Democrats counter Gov. Scott's $26M savings plan

MONTPELIER - Democratic leaders in the Vermont Legislature insist they could save $26 million in teacher health insurance without creating a statewide teacher health care contract, as Gov. Phil Scott has proposed.

Scott and fellow Republicans have been pushing hard on their plan to negotiate all teacher health insurance on the state level this year, while leaving other decisions such as salaries and work responsibilities to local decision-making. Scott argues that the proposal would allow state coffers to reap an estimated $75 million in savings from lower-cost teacher health insurance plans that are expected to begin in January 2018. Some of the savings, if they materialize, would be used to offset higher deductibles and co-payments in the new health plans, leaving an estimated $26 million that could be used to offset property taxes or for other uses.

The Vermont-National Education Association teachers union complained that negotiating with the state would violate teachers' right of direct collective bargaining with local employers. The Democratic Party accused Scott of "waging an all-out assault on organized labor."

House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, and Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, gathered reporters for a hasty news conference Wednesday morning to present an alternative.The new Democratic proposal expects each local school district to drive a hard bargain on teacher health insurance. The state Education Fund would take any savings that come from those discussions, and the money would be used to reduce property taxes.

Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2017/05/03/democrats-counter-gov-phil-scott-26m-savings-plan/101242934/