Jeff Yang, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, has an interesting look in a CNN commentary at the state’s pay people to move to Vermont & work remotely program.* The program, designed to entice people to Vermont and increase the workforce, was described by Governor Scott as an example of thinking “outside the box.” In his CNN piece, Yang describes what a real “outside-the-box” Vermont program might look like. Hint: it’s much more than what we’re doing now – layers of glossy websites, and flash & bang headlines.
From CNN: What’s ironic is how inside the box its “outside-the-box” thinking really is. Because while Vermont could be taking this moment to bring new diversity to a state that’s the second-whitest in the United States, it’s instead investing in initiatives that could easily end up maintaining the state’s culturally monolithic status. If Vermont had aimed this policy at explicitly encouraging new Americans to migrate to the state (the policy does not), it would be redressing a significant shortfall in the state’s demographics.
[…] The fact is, as Vermont, and America as a whole, ages and sees its workforce decline, immigration is unquestionably a critical part of the solution. But Vermont is paying American workers to move to its small towns and rolling hills, even as millions of people are willing to do just about anything to move to the United States. Some are desperately fleeing horrific conditions in their native countries.
The difficulties of taking on such a task, Yang, says are great but not impossible. And although, he says correctly, Vermont is a welcoming state, he notes the mostly unsuccessful efforts to relocate Syrian refugees to his city by the former Mayor of Rutland in 2016. As a candidate that same year, Governor Scott called for a pause in the effort over what he called his “concerns” about security vetting of those new immigrants. Under criticism for his less than convincing argument, he softened his tone but remained committed to aggressive vetting of those particular immigrants.
Yang suggests that funds could instead be directed to encourage companies to hire immigrants and set up partnerships with universities to assist newcomers to build the state population, workforce, and economy.
If Vermont really wants to boost its economy – while attracting young professionals and technology entrepreneurship to the state – here’s a radical idea: It should use the funds it has set aside to line the pockets of mobile American workers and put them instead toward becoming a better destination for immigrants from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East.
Now a program like that would put Think!Vermont way outside the comfortable little box it now lives in.
*Where were the media people who make up the snazzy names like Stay to stay, Think!Vermont etc. when Scott launched the get-paid-to-move-to-Vermont-work-remotely program? Maybe they ran out of budget to pay out-of-state pr-hype firms …
