“We can do hard things.” - History

2023-06-01

Dear friend,

Happy June! We're now 20 days away from the Legislature's "veto session." We gavel in on June 20th to vote on whether to override Gov. Phil Scott's veto on several bills. The session is scheduled for three days, but at this point it's anyone's guess how long it will go and what will happen.

But before I go any further, I want to say that I support maintaining a visible tie to historic floods in downtown Wilmington.

I stand with those asking Wilmington to not paint over the 1938 and 2011 flood markings on the town office.

On this point I stand with history.

Below I am pictured with State Treasurer Mike Pieciak a few weeks ahead of the November 2022 election.

In a visit to Wilmington that took us through the Old School and the town offices, why did we pose here for a photo?

I suppose some see the flood marks as a sign of calamity, not to be front-and-centered in the prosperous future we try to see for ourselves.

I see them as marks of our resilience as a community. When I talk to State officials who were involved in the response to Tropical Storm Irene, they light up when they talk about visiting Wilmington. The Deerfield Valley was hit so hard, and came back so strong. It's breathtaking to anyone who was there.

The markers are so easy to paint over, has there been discussion of something more permanent, and with new layers of meaning? What about a sculpture in the corner park marking the high water lines overhead?

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Now I also want to say on the record that my opinion as a State Representative about the historical flood lines on the Wilmington Town Offices carries, and should carry, absolutely no weight.

I live in Halifax. This is about how Wilmington residents tell the story of Wilmington. It is under the jurisdiction of the Town Manager and Selectboard, and I wish them well.

I was pondering the flood lines today as I thought about how so much in politics is about jurisdiction -- who has what job.

In the case of Vermont's budget, a late Middle English word from from the Old French bougette, diminutive of bouge ‘leather bag’, the House holds the pursestrings, as told by the Vermont Constitution in § 6. [Legislative powers], that "all Revenue bills shall originate in the House of Representatives."

The House passed it with 90 votes, but not enough out of the 150 of us to override a gubernatorial veto.

Would he? Wouldn't he? He did, and you can see my stance, and Phil Scott's stance, and all the stances among the top headlines on the Rep. Roberts News page.

What happens next?

The Legislature can summon up the two-thirds majority in both chambers (Why do we need a Senate? See No to excuses, yes to second chances) and vote to override. In that case, H.494 becomes law and Vermont has our budget for July 1st.

However, to get 100 Representatives to vote for this budget, a number will have to change their minds. Changing a mind is hard, and the high emotions in the State House about the wind-down of the "motel voucher" program could complicate that.

If the House doesn't have the votes to override Gov. Scott on H.494, that bill is dead.

At that point, the House Appropriations committee will create a new bill. Either:

--one that will pass on a two-thirds vote in both chambers

--or one that will pass on a simple majority and that Gov. Scott will sign.

There's also a worst-case scenario, where Vermont enters the fiscal year starting July 1st with no budget.

On my other screen I'm looking at a long list of government operations that would stop, or be utterly different, on July 1st. I don't want to put too much energy into this scenario, so I'm not going to list them. As a sampler from the letter "P," pensions and public safety could be affected.

Back to Irene.

This is my neighbor's house on August 28, 2011, in the afternoon, after the floodwaters had already subsided enough that I was able to hopscotch down the boulders that were once Green River Road and reach them.

I find it hard to hold the memory of that moment in my mind when faced with this today:

The past can feel so far away. I celebrate history because I celebrate that we came through hard things before, and we can do it again.

As we approach the end of June, your Legislature and your Governor are going to do our best in an imperfect situation. Wish us luck.

We'll get through it, we'll get a budget out that supports Vermont families, and pretty soon our family will be getting out our Independence Day gear.

P.S. What's your strongest Irene memory? And what reminds you of it today?