It was invigorating to see many of you at Town Meeting recently. Thank you to the many volunteers who work tirelessly to keep our towns in good financial standing, our roads in an acceptable state of repair, our trail networks maintained, and our collective needs met. I encourage those of you with ideas on how to improve your Town Meeting to offer your services to your town—we are all better off when we can take advantage of the expertise of community members.
A Warren resident posed a question at Town Meeting regarding the legislature’s plans for rectifying Vermont’s increasing property/education tax situation. While I did share the legislature’s current discussion on whether to buy down property/education taxes this year with the full $105 million the governor has recommended, or to apportion that amount to buy down taxes over the next two or three years. The House Ways & Means Committee will be making a decision on this shortly, and will then collaborate with the Senate, and ultimately, the governor. I support a buy-down of some sort to mitigate the continuous increases in our property tax bills.
Our long-term solution is tied to the foundation formula proposed in Act 73, which will shift school-budgeting decisions from local school boards to the state. The foundation formula, proposed to be enacted on July 1, 2028, will give the state the authority to fund schools based on a uniform per-student amount; weights for economic disadvantage, special education, English language learners, and interrupted formal education will be added on top of the per-student amount. The foundation formula will allow the state to manage how much money will be spent on public education, instead of the current situation where the state is mandated to fund every school budget submitted. Instead of waiting to see what property taxes will be, based on total school budget needs, the state will decide what property taxes will be, and fund schools accordingly. This seems like a logical change. However, schools will need to manage to this new budget, and in many instances, the status quo will not be amply funded, thus demanding change. The work on Act 73 continues. . .
Local supporters of the Mad River Path joined Representative Torre and me at the State House last week for a meeting with state and regional stakeholders regarding the Mad River Valley Active Transportation Corridor project. The meeting was beneficial in terms of raising statewide awareness for the project, and strategizing how to move forward in a timely and cost-efficient manner. The Path has made significant progress recently, gaining support from the towns of Warren and Waitsfield to fund an implementation coordinator position, and nearing its goal of funding the Kingsbury Greenway section.
Members of Harwood Union’s Youth Lobby visited the State House last week to advocate for action supporting Vermont’s Global Warming Solutions Act. Rep. Stephens (Waterbury), Rep. Torre, and I spent time with the students to hear their ideas and concerns. Several students wanted to talk about Education Reform (Act 73), and many were interested in participating in a conversation regarding the potential efficiencies in reviewing local school bus transit and public transit systems. We committed to scheduling a meeting on this subject later this spring, with representatives from HUUSD and our new public transit provider.
Bills passed recently:
H-545—an act allowing Vermont’s Commissioner of Health to issue immunization recommendations and require health insurers to cover the cost of these, regardless of federal recommendations. (An amendment proposed to this bill added requiring informed consent for vaccines—the committee rejected this, responding that this would be a change to VT vaccination policy and should be addressed separately if there is support.). In Senate now.
H-512—an act relating to the regulation of event-ticket resellers, limiting ticket mark-ups to 110% of original ticket price. In Senate now.
H-849—an act relating to civil action for damages for deprivation of federal or state constitutional rights by any government official.
Please be in touch if you would like me to join a meeting, share a legislative update, or have a conversation outside of regularly-scheduled constituent meetings. And a reminder that the Vermont State House is “the people’s house”—you are welcome to visit, have lunch in the cafeteria, and sit in on House, Senate, and committee deliberations.
Upcoming Constituent Meetings:
Monday, March 30 at 7:30 AM-8:30 AM, The Warren Store
Monday, April 13 at 5:15 PM – 6:15 PM, Big Picture Theater
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