Gov. Shumlin on the Economic Situation in Vermont

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUICK: Joining us now with more on Vermont's economic agenda is the Governor, Peter Shumlin.

And Governor, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

SHUMLIN: Hey, it's great to be with you.

QUICK: It's great to see you. I know that not only does Vermont rank very highly when it comes to quality of living. You also have an unemployment rate that is well below the national average, about 5.4 percent.

So what's different in Vermont than what's happening around a lot of states in the country?

SHUMLIN: Well, you know, I think the first thing is we balance our books and we pay our bills. And that's been a long tradition of both Democratic and Republican governors have gotten that done.

We're fiscally sensible. But I think the other point is, you know, while our unemployment rate is lower than most states, 5.4 percent, and I'm grateful for that, we've worked hard to make that happen.

My challenge as a Governor, I think a lot of the new governors are facing is, is that, Vermonters, on average, are making the same amount of money they were making a decade ago.

So my challenge is to find ways to grow income, raise the quality of life. And that's what we're working hard to do.

QUICK: Governor, you mentioned that Vermont balances its budgets and pays its bills on time. And that's something that the United States is running into a bit of a problem with.

We've had a lot of discussions this morning of about raising trying to raise that debt ceiling. And the potential downgrade from a couple of ratings agencies yesterday puts us in sharp focus.

The Wall Street Journal points out today that 7,000 states and municipalities have a lot riding on this, too, because their debt is backed up by the United States government. If it's not triple A anymore, what does that mean for Vermont?

SHUMLIN: Well, it's a huge problem. We have a triple A rating in Vermont. We have the strongest rating in the New England states. But we, governors, are very concerned about the lack of progress in Washington.

Listen, what the American people want is reasonableness, common sense, government getting things done. And I think these folks that have drunk more tea than is good for their health just has gotten this one wrong.

QUICK: What do you mean drunk more tea than is good for their health? Where do you think the problem lies?

SHUMLIN: You know, I think that these two tea party folks thought they came in with a great mandate. And in fact, what Americans want, what Vermonters want is to get things done. Pay your bills.

Pass programs that make a difference. Show us that government can work for average people. And that's we, governors, are getting done. You know, we put together an economic plan in Vermont that's very ambitious.

It's a three-point plan. After balancing our books, closing deficits by making tough choices, we're doing three things.

We're going to connect Vermont to high-speed internet access and self- service by 2013 so that our businesses and our promoters can compete with everybody in the world.

Second, we're going to pass a single payer health care system where health care is a right and not a privilege, where it follows the individual and isn't a requirement of the employer.

We think that's a huge jobs creator if we can get be the first state to get health care costs under control and have it be a basic human right.

And third and finally, we are going to be the education state from early childhood education to higher education to continuing education, retraining our existing workforce.

I think we've a bright economic future in America as we move from an oil- based economy to other ways of hiring (ph) the world. And we're going to make sure that Vermont gets some sliver of that action so that we can grow jobs and economic opportunities for Vermont.

As some of my counterparts says.

QUICK: Well, you mentioned some big initiatives and those are things that cost money. How do you pay for all of them (ph)?

SHUMLIN: Well actually, one could argue that they cost money. I would say that they're costing us money. Our health care spending in Vermont has doubled in the last ten years.

By 2015, Vermonters on current rates of growth in health care spending will be spending 2,500 bucks out of every living Vermonters' pocket every single year if we don't get cost under control.

QUICK: Which is a huge problem across the nation.

SHUMLIN: You got it.

QUICK: But the problem becomes.

SHUMLIN: Right.

QUICK: .when you look at the national level and what was done with health care, it addresses the idea that there are so many people who don't -- millions of people who don't have health care insurance.

But it didn't really tackle the spending curve. And that's a huge problem, too, on a national level.

SHUMLIN: And that's been the mistake of government's efforts to reform health care every single time. You've got to spend health care dollars on making people healthy, not on insurance company profits, waste, kind of payment system, fee for service.

That's going to will bankrupt us. You know, we have the worst outcomes for the amount of money we spend of any nation in the world on health care. Yet, we let our health care spending double.

It's a huge tax on business, a huge tax on economic growth. And we act as if that's no big deal.

QUICK: Governor Shumlin, we want to thank you very much for your time. We really appreciate it today.

SHUMLIN: Well, thanks so much for having me with you. And come to Vermont where the best place (ph) in the country to come visit, live and raise a family.

QUICK: OK. They are not too long ago so I appreciate it. And we hope to see you again soon. Thank you.

SHUMLIN: Thank you.

END

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