Phil Scott Talks Vermont Issues
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- Created on Thursday, 21 April 2016 19:54
- Written by Dylan Clark
AROUND THE NEK- With a little over three months until Vermont's State Primary, Gubernatorial candidates are spreading their campaigns across all 14 counties, including Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott who is running for the Republican nomination.
Hot button issues surrounding the race this year include the conversation of marijuana legalization and the current situation of the states economy.
When it comes to small business in Vermont, perhaps no one knows better than Scott, who routinely has to balance his political duties with those of running is own company.
"I still open up every single morning," says Scott. "I'm still probably the only Lieutenant Governor that has their CDL as well. So I'm active in my business, I know every aspect of it."
Because of his role in small business, Scott attributes that to his motivation to get involved with politics in the first place.
"I started complaining more and more until the point I decided maybe I should get involved, maybe I should be part of the solution instead of the problem," he says.
As Scott makes his run at the Governors seat, it goes without question that the economy of the state is one of his top priorities.
"We have an anti-business reputation outside of the state, and whether it's warranted or not, is really not an issue, because it's there, " Scott says. "We have to do what we can to try and break down those barriers."
Scott believes in order to get rid of this reputation Vermont has garnered, there needs to be an opportunity to attract more business growth.
"We have to really focus on what it is that we can do to attract more opportunity, more business growth," Scott states. "I think we ought to set a population goal of about seven hundred thousand."
Vermont currently has a population of around 630,000.
To go along with Scott's focus on the economy in Vermont, the state has made investments in the EB-5 program. Even before the recent fraud investigations took place in the Northeast Kingdom, Scott believed if the state were to utilize EB-5 Program properly.
"If we're going to utilize that program or have it in our toolbox, it should be functioning properly and it should be transparent so that everyone understands what they're getting themselves into" Scott says.
The reservations Scott has about the EB-5 program aren't the only concerns he has regarding the issue.
Regarding the states decision to legalize marijuana, Scott stated lawmakers are moving too fast and don't have the necessary information to make such a decision.
"I'm not saying never, I'm not saying not now," says Scott. "We're not going to be able to put the genie back in the bottle if this fails, so we better make sure this is right if we roll this out."
Scott has been paying close attention to how other states have been handling the marijuana debate and took to heart what Colorado's governor had to say.
"His advice to any state looking to legalize is wait a couple of years, watch what we do, we'll work this out and we'll come up with some solutions to the problems that we've encountered," Scott paraphrased.
It goes without question that Scott has done his research on all of the issues surrounding the state, and seems ready to combat each of them head on.
All of the research Scott has done will be put to the test during the Gubernatorial Primary which is set for August 9th, followed by the Gubernatorial election on November 8th.
Scott says his deep roots in the community make him a good pick for Governor.
