Floor Speech by Rep. Lisa Hango at the end of 2023 Session
Madam Speaker –
Here we sit, concluding our business of passing legislation – initiatives requiring new funding sources, adding hundreds of millions of dollars that will burden working Vermonters by increasing taxes and fees across many sectors. While this budget contains many worthy programs, I cannot support this unsustainable increase. Tens of millions of those dollars are allocated to new positions within State government to administer these new programs or to expand existing ones. That leads me to a real dilemma: On one hand, we are desperate for more workers; yet on the other hand, we are driving those very workers away from our State.
Madam Speaker, for $3.5 million, we have had the opportunity each year that I have sat in this seat, to attract and retain a ready-made, skilled workforce. Sadly, this legislation has remained on the wall – a bill to exempt all military pensions and survivors benefits from state income tax – a bill that would honor the sacrifices that families have made for our freedom to sit here today. $3.5 million dollars in the scheme of spending hundreds of millions of dollars is a drop in the bucket.
It is my hope that when we return in January, we can finally put aside our differences and come together to do the right thing to honor the men and women and their families who served or gave the ultimate sacrifice with this modest measure of gratitude.
Categories: Commentary
Lisa Hango a Republican with Common sense thank you!!
The fact is Only if Vermonters would wake up and vote more Republicans in to office Vermonter would be in a better place period!! So with that said WAKE UP PEOPLE WAKE UP $$$$$$$ it’s your money folks!!
The Vermonter from the Right side with Common sense period!!
God bless all true American Patriots and beyond 🙏 🙏🇺🇸🗽🇺🇸🍁🇨🇦
Not likely: Legislator, you are neglecting to remember that your peers in Montpelier loathe this nation, and thereby those who serve & served it. The only thing these veritable traitors believe is that this country requires “fundamental transformation” – which they are in the process of undertaking.
Kathleen pretty much summed it up, I’d only add that the greed runs deep under the golden dome…
It’s apparent to me our state legislatures only give lip service to the state’s military service folks, in all reality they just don’t care, and the younger generation of politicians do hold a certain bias against the armed services in general, so the cards will always be stacked against those that “served”
Unless there’s a way those under the dome can make money off not taxing military retirement benefits, this will remain a perpetual “badminton” birdie that just gets batted back & forth.
And they hold no shame in voting themselves a permanent pay raise, this is the new normal, guess we’re forever under indenture servitude in order to pay for their lavishness.
Pandering and platitudes aside, we are far beyond the two party machine fallacy. The one bird with two wings is a vulture. The populace is realizing the machine is broken because the machines counting the votes are programmed according to the Master’s instructions. Not only here, across all Western nations. The corruption is far too deep and far too wide. Matthew 8:31-32 KJV So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
Just about every other state does not tax veteran’s pension as well as SS benefits! Vermont really does not like our senior citizens, so sad 👎👎😢😢🇺🇸🇺🇸. Imagine wasting 100 million on Homeless Motel program but not helping out our veterans for a small loss of 3.5 million just ridiculous 😢😢👎👎🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