By Maureen Heck

I am Maureen Heck, an Independent Constitutionalist Candidate, running for Lamoille County’s Senate seat.  A former employee of AT&T and married to Cody Forte, a native of Reading, VT.  Now retired, and living in Hyde Park, I have decided to run for Senate and be part of the sea of change needed in Montpelier. 

Lamoille County’s 13-year incumbent Republican/Democrat Senator, Rich Westman’s 2016 ‘Yes’ vote, along with the rest of the Supermajority, repealed Act 46 (i.e., Public School Budget Caps and Penalties for Overruns) which was in a large part the cause of the current historical property tax increase.  Act 46 has failed to produce timely Mandated Annual Progress Reports, as the 2020 Report was just issued.  At this point, we do not know what is working and what isn’t, therefore an independent consulting company should be brought in to do an evaluation of ACT 46.  The Commission is directed to produce short-term cost containment recommendations in 2024 and final in 2025 but cannot without having the factual data.  One of the purposes of Act 46 was to support local decisions…at a cost that Parents, Voters, and Taxpayers value.  The value of Act 46 remains a mystery.  My extensive corporate experience with profit and loss responsibilities and expertise will offer different approaches to reformulate with reduced budgets, as well as holding these agencies accountable for their legal mandated commitments to the public.  

I support the Governor’s Property Tax Repeal which is the number one issue in Lamoille County.  I also concur with the Governor that the Supermajority’s policies do not represent Vermonters overall views and more importantly their purse strings.  Our families expect reasonable legislation with policies that will help hard working Vermonters. Not drive them out of the state.  At the Lamoille County Field Days, folks told me they want to see the return of local control of their school budgets, programs, and staffing.  They were in support of Scott’s Tax Repeal and agreed that the three-year internal audit by the Supermajority on the Public School Budget seems ineffectual.

Crime is on the rise in Lamoille County and throughout our entire state.  I fully endorse Martin Green’s “Proposed Catch and Release Solutions” printed in the Vermont Daily Chronicle on Sept. 2, 2024. Martin’s due diligence, interviews with Judges and Law Enforcement and reports from our County Court Cases, provided the necessary insights to the facts and issues that are at hand.  If implemented, I believe the solutions Green has proposed will make the corrective actions necessary to provide the law and order our community is demanding.

There are many parts to the puzzle concerning flood mitigation in Vermont.  I endorse the anti-Geo-Engineering legislation that New Hampshire and Tennessee passed making weather modification cloudseeding operations illegal, as it is not regulated.   Due to the excessive flooding, waterway dredging has been ‘brought up to the surface’ by Lamoille County Citizens.  I am in support of protecting the structural integrity of our waterways.

I will vote to Repeal the Global Warming Solutions Act, which was passed with a provision enabling Vermonters to sue the state should it fail to attain the goals by 2025.  

I will vote NO on the Clean Heat Standards Act “Carbon Credit” Tax, doubling fuel costs $8.00 per gallon or $2000.00 to fill up a 250-gallon tank.   

Housing Crisis – Act 250 must be loosened for developers and the Land Gains Hold/Tax should be reduced from 6 to 3 years; the Supermajority did not loosen Act 250 to address the Housing Crisis so how can they ask for your Vote again in November?  

I will propose a Bill making “Equity Theft” illegal in Vermont.  Upon the sale of a foreclosure resulting from unpaid taxes, the remaining equity- after payment of tax-lien- should be transferred to the former home or landowner(s). This will STOP municipalities from keeping your property equity profits.