Governor swings and misses at an S.5 veto
by Rep. Gina Galfetti
There was no joy in Mudville, Mighty Phil Scott had struck out.
After a herculean effort by the opposition to stop the implementation of S.5, the (Un) Affordable Heat Act, Scott’s veto was overridden. With members of the majority whipped into line to follow the herd, the few rational voices of dissent were not loud enough to be heard.
But more importantly, the people of Vermont were ignored by their duly elected representatives. The people had been counted as scared sheep whose shepherds know better. This is a sorrowful harbinger of what is to come with the current composition of Vermont’s legislature. One man stands in the way to protect the people, and like a quarterback with no line, he is exposed to the whims of the super majority.
The (Un) Affordable Heat Act was slammed down the throats of the membership and the people. While it is touted as a study, rulemaking and implementation powers have already been granted to the Public Utilities Commission, and mark my words, without a change in Montpelier there will be no turning back. The P.U.C has been granted extraordinary powers with no legislative oversight scheduled until 2025, at which time the ball will have moved so far down the field that turning things around will be very difficult. And at the end of the day, those who will suffer most are the elderly, the poor, and those on fixed incomes who cannot afford to convert to expensive new technologies. Nor will they see the alleged savings predicted in a 30-year model.
And let’s face it folks, the passage of S.5 launches Vermonters down the road to a regressive CARBON TAX. That, after all, is what we are really studying here, and S.5’s passage means we are now merely working out the details. We are forcing Vermonters who are already struggling with inflation, a housing, a workforce shortage, and rising taxes to give more in the name of climate mitigation. Climate change is very real, and man has contributed to it in a major way. However, until we can go after the major world polluters like China and India, is it necessary to break the backs of already overburdened Vermonters? The grid is not ready, the workforce to install the technologies is strapped, and the environmental impacts will amount to nothing, as folks of both sides of the aisle have admitted on the record multiple times. So I ask: Why do we need to tax Vermonters when we are already making great strides naturally, until the market will bear it and the grid can handle it?
But take note: The bill was cleverly designed so that most of the sticker shock does not take effect until after next year’s elections! So when one of your legislators who supported this bill and is running for reelection asks you whether you have been adversely affected by this law, don’t be fooled—the shoes start dropping in 2025!
Folks in the State house cried and cheered with the override of Scott Veto. But what they did not do was listen to their constituents. While I am a new rep, I was told by every experienced member in the House that they had never seen the outpouring of communication from the people to the legislature asking them to vote no. There were a number of contentious issues this session, but S.5. was like no other. Those in power were able to justify their abuse of power by claiming the many intelligent people of Vermont had been tricked and that they knew better what was good for the people. Well, I seek to remind the legislature that their one and only job is to represent the people who have chosen them to serve. Period. In the case of S.5. those who voted for it essentially claimed that the people were too stupid to know what is good for them. That to me smacks of the arrogance that the super majority has become drunk on. The ultra left is in control, and the voices of moderation are being ignored. Moderation on both sides of the aisle were ignored, and the people were ignored.
The bottom line is that we need balance in Montpelier. No voice should be blotted out by another, and only balance can do this. Only this will become the crucible of the peoples’ will that puts forth the most solid and well thought out legislation. The best law making comes from enlightened and respectful discourse between two or more sides; it does not come from might and force, as any who have lived in a dictatorship knows all too well.
So I will leave you with this: Vote for balance, vote for change, and vote to support our Governor, as he is all that stands between us and the rising tide.
Gina Galfetti is the Representative for the Washington/Orange District and can be contacted at: 802.461.3520 or ggalfetti@leg.state.vt.us
Categories: Rep. Gina Galfetti's Floor Report
Thank you Gina ! You give us hope that all of the up and coming generations are not indoctrinated in the doom and gloom of the Green, DEI. crapulausity .
