by Paul Dame

As the legislative session ended on Friday, many Vermont Republicans are looking back at what a difference an election makes. During the 2023-24 legislative session, despite having the Governor’s office, the Democratic supermajority was barreling through veto overrides like kids going through candy on Halloween night. Then Vermont voters took a new direction in the fall of 2024, and the past two years have been a complete reversal of some of the problems created by the supermajority, as well as Republicans in the minority achieving their agenda in ways that seemed impossible just two years ago. If Vermont’s Republicans are not the most effective minority in any legislature in the country, then I’d like to hear who is. The three fundamental themes were affordability, structural change, and protecting property rights and freedom.

It was a biennium of affordability — something the VTGOP has been campaigning on since the first Red Wave in 2014. After nearly a decade, we passed a tax relief package that included first a partial, and then a full repeal of the military pension tax. That same package also included income tax reductions for seniors on Social Security and families with young children who qualified for an extension of the child tax credit. In addition, the legislature did not invent any new taxes or fees for Vermonters to pay, despite some proposals that had been put forward by powerful Democrats in leadership positions. We even stopped the Affordable Heat Tax that was already in the works. Republicans also worked to cut down the property tax increase from a nearly impossible 14% in 2024 to only a 3.5% increase this year, despite solid Democratic control.

It was also a biennium of methodical structural change. There were many programs that were in need of reform, or creation, that were spearheaded by the Governor and supported by the efforts of Vermont Republicans in the legislature. The first was creating the CHIP program, which will help build housing and other supporting infrastructure with the same kind of assistance that other parts of the state get through a Tax Increment Financing district. We also worked on a long-term plan to stop raiding the transportation fund to subsidize high education costs, so that we can have money that we were missing out on during the 2023-24 session when we left federal highway funds on the table instead of getting more matching dollars to pave our roads and repair our bridges.

And of course, the biggest and most needed structural change — education spending and financing — finally got started this biennium despite Democrats constantly dragging their feet and waiting until the last minute. Through persistent efforts, Republicans were able to get a change to a foundation formula that will help tie spending and local property taxes more closely together and stop allowing some districts to pass the costs of their new programs and excess spending on to the rest of the state, while those same parts of the state struggle to keep local schools open. There is more work to do, and while Republicans didn’t get everything we wanted, we did at least start the ball rolling on changing a system that has been stuck in status quo gridlock for three decades.

And finally, it’s been a biennium of protecting personal freedom and property rights. While Progressives took great strides in the previous session, Republicans were able to push back on legislation that was passed with the two-thirds majority needed for veto overrides. Such an effort was unthinkable at the beginning of the year, but when Vermonters from around the state started to get organized and informed about the implications of Act 181, the backlash was so overwhelming that some Senate Democrats ended up voting for the changes a week or two after voting against them.

At the heart of the repeal was the removal of Tier 3 designations, which could have put permanent restrictions on thousands of acres of land owned by regular Vermonters, making it difficult or even impossible for them to improve or develop in the future. Republicans were also able to repeal the Road Rule, which put limits on building with driveways over a few hundred feet. The supermajority had engaged in some serious overreach, and Republicans were able to undo the worst offenses, even though we were still a minority the entire time.

In addition to protecting the rights of property owners, a new Right to Farm bill also protected the rights of Vermont’s farmers to continue taking care of the land they’ve inherited over generations, unbothered by new neighbors trying to exert their will from a second home.

All of these landmark accomplishments would have been a valiant success if Republicans had been in the majority in one or both chambers. But we were able to deliver for Vermonters across the state despite being in the minority in both chambers because we worked together as a team with the Governor and with the support of Vermonters getting involved in new ways. Together, we were able to bring about much-needed change for our entire state.

As we gear up for the 2026 elections, all of our Republican incumbents can be proud of the work that was done and look ahead to doing even more if Vermonters once again grant our candidates their votes and support to keep making a difference the Vermont Way.