Well, that didn’t take long. The Legislature had scheduled a three-day session to try to override the eight vetoes delivered this year by Gov. Phil Scott. Turns out they only needed one single day.

In that day, the Legislature overrode five of Scott’s vetoes and deferred action on the others. They failed exactly zero times. They didn’t come close to failing. Five overrides in one day sets an all-time record and, as Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman pointed out in a post-session press release, “In Vermont’s history, there had only been 14 veto overrides. With these five overrides, the legislature has increased that number by more than 33%.”

All in a day’s work. Facing down the most popular governor in America.

Oh, and there was also the indignity of attaching metaphorical training wheels to Scott’s administrative bicycle. In the bill to extend the motel voucher program for some recipients, the Legislature imposed strict reporting requirements on Team Scott, as if lawmakers didn’t trust the admin’s ability or inclination to do its frickin’ job.

I mean, all they had to judge by was two years of administration failure on that front. No wonder they’re demanding receipts this time.

The day was a showcase of organization and purpose. They set ’em up and knocked ’em down. This is nothing to be sneezed at. It’s something that past Legislatures have failed to do.

Scott fully deserved it. He has lived by the veto, and yesterday he died by the veto. Far too often, he has chosen to stay disengaged until the Legislature did its work and then unleashed his (obligatory veto pen reference) veto pen.

He also deserved it because he has chosen to disengage from the Vermont Republican Party. He has not lifted a finger as the VTGOP has drifted farther and farther to the right. The result: a party that fails to field credible candidates in winnable districts. That’s why Scott found himself on the short end of a historical supermajority this year — an edge big enough to give legislature leaders confidence in their ability to override.

Which brings us to the one signature failure of the Legislature to take a clear stand against the governor: the troubled off-and-on conclusion of the motel voucher program. In the end, lawmakers opted to continue the program for those about to be unhoused in July, but did nothing for the roughly 800 households — many in extreme distress — who’ve been evicted in June.

Strangely, after months of insisting that the voucher program must not be extended, Scott meekly accepted this limited extension. Why? Well, turns out he — you’d better sit down for this — worked with the Legislature to find common ground. VTDigger:

After a meeting between the Republican governor and legislative leadership on Friday, administration officials worked through the weekend to collaborate on the legislation’s final language. His press secretary, Jason Maulucci, confirmed Tuesday morning that, “barring unforeseen changes,” the governor would sign the bill.

This explains some of the late adds to the legislation, which I summarized as “a sour kernel of fiscal conservatism”: recipients will have to spend 30% of their income on the cost of vouchers, accept the first offered alternative placement within 48 hours, and be subject to eviction if a motel operator decides they’ve misbehaved. They will be at the mercy of the motel operators who have shown themselves to be poor stewards. Not to mention there is no appropriation for the extension. Instead, funding will come from expected surplus revenue.

That may have brought the administration on board, but it absolutely laid bare the lie that we couldn’t afford to extend the program. Clearly we could! Remember when Senate Finance Committee chair Ann Cummings flat-out said that we couldn’t extend vouchers without raising everybody’s income taxes?

Yeah, bullshit.

So we are left with an historically bad day for the governor and an incredible day for legislative Democrats, spoiled only by a voucher deal that fell far short of a humanitarian outcome. We still have hundreds of people unhoused for no good reason. Many are struggling with medical or psychiatric issues that put them at severe risk.

AND WE COULD HAVE HELPED. WE STILL COULD.

But Our Political Betters have made a deal. Once again, the Democrats have made noteworthy advances and failed on this one critical issue. It was the moral test of 2023, and Scott and the Democrats earned an F.