Enough of the blame game

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor: Governor Scott tells us that public policy should be judged by results, not intentions. Okay, so let’s judge the public policy.

According to the Public Assets Institute’s 2025 report on Vermont’s health care system, Vermont now has the highest average individual health insurance premiums in the country. That’s not a statistic anyone should be celebrating.

After nearly 10 years of Scott’s leadership, premiums keep climbing, deductibles keep climbing and many working families simply can’t afford coverage. So what’s the Governor’s reaction?

Apparently, it’s the Legislature’s fault.

His recent commentary in The Reformer, from July 29, spends a lot of time blaming lawmakers and assuring us that if we would just elect legislators who agree with him, everything would finally fall into place.

Really? After a decade in office, it’s a little late to be saying, "If only I’d had a different Legislature." At some point, governors own the results too.

Scott repeatedly says Vermont needs to return to the "mainstream." That’s a nice phrase, but it isn’t a health care plan. Which consumer protections should be rolled back? Who would pay more? Who would get less coverage? He doesn’t say. We’re simply told that other states are doing it, so it should work for Vermont, too.

Then he blames Act 48, a proposal that died more than a decade ago. If your strongest explanation for today’s problems is legislation from well over a decade ago, then maybe it’s time to spend less energy lamenting past decisions and more time explaining why your own approach hasn’t delivered the affordability you’ve promised over your five terms in office.

Maybe the most revealing sentence in the Governor’s letter comes near the end. After acknowledging that he can’t accomplish much without the Legislature, he essentially asks Vermonters to elect legislators who will support his agenda.

In other words, after 10 years of rising premiums and shrinking affordability, his big new idea is... elect people who won’t disagree with me.

That’s not much of a reform strategy. Vermonters deserve better than finger-pointing. They deserve leaders willing to admit that health care is a complicated problem with no easy answers. They deserve leaders who are willing to work with legislators instead of campaigning against them whenever they disagree.

That’s one reason I find Amanda Janoo’s approach so refreshing and appealing. Rather than treating legislators as obstacles to overcome, she recognizes that they represent the people of Vermont. She has consistently emphasized listening first, building consensus and engaging local communities before imposing top-down solutions. That respect for democratic governance is exactly what has been missing from Montpelier.

Governor Scott is right about one thing: we should judge public policy by results. By that standard, after nearly a decade, Vermont has the highest individual-market health insurance premiums in America, and blaming someone else is beginning to sound less like pragmatism and more like an excuse.

Timothy Maciel Brattleboro, July 29

Richards for governor, Gray for lieutenant governor

To the Editor: Two pragmatic leaders are what Vermont needs right now: Aly Richards and Molly Gray.

There is no more important time for our state than now. There is a critical primary election fast approaching on Aug. 11, and in-person early voting is happening now at town offices around the state.

I am voting for Aly Richards for governor, and Molly Gray for lieutenant governor.

These two candidates will deliver:

• Practical solutions for stabilizing our state economy.

• Governing with the future of our state as a top priority: human rights, jobs, affordability and prosperity.

• Experience in leadership, including reaching across the aisle to get things done.

As a farmer, I’ve experienced their deep understanding and their willingness to listen to people who work the land and continue to do the demanding work of making our state a working landscape where people want to live, visit and work. Both of these candidates are standing with farmers. And the fact that Molly Gray is a farm kid speaks volumes about her perspective to hear and understand neighbors and stand up for legislation that seeks to maintain and support our working landscape.

So, get out there and vote with the future of Vermont in mind.

Amanda Ellis-Thurber Brattleboro, Aug. 2