Scott vetoes contractor registration bill as lawmakers urge him to sign it
Lawmakers, state office holders, homeowners and builders got some unwelcome news Thursday during a news conference when they were told Gov.
The conference was led by Vt.
Near the end of the roughly hour-long conference, a WCAX reporter informed the panel of an email from Scott announcing his veto of the bill.
The conference was held online.
"The fact is, the findings of the Legislature in support of this bill are flawed," Scott stated in his email. "This bill has the potential to undermine and weaken a large number of
Scott claims the bill favors larger, established businesses at the expense of smaller ones by "imposing, by law, specific contract and insurance requirements that many of the smaller businesses will not be able to meet," he wrote. "Such specific requirements are rarely, if ever imposed on other professions. Ultimately, these provisions harm small businesses — which could lead to closures — and they harm consumers through higher costs and fewer options for making needed repairs."
Sen.
"I'm disappointed that the governor couldn't find a way to support this," said Secretary of
Condos said earlier in the conference that the bill is far from being over-burdensome.
"What's proposed here in H.127 is a light-touch registration, it is not certification or licensing, it has minimal requirements; those three requirements are registration, liability insurance and a written contract for above
He said not passing this bill only helps "fly-by-night" and irresponsible contractors who prey on Vermonters and cost them money.
Desmarais said in 2019 she began talking publicly about her experience with a contractor who got
The man who defrauded her,
"He was released in July under conditions that he repay his victims," said Desmarais. "He has not paid a penny. So there are no teeth in the law. There is no way for us who've been victimized to get satisfaction and to stop the madness."
She said that while she's had good experiences with building contractors, she's had bad ones, as well, and believes a registry would lead to things like this happening less often.
Some of the bill's supporters were contractors who said the registry would help them do business.
"
Throughout the past two years, Attorney General
"This is real money for folks, and when you talk about creating just this light-touch registry, it's very simple, you're just giving Vermonters information so they can make an informed choice," he said.
Scott wrote in his letter that a registry isn't needed for people to find reputable contractors and there are other avenues for holding them accountable.
"One can find directories maintained by trades associations, as well as commercial listings, social media, consumer sites, references and, of course, word of mouth," he wrote. "Importantly, there are existing avenues for determining and adjudicating complaints already, as well as an existing Home Improvement Fraud Registry. Current law clearly authorizes the attorney general to pursue both civil and criminal complaints against contractors for unfair or deceptive acts or practices."
According to the governor, the Legislature has admitted that the registration wouldn't assure a contractor's competence.
"Given this concession, we should not risk the economic harm of this legislation when we already have tools in the toolbox to protect consumers and perhaps those tools should be sharpened," Scott stated.
keith.whitcomb @rutlandherald.com
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