Lt. Governor Zuckerman To Highlight the Dangers of Inaction in Tonight's Debate

PRESS RELEASE: October 1, 2020

Lt. Governor Zuckerman To Highlight the Dangers of Inaction in Tonight's Debate

BURLINGTON: Today, the Zuckerman for VT campaign pointed to three instances where lack for foresight and lack of investment in critical infrastructure have led to both very real and potential harms done to Vermonters. The campaign demonstrated how the Scott administration continues to delay investments and therefore set up further dangerous and devastating issues for Vermonters into the future.

Unemployment Insurance

Earlier this year, When the coronavirus first impacted our Vermont economy, we saw the devastating consequences of putting off desperately-needed upgrades to the UI system when thousands of Vermonters were not able to file for Unemployment Insurance and were held up due to our aging technology.

Campaign Manager, Megan Polyte said: “David spoke to constituents who had not been able to feed themselves for days because they could not get through to the administration for unemployment insurance.”

Investing in infrastructure upgrades would have helped the vulnerable Vermonters desperately trying to receive support during one of the most economically devastating times our state has ever faced.

Vulnerable Vermonters suffered the consequences of that inaction.

Burlington Schools

When leaders defer maintenance they do not save costs in the long run - they put Vermonters, especially children, at risk. Recently, tests done for a renovation project at Burlington High Schools found that cancer-causing PCBs are circulating in the breathable (indoor) air.

While the state passed a law to check water quality in our schools, this is the first time, according to the Burlington School District Superintendent, Tom Flanagan, that the air in Burlington High School had ever been tested for PCBs.

Putting off needed tests and failing to update infrastructure could have led to the exposure of countless Burlington students and teachers to cancer-causing PCBs.

That is why Lt. Governor Zuckerman has signed onto this action sponsored by the VT AFL CIO to “to test the air quality in all Burlington Schools to make sure our children are safe throughout the District.” Furthermore, the state should review whether to test all schools and state buildings constructed when PCBs were widely used in construction.

Poor planning and lack of investments led to Vermont students and teachers paying for it in the long run. We are now facing the consequences of that inaction.

Vermont State Colleges

This April, Vermont State College Chancellor Spaulding announced plans to close three Vermont State College campuses due to financing issues. This had been a longstanding issue that was exacerbated by the pandemic.

These financial issues were largely due to abysmal funding from the Vermont government. State support for the VSCS ranks at the bottom of U.S. states and accounts for only 17% of the VSCS budget according to recent information released by the system.

Governor Scott has served on the Board of the Vermont State Colleges for 4 years. Yet he took no significant, forward-looking, action to truly save these schools as they teetered on the edge for years.

Poor planning, and lack of a commitment to investment for the future, harmed Vermont’s rural economies and left hundreds of students and employees facing an uncertain future. We are now facing the consequences of that inaction.

This is a dangerous pattern of inaction and inability or unwillingness on behalf of the Scott administration to plan for a better future for all Vermonters.

Campaign Manager Megan Polyte said, “The Scott administration's inaction on these issues is a pattern of behavior that we continue to see play out on some of the critical policies being brought forward by Vermonters today. In the last debate, Governor Scott refused to make a real commitment to do the hard work to find funding to expand broadband. And most importantly, Governor Scott has failed to act in a meaningful way to reach our climate goals. This long-standing pattern of poor planning and lack of leadership and commitment to invest for the future is harming Vermonters.”

The choice is clear. One candidate has a track record of leading and staying committed to issues to build Vermont and help Vermonters. The other does not. The issues of our time need leadership with vision.

The Zuckerman campaign announced its intention to bring forward this consistent pattern of lack of forward-thinking action in the NBC 5 debate tonight.

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