Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott on Tuesday announced his appointment of Michael Hoyt, of West Hartford, to fill the vacant Windsor-4 seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. Hoyt replaces Heather Surprenant who resigned in September 2025.
“I believe Mike’s experience working in state government as well as serving in his local community will bring a valuable perspective to Montpelier,” said Governor Phil Scott. “I appreciate his willingness to step up and serve.”
“It is an honor to be appointed to the remainder of Representative Surprenant’s term and I look forward to serving the people of the Windsor-4 District,” said Hoyt.
Hoyt grew up in Norwich before attending the University of Vermont and Vanderbilt University Law School. He has worked as an attorney for the Vermont Legislature and the Vermont Department of Labor and currently works at Dartmouth College. Hoyt was elected to the Hartford Selectboard in 2021 and is currently Vice-Chair of the Selectboard, having served as Chair the three years prior. He and his wife Natalie currently reside in West Hartford.
Hoyt’s appointment is effective December 2. He was selected from a list of candidates forwarded by the local Democratic party.
Governor Scott on the need for “education transformation” this legislative session
Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today addressed the projected double-digit property tax increase announced earlier this week by the Department of Taxes at his press conference.
GOVERNOR PHIL SCOTT:
Today I’m joined by Commissioner Shouldice and Secretary Saunders to talk about the property tax rate letter.
It comes as no surprise that there’s another significant tax increase forecasted due to an increase in education spending.
It’s also exactly why my Administration has proposed many ideas over the last 10 years to fix the broken system and change the trajectory.
As you are all well aware, last session, we worked with the legislature to pass a bipartisan bill to transform the education system, create better outcomes for students, provide more resources for teachers and adopt a new funding system that is more predictable and affordable.
In the last five years alone, property taxes have increased by over 40% with fewer kids in our schools, fewer opportunities in the classroom, and more inequities from town to town.
Equity and making sure our kids get a quality education, regardless of where they live, is an important part of the plan we presented last year and the bill that was eventually passed.
We knew when we started this process that none of this would be easy. But we all agreed it was long past time to fix the broken system because the longer we wait, the harder it gets.
Last session, Act 73 was passed and I was proud to stand with Republican leaders McCoy and Beck as well as Speaker Krowinski, Pro Tem Baruth, Chairs Conlon, Kornheiser, Bongartz, Cummings and many more, on both sides of the isle, as I signed it into law.
From the beginning I made it clear that change of this magnitude must be bipartisan and we must be willing to have the courage to see this through because last November, Vermonters sent a clear message: they’ve had enough and simply can’t afford the status quo any longer.
After this week’s tax news, we should all remember that message.
The way Act 73 is structured, everything is dependent on the Legislature approving a new governance structure to reflect the fact that we’re now educating 20% fewer K-12 students than we were 20 years ago, in order to “right size” the system.
Although far from easy, we must address funding, governance and quality all at once. Because we’ve seen well-intentioned efforts of the past fail by doing it piece meal and only focusing on one of the three parts.
Over the last year, we’ve had good conversations with legislative leaders about education transformation and I’m ready to follow through on our shared objectives, despite the efforts of those who seem determined to preserve a failing system that promises more of the same: declining test scores at ever increasing costs.
The choice before lawmakers in 2026 is clear. We can continue to work together to keep moving forward with our plan or they can explain to their constituents why double-digit tax increases are acceptable while inequality grows from region to region and test scores plummet.
Despite the head winds, I’m confident we can once again prove we can do big things by working together and having the courage to follow through.