by Chelsea Magwire
Every day, I hear of another 5+ generation Vermonter who feels they may need to leave their home, just to have a chance at successfully raising their family. Across the nation, wages aren’t keeping up with inflation or the cost of living.
Here in Vermont, we’re having taxes raised on top of new taxes each year, with no end in sight. The reason? As blue state retirees find homes in our more “lively” regions, progressives gain more of a foothold in our legislature.
It’s not a secret that Democrats in Montpelier are told how to vote on each bill. “This person is here and this person is here. Watch them for how you are to vote.” And they follow suit, partially because penalties can include losing your committee assignment or having an embarrassing hit-piece published about you. The party scratches their backs, too, though.
In 2023, Democrats supported a bill designed to double the pay of legislators by 2027. Who pays for this? I’m sure you can guess. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Education: This year, property taxes have gone up about 14% in Vermont. A big portion of that is due to an increase in education taxes. Education is absolutely important — but Vermont schools are asking for more and more money while there is no improvement on student outcomes. We spend the third most on education in the US, but the majority of our students are reading below grade level and our combined 4th and 8th grade students placed 20th in the US in mathematics testing. Vermont has failed to adopt proposals to increase academic transparency and parents rights in education.
In 2022, the VT Legislature passed Act 127, which allows the state to disperse education funds to districts as they deem necessary. More funding will be given to low-income, rural, or English-learning communities, assuming they will cost more to educate.
Classism? Perhaps. What this really means is the price-per-pupil you see on your annual school report is inflated and inaccurate, in order to obtain more funding. Some have recognized this as a DEI measure.
One issue, however, is many families aren’t sending students to public school. We’ve seen a decrease in enrollment over the last two decades, and as of 2023 around 9% of students attend private school, and over 4% of families homeschool. That means these families are paying out of pocket to educate their children, and their neighbors’ children. The elderly on fixed incomes without children in the school system at all are also paying. Where’s the “equity” in that?
Payroll Tax: Effective July 1, 2024, this is a rebranded income tax that levies both employers and employees (employers are paying the majority of the tax), as well as self-employed individuals. The purpose is to inject $120 million annually from Vermonters into the childcare system. Designed to offset the cost of childcare in Vermont, an issue that impacts most families.
This looks great on paper, however, during the pandemic we saw the owners of many childcare centers purchasing new vehicles instead of increasing employee wages or purchasing new equipment for the children with the federal dollars they received.
Despite the firm regulations Vermont has in place, families find themselves concerned with the wellbeing of their children while in the care of strangers. Every couple of months there are new reports of abuse in a Vermont daycare. There are also questions about childhood development and how that is impacted by the current daycare model. Parents sometimes feel their children are better off with them, and so families are having to weigh the cost of living on one, or one and a half, incomes. These families are living off of less money and still paying for the childcare centers they’re choosing not to utilize.
Housing: Housing is admittedly a more complex and nuanced issue. Vermont has seen a recent net growth of around 3000 residents. Many of those individuals are housed in motels, or are unhoused altogether. There aren’t enough apartments or other rental units to go around, but with the current state of the housing market buying a home is unattainable to the average Vermonter. Even worse, Act 250 makes it difficult for new housing to be built. Vermonters have been demanding Act 250 reform for around a half a century.
In 2024, H.687 became law. This “compromise” relaxes Act 250’s reach in existing development centers, while extending its reach in rural areas. That means it will be easier to develop housing complexes in areas where zoning is already in place, but it will be more difficult to build homes (and farms) in less densely populated areas of the state. This does not address the housing issue for families who desire to own a home AND land. It also does not address the fact that rising costs for homeowners also means rising rent prices, which makes renting in Vermont more difficult, as well.
Global Warming Solutions Act: Referred by most as the “Carbon Tax”, Vermont’s Climate Council aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. This is outlined in Act 153, which was passed in 2020. One part of this plan is the “Clean Heat Standard”, which failed in 2022 and has since been rebranded as the “Affordable Heat Act”. This was passed in 2023 (S.5) with a built-in study period. Ignoring the fact that Vermont is already carbon negative, this is up for a vote again during the 2025 session, and is likely to be voted on in January.
One issue is that older homes (ubiquitous in Vermont) may not be heated efficiently with an electric heat pump. Rural Vermonters experience frequent power outages in the colder months, sometimes for days on end. Out of concern for our youngest and oldest neighbors, someone asked Orange County Senator Mark MacDonald (D) about this. His response? “J* C*, buy a blanket.” Vermonters who choose safety over compliance will be forced to pay massively inflated costs to heat their homes. More than the average family can afford.
Upon speaking with other Vermonters aged 25-45, the sentiments were widely the same. Vermont seems to prefer people like us (working class, family oriented, generational Vermonters) move out in order to make room for wealthy, progressive, out-of-staters. In fact, Senator MacDonald can also be credited for saying that if Vermonters can’t afford their homes, someone else will. The Senator is far from the only Vermont lawmaker who shares this sentiment, as is evidenced by the recent onslaught of new fees and taxes designed to send our money to inefficient social programs. The crisis we’re facing in Vermont is a crisis the Legislature created.
In addition to wealthy out-of-staters buying homes at a high cost most Vermonters have no ability to pay, transient residents coming from out of state because of our social programs are receiving money, healthcare, and sometimes housing not available to the working class. This is a slap in the face to many Vermonters who are struggling to get by and contemplating leaving their homes and families behind in order to give their children a chance at a good life.
These are only some of the reasons we must carefully consider who we vote for this November. Social issues and inter-party disputes are meaningless if there are no Vermonters in Vermont to work with. Our first priority needs to be ensuring Vermont remains a place we can enjoy for what it was meant to be, not for what a few wealthy retirees want it to be. They package their vision with things that sound good – belonging, equity, compassion – and sell us all out in the process. Where are the native Vermonters to belong if this continues?