roper. Who among us can afford up to 6% more on childcare alone? Phil is the only candidate who understands that Vermonters cannot afford more taxes and fees. Read more about his promise to veto an expansion of sales tax to services HERE, and Mr. Roper’s full article HERE.