by Rep. Gina Galfetti
The conditions in the Statehouse this 2024 session are extremely tense. Now, more than ever, voices of reason are being ignored as individual agendas are being pushed forward. The money from the Fed has dried up and we are facing huge budgetary shortfalls. Warp speed is fully engaged in an effort to jam through legislation with as little debate as possible. We are scrambling to fix the broken system that was created in the form of Act 127 and fix education funding, pushing for more legislation to help us meet the unrealistic goals of the Global Warming Solutions Act and trying to line our own pockets with pay raises in the name of equity.
The primary problem this year is the speed at which legislation is being handled. The Budget Adjustment Act was the first bill fast-tracked. The Governor’s recommendations were largely ignored and issues such as flood relief took priority. While indeed we needed to get critical funding to flood impacted communities, we swept the fact that we were again extending and expanding the hotel voucher program. The BAA is now in the Senate and is being sliced and diced there but ultimately, we will once again overspend.
The next big problem is Act 127 and the 5% cap on a tax rate increase and weighted pupil calculations. The Act’s cap essentially encouraged school districts to spend beyond a 5% increase to draw down money for what was over and above the 5%. As a result, Vermonters are now facing a potential 20% property tax increase. And buckle up because, despite the removal of the cap and delaying budget votes so that districts can return to the drawing board and propose reasonable budgets, we will still be facing a 18 percent increase depending on where the weighted pupil average puts one’s district as either positive or negative. This is unacceptable! Vermonters cannot afford this, period. We are at our breaking point and the super majority appears to be completely oblivious!.
Finally, we have a bill, H. 289, which is currently in the Ways and Means Committee that will increase fees for a program which would create more renewable energy in the grid. It would do this by generating over $1 billion in revenue over the next 10 years that will be picking the tax-payers pocket in the form of another fee on your power bill. We have an alternative to this by allowing the Department of Public Safety to deal with administering the program with a price tag of about $260,000.00. Why would we want to spend 4 times more than what is needed?
All and all, players in the Super Majority are steam-rolling the process. Committee Chairs are not taking testimony from crucial witnesses and ignoring any voice of dissent. I have used the word “we” throughout this update because all of us sent here are part of the legislature and I am proud to serve Barre Town and Williamstown. However, with only 36 peers in the Republican Caucus we can only hope to make bad legislation less bad in committee or through floor amendments and that is not in the spirit of a true democratic process. But I hope that you, my constituents, know that I will be doing everything I can to be that voice of reason – and of dissent when it’s necessary- in a legislative body that appears to have lost its collective mind.
Gina Galfetti is the Representative for the Washington/Orange District and can be contacted at: 802.461.3520 or ggalfetti@leg.state.vt.us