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by Dave Soulia, for FYIVT.com
In a recent op-ed, Senator Wendy Harrison (D) Windham District proposed a lofty vision of bringing prosperity to Vermont. She highlighted the need for 39,000 new homes and the ambitious goal of attracting 13,500 new residents annually to sustain the state’s economic and social vitality. On the surface, this vision sounds compelling, but a closer look reveals a stark disconnect between her rhetoric and Vermont’s current realities.
The Population Puzzle
Senator Harrison argues that Vermont is growing, but the data paints a more nuanced picture. While the state’s population has increased modestly from 2000 to 2023, the growth rate—just 6.2% over two decades—lags behind national averages. Vermont faces significant out-migration, particularly among young people. From 2010 to 2018, the state experienced a net loss of 10,000 residents, with younger demographics leaving for greener pastures offering lower taxes, more opportunities, and less crime.
This migration trend has also been accompanied by a concerning shift in wealth. Vermont has seen a loss of higher-income individuals, exacerbating economic challenges.
The Economic Reality
Vermont’s economic conditions present significant challenges to achieving Harrison’s vision. The state’s high taxes, elevated cost of living, and limited job opportunities make it difficult to attract and retain the skilled workers needed to meet her proposed 13,500 annual migration goal. Businesses struggle under heavy regulatory burdens, and younger Vermonters leave for states with friendlier economic environments.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Vermont saw an influx of residents, the demographic shifts leaned heavily toward retirees and higher-income individuals seeking remote work opportunities. While this group provides some economic benefits, it doesn’t address the need for a robust, working-age labor force to fill critical gaps in Vermont’s industries.
Housing: The First Hurdle
The op-ed calls for 39,000 new homes to be built in the coming years, a staggering number given Vermont’s small population and tight labor market. Regulatory barriers and high construction costs make large-scale housing development difficult. Moreover, without addressing affordability, these homes may cater to wealthier transplants rather than middle- and working-class families.
State Assistance Trends
The growth in state assistance program enrollment adds another layer to the equation. Approximately 30% of Vermonters are on Medicaid, according to the Department of Vermont Health Access. Programs like Dr. Dynasaur and 3SquaresVT have seen increased participation, reflecting the economic pressures many residents face.
While these programs are vital for those in need, they also signal underlying economic struggles. If migration trends are bringing more people seeking assistance than contributing economically, the state’s fiscal sustainability could be at risk.
Words vs. Actions
A significant challenge to Harrison’s vision lies in the gap between her words and her voting record. While her op-ed promises prosperity, her legislative history reflects support for high-tax budgets, restrictive mandates, and policies that exacerbate the state’s affordability crisis. For example, her votes to expand renewable energy mandates and increase education taxes, while well-intentioned, may deter business investment and drive costs higher for residents.
This “say one thing, vote another” dynamic is not unique to Harrison—it’s a common theme in Montpelier. But the bait-and-switch nature of promising prosperity while enacting policies that create the opposite is wearing thin on Vermonters.
How to Truly Attract 13,500 New Residents
If Vermont’s legislature genuinely wants to attract 13,500 new residents annually, it must start with honesty and practical solutions. The first step is acknowledging the state’s challenges:
- Lower Taxes and Reduce Regulations: Creating a business-friendly environment is essential to attract companies and workers.
- Address the Housing Crisis: Streamlining regulations and incentivizing affordable housing development could make Vermont livable for middle- and working-class families.
- Focus on Retaining Young Vermonters: Invest in education and job creation to keep Vermont’s youth from leaving.
- Tackle Social Challenges: Address the opioid crisis and invest in public safety to ensure a safe, vibrant community for all.
A Call for Transparency
The most critical missing ingredient in Harrison’s op-ed is transparency. Vermonters deserve leaders who will level with them about the state’s economic and social realities. Instead of lofty rhetoric, imagine a representative saying: “I don’t know if I can fix all the problems, but I won’t mislead you about them. I’ll focus on real solutions, not platitudes.”
Senator Harrison’s vision is inspiring on paper but divorced from the current conditions facing the state. If Vermont’s leaders truly want to create a prosperous future, they must begin by fostering trust, being honest about the challenges, and crafting policies that make Vermont not just an attractive postcard but a viable place to live, work, and thrive.
