By Alison Despathy

Representative Anne Donahue (Republican) has served her Northfield and Berlin constituents and all Vermonters in the State House for 21 years. 

In a recent interview, her wisdom and moral compass shines through. So does her love of ice cream. She claims it is her favorite food, even her favorite nutritious food because of “all that good dairy.” As a nutritionist, I would say fat soluble nutrient deficiencies are quite common today. She may be on to something, if we look on the bright side. 

I asked about her role and goals for the 2024 session. She calmly replied: “Recognizing the limited role that a minority legislator can play, my goals are to ensure that the voices and needs of my constituents are heard, and that whenever possible, I can use my skills to help prevent blatant errors from occurring in bills that are being passed.”

And that she does indeed. Representative Donahue is a brave soul and dedicated legislator who takes the time to read, research and understand all bills that land on the floor. With meticulously prepared notes, she is one of the most vocal representatives on the floor of the House. She is unafraid to directly challenge House Speaker Jill Krowinski or other legislative leaders with comments, arguments and attempted amendments rooted in common sense, morality and a solid understanding and respect for the rights of the people.  

Representative Donahue does not hesitate to call out compromised legislation. Such bills have become a dangerously growing trend as the supermajority barrels ahead. When asked about the supermajority, she shared:

“I believe that the best decision-making comes from dialogue within a blend of ideas and perspectives. We lose that when people are able to ignore other views completely. Decisions become reckless. “

Reckless sums up the last legislative session perfectly. Speaking of recklessness, I inquired if Representative Donahue had read Representative Mike Mrowicki’s Jan. 7 “Real Affordability” commentary in VTDigger. The Putney Democrat says Governor Scott was not stepping up to help with affordability because he vetoed bills like the payroll tax to fund childcare (overridden and enacted into law as Act 76 last year). Mrowicki fails to mention H340, another bill with an effective and less burdensome option. 

Representative Donahue co-sponsored H.340. She “did not vote for Act 76, because of its staggering and unsustainable cost. In contrast, H. 340 took a rational step forward in helping families with child care costs. Even assuming that one believes the state should play a major role in child care, the concept that our social supports should be more in line with Europe – costing significantly larger percentages of income – is simply not fiscally viable in a tiny state that must compete economically in order to sustain itself. It would require a radical shift in national policies.” 

Mrowicki also argues that the Governor’s veto of S.5 – the Affordable Heat Act – also showed his lack of support for affordability. Yet S.5 will only increase heating fuel costs for Vermonters and create another program in need of funding. Representative Donahue said S.5 is  “deeply misguided” legislation that has the potential to “sink Vermont into a downward economic spiral if it drains taxpayers and thereby keeps economic investments in other states.” 

(Side note: I would have responded to Mrowicki’s column but VTDigger has officially shut me out and censored me. In the “pursuit of truth.” But I digress.)

This session Representative Donahue has introduced H.527, requiring retail businesses to accept cash. Senator Andrew Perchlik (D/P Washington) has sponsored a similar bill (S.175) in the Senate.  

Rep. Donahue explained that H.527 originated from “A constituent who brought to my attention that a local business had started to refuse payment in cash, causing her hardship. This is a particularly serious problem for those without access to credit.” This bill has tri-partisan support which should help move it forward. 

Several states and cities now have laws on the books requiring businesses to accept cash. A Massachusetts law in place since 1978 reads:

“No retail establishment offering goods and services for sale shall discriminate against a cash buyer by requiring the use of credit by a buyer in order to purchase such goods and services. All such retail establishments must accept legal tender when offered as payment by the buyer.” 

An estimated 7.1 million US households have no bank accounts. Low income households top this list. Many do not have cell phones and do not want Venmo, Apple Pay or any other app that relies on digital transfers, tracks their purchases or has the ability to freeze accounts – as happened in Canada during Covid. 

When asked about her top three priorities at the State House, Representative Donahue responded:

“Our main responsibility is to pass a budget. The priority needs to be to resist any creation of new programs, given the burdens of paying for the new ones we have already started in the recent past years”.

“The second is to make greater progress in curbing health cost growth – which drives a major part of increases in education and state funding.”

“Third is to reassess our thinking of recent years in terms of the criminal justice system, to ensure that public safety is better protected within the goals of justice.”

To curb increasing health costs, Rep. Donahue introduced H.118 last session because “We are failing in our response to help low-income elders pay for health care. When a person goes onto Medicare, they lose access to significant supports. This is wrong. I hope that we take a first step to correcting this inequity by passing my Medicare support bill (H.118).”

In her spare time, Representative Donahue says she has a “bad habit of plunging into major projects that capture my interest and attention and then take up huge amounts of time.” This past summer that project centered on “research to identify the burial locations of patients in the Vermont asylum between 1892 and 1913 whose burials were never recorded.” She reckons that she has “put hundreds of hours into this project.” 

Her newly introduced bill H.528 is a direct result of this project and is intended to “identify and protect unmarked graves of people who were in state custody.” She explains that this “is ‘minor’ in some ways, with almost no cost, yet I think it addresses a major moral responsibility.” She hopes this will be recognized and move forward.

Many Vermonters say that bills that do not bring financial burdens to Vermonters would be most welcome this session. A focus on moral responsibility would be a step in the right direction. But with the supermajority running wild, it is hard to imagine they will reign in spending more of Vermonters money. 

On a final note, Representative Donahue shared two of her favorite movies, Romero and Life is Beautiful. I hope to watch Romero – a biopic about an archbishop assassinated in El Salvador – and I wholeheartedly agree that Life is Beautiful is a timeless masterpiece. It’s no surprise she loves these movies. They are about heroic lives founded on integrity and service. 

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