Montpelier, Vt. - Governor Phil Scott announced action on the following bills, passed by the General Assembly.

On May 28, Governor Scott signed bills of the following titles:

• S.159, An act relating to the County and Regional Governance Study Committee
• S.183, An act relating to reenvisioning the Agency of Human Services
• S.246, An act relating to amending the Vermont basic needs budget and livable wage

On May 28, Governor Scott allowed S.102, An act relating to expanding employment protections and collective bargaining rights, to become law without his signature and sent a letter to the General Assembly.

May 28, 2024

Dear Mr. Bloomer:

I’m allowing S.102, An act relating to expanding employment protections and collective bargaining rights, to become law without my signature. One concern with the bill is the potential to adversely impact the employer-employee relationship by limiting an employer’s ability to communicate their point of view on a range of issues, including the advantages and disadvantages of unionization.

Further, the “card check” provision of S.102 will affect non-unionized employees in public school districts, State and municipal government, other governmental subdivision entities and potentially domestic workers, which could lead to higher municipal and property taxes in the future.

I’m also concerned that S.102 is a slippery slope to future disruptions in the employee-employer relationship in agriculture, domestic services and independent contracting as well as any local businesses and non-profits working solely within state lines.

Fortunately, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) will help limit the adverse impacts of this bill on the private sector, which is why I can allow S.102 to become law without my signature.

However, I urge the Legislature to monitor the economic, affordability and tax burden impacts of this policy as it moves forward.

Sincerely,

/s/

Philip B. Scott

Governor

On May 28, Governor Scott allowed S.209, An act relating to prohibiting unserialized firearms and unserialized firearms frames and receivers, to become law without his signature and sent a letter to the General Assembly.

May 28, 2024

Dear Secretary Bloomer:

Today I’m allowing S.209, An act relating to prohibiting unserialized firearms and unserialized firearms frames and receivers, to become law without my signature.  

As a public safety measure, I agree firearms should be serialized, which is why I’m allowing this bill to become law despite some concerns about its practicality and impact.

Over the last decade, as anti-policing policies increased and criminal accountability has steadily decreased, violent crime has grown in Vermont. This is why I believe we should instead focus on measures that will reverse these trends over those, like S.209, that are unlikely to have any measurable impact on violent crime.

In addition to my concerns about this bill’s effectiveness, I would have preferred the Legislature not criminalize mere possession when there is no evidence of criminal intent. I also strongly believe the Legislature should reinstate the gun show exemption to the 3-day waiting period, which was supported by the Senate this session, and I hope the Legislature will revisit this next session. The 3-day waiting period was enacted to prevent individuals from impulsively purchasing a weapon to take their own life, and the evidence does not support that these types of purchases would happen at a gun show. 

I appreciate, however, that legislators found some middle ground and removed the 3-day waiting period for a firearm owner seeking to have a firearm serialized. The waiting period, which like gun shows, made no sense in this context and would have deterred compliance.

Again, while my concerns on the practical impacts and enforceability keep me from signing this bill, I’m allowing it to go into law because I understand the fears behind access to untraceable firearms and respect the effort to tailor the scope and exceptions to limit impact for law abiding citizens.  

Sincerely,

/s/

Philip B. Scott

Governor

To view a complete list of action on bills passed during the 2024 legislative session, click here.

Governor Scott recently discussed his decision-making approach to the bills passed by the Legislature, highlighting the challenge of balancing benefits, costs and risks, and concerns about the realities of new costs and short timelines for numerous new initiatives coming out of the Legislature. In part, Governor Scott said, “As I’ve always done, I will carefully weigh the good against the bad to make a decision based on whether the benefits outweigh the negative impacts for our entire state. These decisions aren’t easy and they’re not always popular here in Montpelier. But I’ll take that heat when I believe I’m making the right choice for the everyday Vermonter.” Read his full statement here.