By Gregory Thayer
Now that I have announced my candidacy for lieutenant governor as a Republican for Vermont, I have many questions for the current leadership of our legislature. We need to learn from those missteps from this session and the past. We need to do a better job for the future of our great state for our children and our children’s children.
I believe that many of the people serving in this legislature are not representing you and your family.
I’ve heard many time around the state, “What are they doing?” They are growing government to a level that government is going to control every movement of “We The People”. We are drowning us in statutes, regulations, and government control! This must stop now.
These people are piling laws on top on laws. Our Vermont Statutes Annotated (VSA) have grown substantially in the past 15 to 20 years. This practice must stop.
Case in point: Take the right to bear/carry arms bill approved by the Senate and House. S-30 and is supposedly about no guns in hospitals. We have state statutes to remedy this if there is a problem. We have trespassing laws that work. Plus, there are federal laws that can be used. S-30 is not needed; it’s simple overreaching.
Why are our state legislators working practically full time? Let’s look at two states, our small Vermont and the huge state of Texas. Texas is massive; 29 million people call the Lone Star state home. Its annual budget is $110 billion, the 10th largest economy in the world. It shares over 1,250 miles of border with Mexico. The Texas state legislature meets every two years. That’s right every two years, and only for a maximum of 140 days.
Here, in our beloved Green Mountain state, we have just over 634,000 inhabitants, an annual budget of $7.7 billion (and that is overinflated, thanks to nonprofits) and a whopping 90 mile border with Canada. Our Vermont legislators meet every year, January to June, and then they set up “special” study committees studying their special interest groups’ plan for more legislation during the regular session.
This is a waste of both taxpayer money and time for such a small state.
I understand that is “how it has worked for years.” However, never to this level, this long, and with all these “special” study committees and continuing so late into the year. I remember 20-25 years ago when the state’s annual budget was roughly $650 million. The legislature was only in session mid to late May in an off-election year and maybe until mid April in the election year. Then, they didn’t want to go overboard, costing taxpayers more money, so they’d gavel down the second year of the biennial so they wouldn’t anger voters.
The management of both Houses and Senate in Montpelier must be revamped and discussed with Vermont voters. I believe many of the bills that are introduced are special interest projects. They are overreaching, smothering our citizens, and working to destroy our republic, our Vermont Constitution, and the great everyday people of our state. Many are duplicates that are not needed.
Look at the statutes that are in the VSAs. Are the Progressives working for what is best for the people or towards total control of the people?
The author is a Rutland resident and candidate for Lieutenant Governor. He faces Sen. Joe Benning (Caledonia) in the Republican primary.
Categories: Commentary
We must bring Vermont Back to Life. Our Vermont Legislature is regulating the Vermonters to death. Look what the new regulations did to the child care industry. Small businesses are the backbone of Vermont’s economy yet the Legislature continues to make it impossible for small businesses to survive. I have been following our health care crisis for years and the only thing the Vermont Legislature has done to control cost is give the people the right to kill themselves. They even want to make it easier for us. We have a shortage of workers in every part of our economy. It never occurs to our legislators that this shortage might be caused by over 100,000 babies aborted in Vermont since 1973. You see these babies never grew up to have children or grandchildren. No, Our Legislature gives us Prop 5 so we will always have the right to kill our children before birth. Our Legislature is wasting time and money on ridiculous bills to control every aspect of our lives. Glad you see the problems ,Greg. It’s the way I see it .
Way to go, Dorothy !
The problem with S.30 and similar ridiculous gun laws lie with hypocrites such as Kiah Morris. She and her husband James Lawton have several big guns with what would be considered illegal large capacity magazines. They bought them before Kiah pushed the bill banning such magazines. On top of that her husband threatens anyone who disagrees with them: https://www.mediafire.com/view/hy8y5yg66jtvv9o/40374877_240621103290328_6912572059855880192_n.jpg/file
I believe that large capacity (over 10 round) magazines are illegal both to purchase and to possess in Vermont. So prove yourself and get them arrested!
Standard round magazines of over 10 are legal in Vermont if they were owned or purchased prior to October 1st, 2018. There are thousands of them in Vermont legally owned. They are standard because they came with the firearm when purchased. I believe it will overturned eventually because it goes against the supreme court decisions of Heller and McDonald
A comparison to New Hampshire might be more eye-opening. Only double Vermont’s population, 1/2 the budget, biennial legislature and the low tax structure are 180 degrees to Vermont. While liberals have made gains in NH politics, for some reason sanity has prevailed, in their legislature and governor’s office. Voicing the stark contrasts between the two states along with the impact of Leahy’s retirement and subsequent reductions of federal dollars to Vermont might just help get this guy elected! While Chitteneden, Washington and Windham counties have majority of socialists, not all of the remaining counties are quite so vehemently opposed to sanity in Vermont’s politics and government.
No doubt the progressives are chasing their own woke special interests for “equity”.
This should be the year to change the direction of our state. We’ve been locked down, isolated from friends and family, prohibited from proven treatments, forced to be injected with an experimental drug 3 times by government coercion, forced to cover our faces, our children forced to wear masks inhibiting their growth, health and social skills, we have been called racists, we have white privilege, forced into race indoctrination, small businesses have been destroyed, savings depleted, travel restricted and lied to. And the largest employer in the state is the state.
We see an attack taking place on our constitution. An amendment allowing the disposal by death of unborn healthy babies granted as a right and inserted into our state constitution. We have seen our ridge lines destroyed as tons off concrete was poured to haul metal monoliths to the top of our mountains using diesel burning equipment and parts shipped in from all over the world by other fossil fuel burning transports in the name of saving the planet. Our fields covered with solar panels made in China. We’ve lost our freedom and our customs and our institutions have been infected with anti-Americans. Our schools no longer teach, they indoctrinate and they fly political flags on taxpayer owned school flag poles.
We’ve witnessed the destruction of manufacturing jobs, the forced exit of medical insurance providers, the licensing and over regulation of small business and the growth of nonprofit social justice warrior organizations that regulate policy but pay no taxes. We’ve seen the EB5 scandal and those responsible not brought to justice and we have a state media that covers for the malfeasance of all the above and more.
All this is the small list that I’m sure the readers here could add to. No one will save us but ourselves. We need to change the direction of this state for us living here now and for our children who are forced to leave because they can’t afford to live here as well as many older people. I’ll close by saying thank you to this man for standing up. Now we need to shine a bright light on the condition of this state and the direction that has been forced on us by out of state carpet baggers and the out of state money that gets them elected. New Hampshire did it and now we should to. It’s time to vote as though your life depended on it, because it does.
Well said, Bravo Dano !
yes..always stuns me that it take almost 6 months to do a 12 month budget. This one issue needs resolve immediately. my humble opinion; do it in 3 months max and leave, there is always next year
The State of Vermont’s budget, ahh yes ! Can you think of any entity other than government where the last thing done in the course of conducting business is establishing a “budget” ? Allow me, if you will, to propose a scenario where I go out, and buy a new truck, and then come back to my boss and tell him/her that I need a raise to address my purchase. That is the way state government operates. They consider new laws, and regulations and then after all else is done, vote themselves a budget to cover their wish list, with our tax money. Bassakwards isn’t it ? Boy, I wish I could run my household like that !