Lt. Governor Candidates Meet For Final Debate

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(Host) The three major party candidates for Lt. Governor met in their final campaign debate on Vermont Pubic Radio this afternoon.

And as VPRs Bob Kinzel reports, there are a number of key issues where the candidates have very different points of view.

(Kinzel) There’s a lot of interest in the Lt. Governor’s race this year, because for the time in almost a decade, there’s no incumbent running for re-election, since Brian Dubie is a candidate for Governor.

There are three major party candidates in the race; Democrat Steve Howard, Republican Phil Scott and Progressive Marjorie Power.

During the VPR debate, Howard said he wants to implement a progressive tax system to finance education in Vermont.

(Howard) "What I would do is eliminate the property tax on the house and 2 acres, and instead of the property tax adjustments and all of that bureaucracy I would do what we originally wanted to do when we passed Act 60 which is to have an income tax for education that would allow Vermont residents to pay based on how much they earn. I think that would be fairer for middle class hard working Vermonters."

(Kinzel) Scott says he wants to shift some of the property tax burden to other statewide taxes but he says relying totally on the income tax to pay for education is a mistake because it could drive some people out of Vermont.

(Scott) "The reality is that we’re competing with other states and I know we don’t like to hear about that but we are, and we have to be careful in what we do. We have a great place to live and I’m very proud – I wouldn’t want to move to anywhere else. But there are those that do and we have to keep that in mind with any approach that we take."

(Kinzel) Power supports using the income tax for Vermont residents and she wants to maintain a statewide education property tax for businesses and out of state homeowners.

Her top issue in this campaign is health care reform and she backs the implementation of a single payer system. She argues that the state’s current program for uninsured individuals, Catamount Health Care, is too expensive for many people – the unsubsidized premium is roughly $400 a month.

(Power) "People can’t afford it – that’s why we need to take government action. We’re asking marginally income people to pay the full cost of Catamount."

(Kinzel) The candidates also disagree on the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

Howard and Power want to shut it down when its license expires in 2012 while Scott wants the Public Service Board to conduct a thorough scientific review of the facility. 

Scott says he’ll support the final PSB decision however it turns out.

For VPR News, I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.

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