As always, we have to ask “Cui bono?”. It’s surely not the average Vermonter, and if you ask me, it isn’t even the small-minded legislative minions who brought us this travesty. So who is the big player here? Who will benefit (financially) the most? And what did they promise the minions in exchange for their votes? Answer that, my friends, and only then can you begin to dispose of the elites and their minions.
Calling Scott a Republican Governor is like calling Biden smart – two words that should never be used in the same sentence!
I find it interesting that when the powers that be thought this was going to be forced onto them, they squealed like hogs going to slaughter, but it didn’t bother the legislators from Chittenden county to force this onto the rest of Vermonters. Consider this, say we all switch to heat pumps,(the life expectancy is 10 to 12 years) what happens when an ice storm comes along and power is not restored for days or even weeks. With a gas stove, you can still eat and keep from freezing to death. Please read the article below.
By John McClaughry
22
February 2021
The climate activists have found a new target for their mandates, restrictions, and taxes – the City of Burlington . They’re pushing a resolution that would lead quickly to a ban on burners, boilers, furnaces, stoves, fireplaces, and dryers that use natural gas. The resolution could also allow a carbon tax on Burlington residents that decide to keep their current heating system rather than converting to electricity. Imagine that! A natural gas free Burlington!
The tax on households that keep on heating with natural gas is another interesting liberal idea. Taxing for not switching to electric heat pumps is like taxing for not buying Obamacare health insurance. Happily Congress did away with the Obamacare individual mandate tax, so the Burlington tax for not doing something the government thinks is good for you, or for the government, or for the planet, is now at the top of the “tax ‘em until they give in” list .
A new organization named Opportunity Vermont has just been formed to fight back against this latest Nanny State plan. It aims to educate Burlingtonians on the unpleasant consequences of adopting the “Burner Ban” resolution. It has launched a petition drive calling on the Mayor and City Council to abandon any proposal that taxes residents who need gas for heat, hot water, or cooking.
S.5 may have had the benefit of a symbolic gesture towards resolving climate change. What percentage of the total CO2 production worldwide will be eliminated by a symbolic victory destined to raise the cost of living for those Vermonters who can will remain in state after this legislature finishes picking our pockets?
Since Chittendon county welds all the power in Mount Stupid it is only fitting that we boycott Burlington and the surrounding towns. Why would you send your children to UVM? It is these residents of that county who consistently vote to ruin Vermont. Look at Burlington, the once beautiful city on Lake Champlain. Do you need any more evidence of what the woke mindset is doing to that city and the state by their votes?
242,820 people in Vermont voted for Joe Biden, as did our (republican) governor cough, cough! Biden is ruining the country, inflation, open borders for a massive illegal invasion of people from 170 countries, $85 Billion dollars’ worth of high tech military equipment and vehicles left in Afghanistan for our enemies, Billons more in military hardware from our national stock sent to the Ukraine as well as Billions in cash, $3 Billion in cash just lost by the state dept., unheard of amounts of fentanyl crossing the southern border through Mexico from China and 100,000 deaths per day from overdoses of poison, illegal injection mandates and our national oil reserves nearly gone.
These are the realities of the Vermont voters here and nationally. And where is the Vermont republican party on all this? Crickets, I hope the voters are proud of their choices, but they should be ashamed. If this Vermont voting pattern continues in 2024, it will confirm that liberalism is a mental disorder.
It dosen’t matter what the people think or want or even what’s best for them. It’s about an agenda
A return to “One town, one vote.” would restore “balance” in the statehouse.
Ah, King Philp the Impotent I. The RINO King and leader of the Republican Castrati Coalition.
We won’t forget these 2023 Legislative highlights either: depopulation, transhumanism, vilification of men, weaponized lawfare, destroying families, erasing women, castrating/mutilating children, destroying women’s sports, destroying civil rights, exposing children to adult sexual content, lifelong big phama dependence, shield laws, and election rigging. All in all, a job well done for the criminal syndicate.