Gov. Scott’s first year: Holding the line and pushing back

Gov. Phil Scott. File photo by Bob LoCicero/VTDiggerWhen you’re in a hole, stop digging.
That’s the philosophy supporters saw Gov. Phil Scott follow during his first year in office, a post the moderate Republican assumed after six years of Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, whose party continues to boast a large majority in the Legislature. Spending under Shumlin and his predecessor, Republican Jim Douglas, regularly outpaced inflation; some budgets were aided by large infusions of feder