Vermont state employees will have to return to the office at least three days a week beginning Dec. 1. Gov. Phil Scott's mandate has engendered pushback from a significant portion of state employees: More than 3,500 of the state's approximately 8,000 employees signed a petition opposing the order.
Gov. Scott addressed state employees' concerns during a wide-ranging conversation on Vermont Edition on Monday. Here are four key takeaways from the interview.
The return-to-office order should have happened sooner
"I think we went on too long," Scott said when asked why he was calling state employees back to the office now. "Soon after the pandemic we should have instituted this policy," he said, "and then, as I said, the '23 and '24 flood happened. That slowed things down. But, I think it's far past time that we do this."
Scott cited many reasons for the mandate, including employee engagement, team-building, equity (some state employees do not have the option to work from home, he noted), and concerns about real estate.
"If we continue with the number of people who want to work remote, we would have no choice but to to do something about selling buildings and attempting to break leases," he said.
"Who do you sell them to?" he continued. "There's not a great pent-up demand for commercial office buildings at this point in time."
Fixing the housing shortage shouldn't involve raising taxes
Scott said the Legislature should focus on reforming regulations when addressing the affordable housing shortage, not on raising revenue to invest in housing. "We would contemplate anything, as long as it doesn't mean raising taxes and making Vermont more unaffordable," he said.
The governor signed an executive order last month to speed up housing production by reducing some regulations and permitting requirements. On Vermont Edition, he noted that his administration will share more details on the subject in the budget proposal he'll present to the Vermont Legislature in January.
Affordable housing developers applauded the executive order but also point to high construction costs, new tariffs, and the rollback of federal grant programs as major impediments to their housing projects. On Vermont Edition last week, Champlain Housing Trust CEO Michael Monte called on the state to offset more of those costs.
The shutdown's local effects are relatively minor — for now
Gov. Scott said it was "disappointing" that Congress could not work together to avoid a shutdown. "Having some sort of a continuing resolution would buy time for them to come together on the bigger bill and come to grips with trying to find a solution that satisfies both parties," he said.
Scott was the governor during the last federal government shutdown in 2018-2019. He said Vermont has had "lots of practice" getting itself in a solid financial position to weather a shutdown, at least for the time being. "We're OK at this point in time, but we're talking, you know, days and weeks, not months," he said.
Federal immigration enforcement in Vermont
Scott said he and other state officials are limited in their ability to limit federal immigration enforcement activity in the state, including the arrest of nine construction workers in Hardwick last week. "All we can do is push back as best we can," he said.
"ICE should concentrate on those who are creating havoc, that are trying to do harm to our country and to our states," he continued. "I don't see that we have an abundance of that here in Vermont."
He also criticized federal agents who wearing plainclothes and masks to obscure their identities during arrests. "I don't think the masks help the situation at all. I don't think doing this in the dead of night and the surprise kind of attacks, so to speak, are helpful to anyone," he said.
Scott noted that he declined requests to send the Vermont National Guard to Washington, D.C. in August. He also said that he would oppose any future attempt by the Trump administration to deploy the Guard in Vermont.
Broadcast live on Monday, October 6, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.
