Governor Scott cites shrinking workforce, student population and housing shortage as main economic challenges

Says immigration is a possible opportunity during visit to Rutland

By Curt Peterson

Gov. Phil Scott spoke to an audibly supportive crowd at Rutland’s Southside Steak House Monday morning, June 5, hosted by the Chamber and Economic Development of the Rutland Region (CEDRR). 

Scott cited the state’s economic challenges, including a shrinking workforce, student depopulation in the school system, and the housing shortage. He said each day six workforce members leave Vermont and student numbers drop by three. As a result, the general population is aging — Vermont is the second oldest state after Maine.

This puts a strain on the economy. 

When asked about possibly drawing younger families and workers to Vermont from the pool of immigrants at the U.S. border — particularly skilled and trainable individuals — to help fill necessary gaps in Vermont. Scott agreed the immigrant pool is an obvious source to remedy some of Vermont’s demographic problems, and could help the state economically in the future. He said he has written letters both to former president Trump and subsequently to president Biden, asking for an increase in immigrants assigned for resettlement in Vermont. 

Trump did not respond. Biden allotted a higher number, but it was not a significant increase, Scott implied.

In a March 2023 report on state-by-state immigration status for the non-profit Immigration Research Initiative, David Dyssegaard Kallick wrote, “The president, without action from Congress, has a great deal more influence over refugee resettlement than other aspects of immigration policy.”

Whoever is president can set the cap on refugee resettlement each year.

The resettlement program applies only to those with refugee status – not to undocumented border crossers who are non-refugees. 

Refugee status requires documentation of persecution for at least one of five characteristics: race, religion, nationality, being a member of a particular social group, or political opinion, according to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services. 

Surprisingly, Vermont is high on the list of resettlement jurisdictions, ranked No. 6 among the 50 states on a per capita basis. 

In the past 10 years 2,001 refugees have been placed in the state, 310 per 100,000 residents. In 2020 there were more than 30,000 new applicants for refugee status.

Scott said the major challenge when accepting refugees is adequate housing, already a serious problem for native Vermonters. The state has invested over $30 million in addition to private investment in creating new housing.

He said the Legislature ignored his budget request for $5 million for renovating unused dwellings to improve housing accessibility.

“This program was a success in the past, putting 600 housing units into the market, but the legislators didn’t want to re-fund it,” he said, Monday.