Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman, and stock car racer who has been the 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017.

[7][8] His father was disabled after being wounded while serving in World War II and later worked as a vehicle permit supervisor for the state highway department.

[13] Scott is a 1980 graduate of the University of Vermont, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial education.

[14] After graduating from high school, Scott began working at DuBois Construction, a Middlesex business founded by the brother of his mother's second husband.

[19] On January 6, 2012, a fire at DuBois Construction caused substantial damage,[20][21] but the owners rebuilt and continued operations.

[23] In October 2018, the state ethics commission issued an advisory opinion that Scott did have a conflict of interest because of his continued connection to the company.

[26] As chair of the Institutions Committee, Scott redesigned the Vermont State House cafeteria to increase efficiency.

[30] As a state senator and lieutenant governor, Scott was active with a number of community service projects.

The Castleton University Polling Institute found that more than three-quarters of Vermonters knew who he was, and that of those who were able to identify him, 70% viewed him favorably.

[33][34] As a member of the NLGA, he joined fellow lieutenant governors across the country in two bipartisan letters opposing proposed cuts to the Army National Guard in 2014 and 2015.

[43] A poll commissioned by Energy Independent Vermont in late June 2016 indicated that Scott had the support of 68% of Republicans to Lisman's 23%.

[48][49] On April 13, 2017, Scott announced a $150 million settlement with Raymond James Financial, Inc. as part of resolving fraud allegations by contractors and investors related to the Jay Peak and Burke Mountain EB-5 developments.

[50] According to an October 2017 Morning Consult poll, Scott's approval rating stood at 60%, making him the 7th most popular governor in the country.

In April 2018, another Morning Consult poll found that Scott's approval rating had risen to 65%, making him the 4th most popular governor in the country.

[64] Scott pledged to veto any budget that grows faster than the growth rate of the underlying economy or wages in the previous year, or that increases statewide property taxes.

House legislators incorporated a modified form of this proposal into the final FY19 budget, eliminating the tax for low- and middle-income retirees.

[76] University of Vermont economics professor Arthur Woolf Scott suggested that retention of older Vermonters, with larger incomes and tax revenues, would be a better focus, but Scott pointed to the lower average healthcare costs associated with a younger population.

[78] Scott has made expanding the labor force a priority of his administration, and has proposed and achieved initiatives that invest in workforce recruitment, retention, and relocation.

[80] But in part due to his opposition to a financial penalty for an individual mandate, the legislature passed and Scott signed a bill that would simply require attestation of health insurance.

[82] In April 2021, Bryan Kehl and Christopher Rufo, among others, criticized Scott for implementing a race-based COVID-19 vaccination schedule.

[86][72] Scott passed legislation that banned bump stock devices, expanded background checks for gun purchases, raised the age to purchase firearms to 21 (with certain exemptions), limited the sale of certain high-capacity magazines, increased restrictions on the sale of firearms to alleged domestic abusers, and created risk protection orders.

[94] As governor, Scott created a Government Modernization and Efficiency Team to implement efficiency audits, strengthen IT planning, implement a digital government strategy, and identify opportunities to eliminate inefficiencies, establish clear metrics and streamline services.

[86] Scott consolidated IT functions in state government with the creation of the Agency of Digital Services, saving $2.19 million.

"[98] In December 2022, he signed a constitutional amendment passed by Vermont voters to further protect the right to abortion in the state.

[110] Scott announced a settlement with Saint-Gobain to address water quality issues and PFOA contamination in Bennington County.

[112] On June 2, 2017, Scott led Vermont to join the United States Climate Alliance, after President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement.

[114] In 2019, he signed several pieces of legislation related to water quality, including creating a long-term funding mechanism for cleaning up the state's waterways, testing for lead in schools and child care centers, and regulating perfluorooctanoic acid and related PFAS chemicals in drinking water.

[115][116][117] On September 15, 2020, Scott vetoed the Global Warming Solutions Act, which mandated reductions to Vermont's carbon emissions.

[121] On July 6, 2017, Scott won the Thunder Road Late Model Series feature race; he started from the pole, and the victory was his first since 2013.

[122] He participated in a limited number of Thunder Road events in 2019, and won the June 27, 2019, LMS feature race.