2024 Legislature reconvenes tomorrow
by Alison Despathy
The Vermont Legislature reconvenes at 10 AM tomorrow. Here’s my wishlist for reshifting the focus back to serving Vermont and protecting the rights of Vermonters.
Support Representative Mark Higley’s bill H.74 and Repeal the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA). For anyone paying a bit of attention to the Vermont statehouse over the past several years, the GWSA has been nothing but trouble. It has sucked all of the air out of the statehouse and dangerously interfered with Vermont’s ability to focus on what matters here. It has taken tremendous money, resources, energy and time away from legislation and action that would protect and steward our natural resources for generations to come and focus on infrastructure repair and planning versus the elusive carbon atom.
We need real world actions with tangible benefits in Vermont. Obsession with carbon is distracting the entire legislative body from necessary steps and costing all of us a lot of money.
Carbon is not Vermont’s issue. We have the lowest level of carbon emissions in all of New England. Vermont’s carbon emissions are completely sequestered by our forests covering 75% of our state. Any legislator who cannot refocus efforts away from carbon should move to China and help them deal with their rapidly growing coal situation.
Let’s sustainably conserve and steward Vermont lands and resources and move on from carbon. H.74 simply takes the GWSA and makes it goals instead of requirements. This allows for awareness of carbon emissions and in reality ensures that efficiency is the focus – efficient cars, heating systems, lifestyles, all of which are happening naturally as market forces demand this. An efficiency focus saves money and lightens the load thus bringing actual results.
H.74 also removes the Vermont Climate Council whose track record is severely lacking. They have ignored their subcommittees recommendations and not offered any worthy action. They are un-elected, unaccountable and are eating resources in the statehouse.
If H.74 passed, Vermont could no longer be sued for not meeting its carbon reduction goals. The last thing Vermont needs is to waste money on a lawsuit because we cannot reduce our already low carbon emissions in the time frame demanded by the GWSA. It is time for Vermont to get back to Vermont issues and H.74 opens the path for this to happen.
We will see if the floods were enough of a wake up call to bring the legislators back to earth working for a Vermont plan. Many have been closely watching the Public Utilities Commission process for developing the Clean Heat Standard. It is not pretty, it is actually torturous. The timeline and demands placed on the PUC are unrealistic. Again, it is eating up precious time, money and resources to develop a program that will never serve Vermonters, will not help the environment and brings financial burdens, more bureaucracy and a real nightmare to Vermont. Representative Charles Wilson has introduced a bill that would repeal the Affordable Heat Act and end the agony for the PUC, Vermonters, and small businesses. There is absolutely nothing beneficial that could ever come from the Affordable Heat Act.
Fund the Police, ensure public safety. Appropriate money for training programs, recruitment, and worthy pay for our law enforcement. These valuable public servants deserve respect and gratitude; they have not been treated kindly the past several years. Taking a percentage of the ever growing vice taxes in VT would be an appropriate use of funds to help keep Vermonters and our communities safe.Leave the hunters alone. These folks are our survivalists. These are the people who will be protecting and feeding the rest of us if trouble strikes, economies crash or supply chains fail. Recognize that the wisdom and traditions they carry have kept our ancestors alive and keep humans connected closely with nature. They epitomize the spirit of Ethan Allen, independence and self sufficiency. We should honor their wisdom and skills.
Hold Senator Baruth back from further Constitutional infringements on second amendment rights that allow Vermonters to protect themselves and their families, especially with the rise in crime and drugs that the state has experienced due to compromised laws that encourage crime. Not only is this common sense, it is the people’s Constitutional right.
Support teachers and students. All communities want to see their children receiving a high quality education and thriving. Teachers play an essential role in educating, supporting and nurturing children. Ensuring that they are adequately supported and their bases covered is essential to the success of our children. With a focus on teachers and students, independent audits of public school spending should be mandatory. This could significantly reduce the proposed education tax increases, ensure that money is used wisely and that schools successfully operate within their means. The new pupil weighting scheme wastes money and time with an even more complex funding structure. I am sure Representative Sibilia and Representative Sims meant well but this will not solve the problems the schools face related to poor academic performance and increased budget demands on an already overly strained tax base. Meaningful education reform is a top priority.
The current model for funding mental health at schools places the burden on communities. Of course, children should be supported but how much should a community be expected to cover for health services provided at the school is a key question. How many mental health staff and behavior interventionists can a community afford. Should health services even happen at a school? It is time to reevaluate this model and the expectations of cost on the community. Drawing clear lines on tech and screen time at schools will also help students connect with each other and support their education and health.
Prevent public school monopolies. Ensure that religious schools and independent schools continue to receive state funding for students. Explore Representative Arthur Peterson’s bill H.405 which aims to provide all Vermont students with school choice. High school could be considered as a starting point. Families deserve options for their children that align with their world views and priorities. Choice would allow this opportunity. Get schools competing and offering environments and curriculum that attract students and families. A variety of options are necessary, children thrive in different environments with different learning styles. Consider a legislative change to allow charter schools to develop to meet these needs.
Support the farmers. There is a wave of new guard farmers who want to raise food with sustainable and diversified practices on small scale farms that prioritize quality over quantity. Farmers should not have to engage in ecotourism to make a viable living. Many farmers are trying to shift their models to include environmentally friendly practices, amendments and closed loop systems. Ensuring that regulations are designed to support these paths and that farmers have access to resources, low interest funding and grants to establish or transition their farms, raise food, steward the land and nourish our communities is a vital priority.
H.23 is sponsored by Representative Larry Labor and offers a starting point in election integrity. This bill requires the Secretary of State’s office to mail general election ballots to active voters only upon request versus mailing ballots to all active voters. A general mailing very clearly brings risk. A voter should be asked to verify their identity and signature. Election integrity is essential to the sacred act of casting our vote. We cannot allow this process to be compromised or placed at risk. Preemptive action is key and will prevent a myriad of problems down the road as is happening in other states.
Vaccine reporting – H.189 protects Vermonters. Federal government regulating agencies have repeatedly failed the public. The Health and Human Services’ Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systems (VAERS) reported cases for covid vaccines higher than all other vaccines since the 1990s. Safety thresholds were ignored and manipulated. The Center for Disease Control’s own VSAFE data showed 7.7% of those vaccinated ended up seeking medical care. This is over 700,000 individuals out of 10,000,000 total. This information was only available after one and a half years of legal battles to access this data. Trust has been obliterated. It is up to the people to monitor adverse events related to vaccines for the sake of humanity, especially our children. H.189 builds the framework for this analysis in Vermont
The author is a clinical nutritionist in St. Johnsbury.