This is the VT Democrats’ great gubernatorial hope?

by Rob Roper

Many Vermont Democrats are giddy over the idea that they may have a genuinely competitive opponent to take on Phil Scott for the first time in ten years in the person of Aly Richards. All I can say is, it’s cute that you think that.

While I’ll buy Richards is likely to put up a better show than Esther Charlestin or Brenda Siegel based purely on fundraising capabilities and a political network, Democrats might think twice about hitching their wagon to what, when examined under the brighter scrutiny of a campaign, is a dumpster fire of a record that any sane politician would run away from.

Let’s look at Richard’s resume highlights….

The big one, of course, is her role with Let’s Grow Kids. Great on paper. Everybody loves kids (except for the ones who cry incessantly and kick your seat on long airplane rides). But what is at the heart of this program that she takes credit for pushing through as a lobbyist (not a popular occupation by the way)? An even less popular $100 million-plus per year payroll tax that shows up in black and white on the pay stub of every working Vermonter. I can see the campaign ads now: Yes, Aly Richards did that! And, fun fact, her plan calls for increasing that tax substantially over time.

Phil Scott, of course, vetoed the payroll tax only to see the Democrat supermajority back Richards’ screw the working man play and override him. I’m sure all the Democrats who managed to survive the 2024 electoral post veto-palooza bloodbath will be delighted to have this tax, their past role in it, and their present support for person whose bright idea it was brought front and center thanks to a Richards candidacy.

But at least Richards can counter that this taxpayer funded childcare program she ushered in is a success, right? Not so much. As mentioned in my last article, Richard’s payroll tax was named specifically as a key factor in Vermont’s lack of business competitiveness, was linked to a unique-to-Vermont-level of decline in good paying manufacturing jobs, and fingered as a cog in the general affordability problem.

In fact, it can – and will – be argued that Richards is the CAUSE, not the cure, for the childcare availability and affordability crisis we’re dealing with today. The regulations Let’s Grow Kids lobbied for in 2015 led to the shuttering of 60 percent of Vermont’s home-based childcare providers, thus creating the accessibility crisis, especially in rural parts of Vermont that are already miffed at and suspicious of the D’s over Act 181.

State subsidies paid out to the public-school-aligned “center based” programs Richards advocated for, combined with the orchestrated loss of home-based supply drove up the cost of childcare, creating the affordability crisis in the system in the name of — don’t let the lingo fool ya — “high quality early education.” Again, sounds reasonable until you look at the results.

The “high quality” standards Richards insisted on are actually leading to poorer outcomes for students as they matriculate through elementary school, both academically and behaviorally. One of the “high quality” center-based programs Richards is championing, Frog & Toad Child Care… well, I’ll just quote Burlington Daily News:

A Burlington-area child care center that served several local families was cited for more than a dozen serious violations of state licensing rules, including repeated acts of inappropriate physical discipline by a staff member, failure to report suspected child abuse, and interference with a state investigation, according to a final licensing report released by the Vermont Department for Children and Families.

Check out the full article, Toddler thrown face-first into ice. That’s the reality of Aly Richards’ vision of “high quality” center-based care that your $100 million payroll tax – and a chunk of your rising property taxes — is subsidizing.

So, forget about the childcare schtick! What else has she got? She was with the Peter Shumlin (D-VT) Administration for five of his six years in office, finishing her tenure as Deputy Chief of Staff from 2014-2015. Well! That was fer sure a fun time in Vermont politics for us all. And what a popular governor she worked for! A little back of napkin math and I’d say those dates and her job as number two person in the office would put her smack dab in the middle of the debacle that was the Single Payer Health Care implosion, the painful reverberations we’re still suffering with today, and that perennial political favorite the EB-5 scandal. I’m sure all the folks rushing to endorse Richards will just love the opportunity to rip the scabs off of those great moments in Vermont Democrat Party history.

And speaking of healthcare, Richards’ last major bullet point on her resume is that she is now the chair of the UVM Medical Center board. You know the bloated bastion of over-charging Vermonters for procedures that left us with the highest insurance premiums in the country. By far. Not even a contest. Yeah, that UVM Medical Center. The one that charges $6000 for an MRI you can get at a private imaging center for $1800. Affordability not.

So, in conclusion, Aly Richards career puts her at the center of multiple programs that cost taxpayers an awful lot of money we can’t afford, never delivered on their promises, and left behind messes far worse than the ones they were ostensibly supposed to clean up. In that sense she certainly is the perfect face to represent the Vermont Democrat Party brand. But she ain’t gonna beat Phil Scott. Not by a long shot.

Rob Roper is a freelance writer who has been involved with Vermont politics and policy for over 20 years. This article reprinted with permission from Behind the Lines: Rob Roper on Vermont Politics, robertroper.substack.com