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by Rep. Gina Galfetti
It would appear that House Democrats and Republicans have gotten off on the wrong foot. The Budget Adjustment Act passed recently was contentious for good reason. What should have been a simple act of balancing the budget after looking at the year’s expenditures became a policy bill. It subverted previous compromises that had been struck last session regarding the hotel voucher program and directly influenced policy to extend the program.
Democrats added a 1.8 million dollar appropriation to the bill that will extend the hotel voucher program until the end of June and remove the 80 day cap for occupancy. This is a policy that should have been introduced in a stand alone bill and worked through the process. The Legislature would have had plenty of time before the original April deadline to negotiate a compromise. The bill would have moved through the proper channels and been considered by both sides thoughtfully. Instead the Democrats decided to slide through the extension and change in policy in the BAA. Not a good indicator that they will live up to their pledge to “ reach across the aisle ”.
The bill was completely divided along party lines. Republicans presented compromises but the message fell on deaf ears and the legislation was slammed through in a manner that was reminiscent of the past sessions of the super majority. Luckily, if changes are not negotiated in the Senate and the Governor vetoes the bill we do have the votes to uphold his veto. Being able to uphold the veto is an effective tactic. However, the problem of going through the process this way adds significant time and wastes resources in the building. Time and resources that we should be spending on more important matters like school funding, public safety, health care and reversing and revising punitive environmental policy.
On that note, besides wasting resources and refusing to compromise on the Budget Adjustment Act, the Democratic majority controls who chairs what committees. As a result many pieces of legislation that would address these important issues have not been taken up for consideration. A great example is a bill that was introduced to remove the lawsuit provision from the Global Warming Solutions Act. The GWS lawsuit provisions opens the state up to lawsuits when the benchmarks for carbon emissions goals are not met. As a matter of fact there is already one lawsuit in the pipeline. Many many more will follow.
Who will pay to litigate the cases and pay any damages awarded? Answer: Vermonters!
With Democrats stalling and digging in so far this session the hopes of speedy legislative work that Vermonters so desperately need are fading. This is not acceptable. Voters sent a message to the super majority and destroyed it. Vermonters voted for change, for affordability, for relief! They sent a message that they can’t maintain the unbridled increases in the property taxes in this state. They sent a message that they didn’t feel safe. They sent a message that punitive environmental policy is not the way forward. Why aren’t Democrats listening?
Gina Galfetti is the Representative for the Washington/Orange District and can be contacted at: 802.461.3520 or ggalfetti@leg.state.vt.us
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Categories: Rep. Gina Galfetti's Floor Report
Thank you for this update Rep. Galfetti. Indeed the Democrats don’t seem to have gotten the message that was sent by the voters in the last election, when a tsunami of Republicans were swept into office by enraged Democrat voters without whose votes none of those Republicans would have been elected. The refusal of Democrat leadership to allow action on any of the Republican bills aimed at restoring affordability to Vermont’s energy policy shows how tone deaf they are to the needs of Vermonters.
In fact, the Democrats are spending time on bills that do just the opposite of restoring affordability. In the House Energy and Digital committee, where Chair James has refused to allow Republican bills to be considered, the week is being spent on H.125, Rep Laura Sibilia’s bill to task the PUC with studying the “energy transition” away from affordable energy and toward a fantasy world where wildly expensive and unreliable Solar, Wind and Batteries replace dependable and affordable natural gas and nuclear as the primary sources of energy.
In the Senate Energy Committee S.65 proposes to repeal the “least cost” principle for setting rates and replace it with a punitive assessment based on the “social costs of carbon” in order to prioritize renewables in Vermont’s energy policy.
These bills scoff at the voters who demanded affordability, voters such as the ones in heavily blue Addison County who ousted Chris Bray, the long time chair of the Senate Energy Committee and the chief architect of the Global Warming Solutions Act, the Clean Heat Standard, and the 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030 laws. All three of these laws were passed without Republican support and over the veto of Governor Scott by the since decimated Democrat Super Majority.
