Tag Archives: Let's Grow Kids

It’s a Janoo Day, Yes It Is

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For those unfamiliar, this was The New Day, an uber-popular tag team in the WWE who began their entrance routine with the slogan “It’s a new day, yes it is.” I’m not suggesting that newly minted gubernatorial nominee Amanda Janoo adopt it as a campaign slogan because WWE has squadrons of copyright lawyers on speed dial. But the sentiment is appropriate after Janoo, a candidate of progressive ideas, won out over the well-funded but sketchily defined Aly Richards.

Richards began her campaign with a pitch amounting to “A lot like Phil Scott, but nicer and maybe more competent” and ended with the generous backing of an independent PAC operating under the blandest possible name “Time for a Change.” Turns out that wasn’t a compelling message. Who could have guessed.

It was a big missed opportunity for Richards. Her stewardship of Let’s Grow Kids is an authentic political success story. She shepherded a major child care reform plan through the Legislature and got Gov. Phil Scott to sign it*. Since then, he’s been constantly whingeing about one Democratic initiative or another — but never ever utters a word about the child care plan. To me, that’s proof of its popularity.

*Correction: Scott vetoed the bill and the Legislature overrode. Which makes his subsequent reticence all the more noticeable.

Richards could have used child care as a banner of progressive reform. Or if you prefer, solid Democratic reform. She could have presented plans to address other major issues instead of vague gestures. Instead, she used LGK as proof of her backstage maneuvering success. It was a process argument, and those rarely resonate with voters.

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In Which Let’s Grow Kids Suddenly Discovers That Phil Scott’s Child Care Advocacy is Mostly Lip Service

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Let’s Grow Kids” has been around the block a few times. It is, according to VTDigger’s Final Reading, “the state’s leading child care advocacy group.” There’s no way they don’t know the score.

How to explain, then, that LGK endorsed Gov. Phil Scott for re-election and did not endorse his Democratic challenger Brenda Siegel?

If you come up with an explanation for that, then riddle me this: How is it that LGK is shocked and disappointed that the governor still holds to his consistent position — that he wants to do something to improve child care but he won’t sign on to tax hikes or LGK’s benchmarks for progress? In the words of VTDigger’s Final Reading:

Scott has long called for additional investments in child care, but never on the scale that advocates argue will be necessary to make a real dent in the problem. Crucially, he’s remained consistent in his belief that the state does not need to levy new broad-based taxes to expand access.

Key words: “remained consistent.” His stance cannot possibly be a surprise to LGK leadership or anyone else who’s been paying attention. It couldn’t have been a surprise when LGK was deciding on its endorsements last year. It’s not only his approach to child care; it’s his default on any social issue. He acknowledges the need, but refuses to commit actual resources to the task. Or actual effort, for that matter.

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