Gov. Phil Scott vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have established a registration system for building contractors, saying the measure "could advantage larger, established entities over small, local mom-and-pop businesses."


At the time news of Scott's veto broke, legislators and advocates were in the middle of a virtual press conference promoting the measure. Sen. Michael Sirotkin (D-Chittenden) promptly said he expects lawmakers will try to override the governor’s veto so the bill can become law.

“It sounds like he is trying to protect the small businessmen, and, in large part, I think he’s protecting scammers and fleecers,” Sirotkin said of Scott.

It's not clear that an override would succeed. Such an action requires 100 of the 150-member House and 20 of 30 senators. While the Senate approved the measure last year by a 20-10 margin, the House only mustered 82 votes for it compared to 45 against in January.

"I am just really deeply disappointed that the governor vetoed this bill," said House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington).

But she stopped short of saying she would press for an override vote. The matter will come before the House next week, and Krowinski said she planned to talk to other members about the options, including making changes to the proposal. Any override effort for the bill must start in the House.

"There are components of this bill that are incredibly important that we need to keep," Krowinski said. "What's important for us to do at this time is focus on conversations with our members to determine next steps."

Sirotkin said he and his colleagues who have worked on the proposal think it meets the state’s needs.

"I've heard some of the objections from the governor's office, and I quite honestly think they're misplaced," Sirotkin said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint (D-Windham) said she would support a veto override.

"I do feel we have the votes in the Senate," Balint said.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, Vermont is one of just eight states without a state or county license, certificate, or registration requirement for building contractors.

“Vermont is still seen as the Wild West of New England when it comes to the building industry,” said Jim Bradley, who has been working on the contractor registration proposal for years as an officer of the Vermont Builders and Remodelers Association.

“There is a vast number of conscientious, qualified building professionals in our state,” Bradley said at Thursday's press conference. “However, without appropriate and verifiable requirements, we cannot ensure that our homes are being built and remodeled to the standard that will yield healthy, durable, energy efficient and yet affordable dwellings.”

Advocates for contractor registration say the Vermont Attorney General’s office has received hundreds of complaints worth millions of dollars over the last decade — and that’s only the share of homeowners who reported their bad experiences.

Many of those complaints concern contractors who have walked off with deposits or done substandard work. Right now, the only legal recourse for homeowners is to take the matter to small claims court. That court can do little to make bad actors repay homeowners.

Tina Desmarais of East Montpelier took her quest for restitution public in 2019 after she said she lost $11,000 on a roofing job. She said she ended up meeting more than a dozen others who had complaints about the same building contractor.

“I filed charges and was told the laws have no teeth and we need a registry,” Desmarais said at the press conference. “And boy, did I find that was true.”

Desmarais said she watched in court as the builder repeatedly answered other charges for home construction fraud, only to be released on the condition that he not do it again.

“I saw this six times before he was finally prosecuted and sent to prison for 18 months,” Desmarais said. She added that he was released in July on the condition that he start paying restitution to his victims.

“He has not paid a penny,” Desmarais said. “There are no teeth, there is no way for those of us who are victimized to get satisfaction and stop the madness.”

Under the legislation that the governor vetoed, homeowners could file complaints with the Office of Professional Regulation in the Secretary of State’s Office. That office can refer cases to the local state's attorney's office, said Lauren Hibbert, director of the Office of Professional Regulation.

“And we’ll be able to give notice to homeowners of who the bad apples are,” Hibbert said. “That’s something we do every day with all of our licensed professionals.”

Secretary of State Jim Condos, who supports contractor registration, said the proposal's administrative burden on contractors is small.

“I’m not asking people to go out and hire lawyers," he said. "I’m not asking people to go out and have a general counsel or compliance officer. We’ll help you do the work; we’ll get a boilerplate contract for you, we’ll help people understand what the rules are in terms of the business transactions.”

The governor has said in the past that the $3,500 threshold for registration is too low, an objection that some of the H.157 supporters agree with. Scott asked lawmakers this winter to raise the amount, but they didn't.

"As legislators are well aware, I have been willing to work with you to find a path forward," Scott said in his veto letter Thursday. He added that he agrees there is room for improvement in Vermont's existing consumer protection processes.

"But not necessarily through legislative action, and certainly not action that could advantage larger, established entities over small, local mom-and-pop businesses," he said.

Correction, February 10, 2022: An omitted word meant a previous version of this story misstated Balint's position.