What does Vermont Need ??
DOGE,DOGE,DOGE,DOGE,DOGE,DOGE,DOGE,DOGE, let’s see where and what our tax dollars are being spent on, and let’s see a balanced budget !!!
Slow start?
The VTGOP was DOA.
Where are all the Republicans who ran on cutting spending and taxes?
Where is the plan and who owns?
If there is no plan, why is that?
If nothing is done in the next 3 weeks, the Republicans are finished.
actually we are all finished in the long run, regardless of our political leaning be it left, right, or middle. This state is going down the sink joining California.
I don’t think most Vermonters know the game that is constantly being played here – It’s the annual charade to financially FULLY support those who come here from near & far & who “claim” they wish to be/want to be/choose to/have to be homeless. In FACT, they are homeless specifically in light of the two the long-known government researched REALITIES that entirely cause homelessness in over NINETY percent of cases:
MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESSES & DRUG ADDITION. Period.
Now the looney leftists shall await the governor’s veto about his not wanting to again spend unnecessary & unneeded hardworking middle-income taxpayers’ monies to support the ever-increasing population of mostly out-of-staters who are being waved into this state by the far left & the insatiable appetites these people have for wanting others to foot their bill for EVERYTHING THEY should be personally responsible for while they commit crimes, refuse to work or educate themselves, or get CLEAN!
Next, the lunatics in legislature will kick & scream & call the governor a horrific, uncaring, “inequitable”, “racist”, “classist” lout & their pathetic green-haired friend will state she intends to AGAIN begin her “hunger strike” ( if ONLY as she sorely needs to drop a few pounds!) while living on the steps of the Capital until their demand for others to give them mo’ money is met —– all while Communist rags like VT Digger support their socialist cause & bad mouth ANYONE who dares to believe that personal accountability should actually be “a thing”..
The Governor will then initially CLAIM he won’t be extending any further deadlines but will as always eventually “cave” to the bleeding-heart PHONIES & once again use Vermonter’s monies as giveaways to any who fit the bill as “oppressed” by our “evil Capitalist” country & equally evil colonialism that losers such as George Washington & the rest of the founding fathers cruelly started hundreds of years earlier….or some bunch of creeps like them did.
It’s all a game. Guess who will win? The leftists win(!!!) as the governor or his GOP successor doesn’t wish to lose the next election – after being categorized as “bad, evil monsters who hate the disadvantaged”. Guess who loses? YOU(!!!) The VT taxpayer who is chronically having their pocket picked by this east coast California Clone called the State of Vermont!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So glad most of my family vamoosed (ooooohhhhh…..a “racist” expression, I’m sure) when they saw the handwriting on the wall two years ago. And there are MORE on the way. Keep it up, Commies!
Since Chittenden County isn’t smart enough to stop sending people like Phil Baruth and their usual cast of Liberal loonies to Montpelier, this cycle won’t change. Sure, voters spoke and IMO, will speak again. I find it amusing that since the Democrats know that they MUST play ball with the governor, they will do other things like dragging feet and such. I double dare the governor to place deadlines and stick to them. I would LOVE to see it. Of course, the Democrats will reply with, “The governor didn’t want to negotiate so…..”
Um, who is it that doesn’t want to negotiate?
Vermont DOGE is the answer
In other words, the empty platitudes and pandering over election season and a few changed over seats didn’t move the needle one iota. Shocker! Not. The Theater of Absurd continues, the taxpayers will shell out more money they don’t have, and more for sale signs will pop faster than the daffodils come Spring. Perhaps the only saving grace will be indictments, notices to appear slamming upon a number of desks, and the sound of clicking handcuffs around the Capitol complex will shake the clustered, entangled snakes loose? The federal spigot being turned off hasn’t seem to hit them yet, so they turn their ire onto taxpayers, turn all upside down to shake out any and all loose change. No honor among thieves and reprobates.
The “democrats” will not negotiate. Stop wasting your time and our money, let it out of committee let it go to a vote and let it be vetoed.
Doge