by Gina Galfetti
Here we go, the Vermont State Legislature is back in session. In addition to being sworn in we should have to take the Hippocratic oath, to first do no harm. The voters have spoken by throwing out many lawmakers that would seek to do harm to working Vermonters. It is time for the Legislature to work together and make changes that will control property tax rates and foster a better education system, rein in health care costs, promote public safety and fix the Global Warming Solutions act to align it with reality. These are the issues Republicans ran on, and the people of Vermont clearly agree.
Controlling property taxes is going to take a whole system overhaul. We need to make cuts in some areas like bloated administration and look to compromise on local control. School consolidation is also going to be on the table and must come from the top down rather than pitting neighbor against neighbor to strike a balance. The Secretary of Education has been working closely with the administration to come up with a bold new plan. It will be up to the legislature to get elements of this plan passed.
Rising health care costs are crushing everyone in the state. We need more competition in the market place and a complete overhaul of the Green Mountain Care Board. The board is completely dysfunctional and is not bringing health care costs into check. How can we penalize Hospitals that are turning a profit by eliminating beds? What is the impact of an out of control VT Medicaid system on the overall cost of health care? And how do we serve an aging population that is largely rural? These are the questions that the Legislature will grapple with during this session and there are not a lot of easy answers.
Public safety is of the utmost concern; the catch and release policies that have been pushed are clearly not working. We are continually re-releasing dangerous offenders with no accountability. We must hold offenders accountable for their behavior or they will continue to re-offend. Harsher penalties and a repeal of “Raise the Age” are on the table. It is clear that criminals have taken advantage of Vermont’s lax laws on youthful offenders which has promoted the use of youth in the commission of crimes. Raising the age is having the opposite effect on children by leading criminal syndicates to target young people for smuggling, distributing and selling drugs.
Revising and repealing portions of the Global Warming Solutions act must be done immediately! The clock is ticking on the unrealistic benchmarks that were included in this legislation. We will not be able to meet the ludicrous reductions in carbon output that we prescribed in this poor legislation and we have opened ourselves up to lawsuits when that does not happen. Auto dealerships will not be able to procure enough EV’s to meet the requirements and folks will be forced to buy 2 year old EV’s 20% or more over market value. Home heating fuel must not be taxed at an additional 4 dollars per gallon and expensive carbon credits can not be traded as a commodity.
Making progress on these issues means that the Legislature needs to work together and work with the Governor’s office. Democrats seemed poised to do this as they are eagerly waiting for the Governor’s plan for education funding as they have none and created the mess we are in. They have co-opted the Republican message of affordability and now they must step up to work with and listen to us. The issues we Republicans ran on are the issues that the people of Vermont found to be the most important. We Republicans look forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting to work and sincerely hope that we will be listened to in 2025 and 2026. Democrats still have the majority, and Republicans can’t advance logical policies without their approval.
Gina Galfetti is the Representative for the Washington/Orange District and can be contacted at: 802.461.3520 or ggalfetti@leg.state.vt.us