Vermont's weekslong budget impasses is at an end after Gov. Phil Scott said he'd allow the latest budget passed by lawmakers to go into effect without his signature, avoiding a state government shutdown. But while the impasse has been framed as Democratic lawmakers clashing with a Republican governor, leaders of the House Republican minority also played decisive roles in the process.Legislative leaders traded demands and proposals over education funding and how to best use an estimated $55 million dollars in surplus state revenue. Throughout it all, House Republicans voted alternately to pass budgets that faced a gauranteed governor’s veto, while also voting to sustain that veto in subsequent budget votes.
Rep. Kurt Wright, a Republican representing part of Burlington's New North End neighborhood, joined Vermont Edition to talk about the role House Republican leaders played in the state's budget impasse and what the agreement means for future discussions about education funding.
Broadcast live on Thursday, June 28, 2018 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