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Categories: Commentary
These articles read like AI generated text.
Folks moving to states with less crime? Not sure about that one.
“loss of higher-income individuals” … “the demographic shifts leaned heavily toward retirees and higher-income individuals”
Of course they vote for “policies that exacerbate the state’s affordability crisis” – This is exactly how they work. They can’t fix the affordability crisis without raising taxes to fix the affordability crisis. Just like instead of them removing taxes from minimum wage workers, they just raise the minimum wage so they can collect more taxes.
“incentivizing affordable housing development” – no such thing. You mean 1.4 million dollar per 1 bedroom crapholes that we have to pay for so drug dealers can move in and turn VT into slop? Increase nonstop traffic in areas that had no traffic? Increase the need for more government spending to accommodate all these new friends?
“Address the opioid crisis and invest in public safety to ensure a safe, vibrant community for all.” – They already have invested a lot of our money in this crap and there is nothing to show for it. The real solution is to stop stealing money from us to give to people that do opioids, and put them in prison when they do crimes that have victims, or litter dirty needles.
“Invest in education and job creation to keep Vermont’s youth from leaving.” – Is more than $38,000 enough of an investment or do you need more money? Maybe schools should teach children how to start and run their own business. Maybe Vermont should incentivize small business start ups, no taxes for the first 5 years and other cuts to smaller businesses. Maybe every child should graduate school knowing Austrian economics/ Praxeology and they would know more about business management than 99% of the top paid CEOs. There is plenty of work potential in VT.
Re: “Invest in education and job creation to keep Vermont’s youth from leaving.” – Is more than $38,000 [per student] enough of an investment or do you need more money?”
Just pass the H.405 School Choice bill. The cost per student will decline. Taxes will decline. Student outcomes will improve, thereby improving the workforce, thereby incentivizing business creation. And with School Choice, parents around the entire region will want to come to Vermont to take advantage of it.
Just pass the H.405 School Choice bill. Everything else will begin to correct itself. Everything.
The Vermont political bureaucrat machine has mastered the art of gaslighting and witchcraft wordcraft. The blueprint is Agenda 2030, the training facility is WEF globalist boot camp in Geneva. The climate change agenda is the wealth transfer and depopulation reset goal (200,000,000 gone in the USA.) Why do we have open borders? Destabilization, replacement population with uneducated, impoverished serfs that follow orders much better than freedom born and raised Americans. It is not just one side of the fence – if anyone checked out the graduates of WEF school – they are all in place to do the job they are trained to do with a handsome salary and benefits.
Why is California on fire? Why was Maui burned to the ground? Why was Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennesee and Florida pummeled and decimated? Prime real estate – knocked down and knocked out. Climate change? LOL – good one! Depopulation and reset – they’ve done it for well over 500 years, over and over….nothing new under the sun.
In general, Vermont’s “investments” have resulted in an influx of people who generally dont contribute to society, and our leftist social and economic policies have chased away contributing types. I would like to see figures that show how many of these new housing units are or will be owner occupied and how many are subsidized-renter occupied or built by non-profits. The Pat Leahy gravy train of federal money that we have relied on for decades is derailed.
Senator Harrison’s husband is Peter Elwell, Head of the board of Groundworks, Brattleboro, part of a web of organizations providing housing and services to those in need. Groundworks has ties to current VT reps and housed a they/them who murdered a beloved local social worker with an axe. As someone here frequently says, “wake up”.
Windham County is known by many as the most extreme, leftist Vermont County in the State of Vermont. This appears to be evident by those who were elected/re-elected to represent Windham County Districts in the 2024 Election.
ALL elected are Leftist Democrats/Independents.
ALL those elected in Windham County including Harrison, are persons who hold similar misplaced priorities and extreme global belief systems that were rejected overall by the United States Voters in the 2024 Election. It seems Windham County Voters have not had enough oppression and abuse yet.
An average of 1300 Vermont babies are aborted every year with no mention from any politician on not only the sheer brutality of this but what the effect this has on school enrollment and a vibrant community and economy.