Governor Scott kicked off the Legislative session by congratulating Vermonters on their ability to “turn catastrophe into opportunity” in the face of the flooding this past year. He quoted Calvin Coolidge, saying that “the indomitable courage of Vermonters is stronger than ever.”

Are you tired of constant cost of living increases and declining public services? What about state leaders who don't seem to care? So are we! Instead of complaining we are launching a petition drive to set them straight.

Vermonters are tired of the state failing them.

Join us in calling on the Legislature to listen.

The challenges heading into the 2024 legislative session have never been greater and the division in our state leadership has never been more pronounced. Regular Vermonters are exasperated with their Government's increasing polarization and we are here to give them voice.

Here are our legislative priorities for 2024:

With the 2024 legislative session just weeks away Campaign for Vermont commissioned a statewide public opinion poll looking at a number of contested policy differences between the Legislature and the Governor to see what Vermonters actually think. The results surprised us.

The final batch of poll results released by CFV show rising concerns about Vermonter's safety and the new payroll tax. Results also showed that the legislature's effort to increase their pay and benefits did not sit well with voters and a surprising level of support was found for a hypothetical Taxpayer Bill of Rights policy that mirrors Colorado.

In the third batch of poll results released by CFV (see below), we discover Vermonters thoughts and feelings around climate change and the efforts of the state to address our obligations to the environment. While two-thirds of Vermonters support the goals of the Paris Climate Accord and carbon-neutrality, most are not willing to shoulder any additional financial burden to meet those goals. Further, specific policies the Legislature is advancing do not hold up well to public opinion.

Today we announced the partial results of a scientific public opinion poll of Vermonters. The survey interviewed 400 randomly selected Vermont residents to measure their feelings towards state leaders, various issues that policymakers are pursuing, and general sentiments about the direction the state is heading.

“What we have found is shocking. Vermonters have very clear opinions on a number of policy differences between the Administration and the Legislature. And consistently the legislature has missed the mark in setting their priorities.”

-Pat McDonald, CFV President

If you have read my two latest Op-Eds on the Prisoner’s Dilemma Around Climate Change and Not Losing our Heads in the face of the same, then you know that I advocate for a thoughtful and balanced response to climate change. A response that conveys the urgency of the issue while also avoiding pitfalls of inhumanity and single-mindedness. But, what does that mean? What does it look like for Vermonters and for our state?

What is it about climate change that elicits such a panic in us? Perhaps it is the unrelating force of nature? The overwhelming sense of powerlessness we feel when storms, wind, fire, and water encroach upon our lives. In the face of such (un)natural disasters, maybe we clutch to whatever agency we can muster? Or, could it be that the prospect of our grandchildren not experiencing the same planet we did terrifies us. It could be a bit of both, or a whole host of other reasons.

The Paris Climate Accords were ratified in 2015 and have gained 195 signatories since. Most experts agree that a 2-degree (Celsius) increase in global temperatures would avoid the worst impacts of climate change and that a 4-degree increase would be devastating. But how are we tracking towards those goals? Not well, it turns out. Most countries are on track to miss the 2050 net-zero emissions target. The top 7 emitters account for 50% of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and none of them meet the most aggressive Paris targets. Three (China, India, and Indonesia) are considered highly insufficient, according to ClimateTracker.org. One (Russia) is listed as critically insufficient. The remaining three (US, European Union, and Brazil) are rated as insufficient.

Excuse me, can I get some child care subsidies for upper middle class folks?
		Sure
Also a massive helping of new electric-powered heating systems?
		Sounds great
Of course we also have to get universal school meals.
Oh, and don't forget a side of universal fee increases!
		...
So what does that come out to?
		Uh, a few hundred million more than you have in your account.
No worries, these other folks are picking up the tab for us...
		???

While the hypothetical conversation above highlights the approach the legislature seemed to take with spending this year, in all seriousness a historically high state budget (growing at nearly twice the rate of inflation) and a number of new landmark initiatives left us wondering how much more Vermonters can expect to pay in taxes and fees in the years to come. This is the question we set out to answer for you and boy did we find some interesting stuff!

S.39 was introduced by Senators Ruth Hardy and Alison Clarkson in January 2023. As introduced, the bill would make legislators eligible for the State employees' health benefit plan at no cost, allow them to participate in any flexible spending account program offered to State employees for health care expenses or dependent care expenses, or both, and provide compensation during adjournment (something not currently offered). The bill also significantly increased compensation levels.

S.100 was introduced by the Senate Economic Development Committee in February. After moderate revisions, the bill was passed by both the House and Senate and delivered to the Governor on May 30th, 2023.

The bill intends to address the state's housing crisis by cracking down on municipal zoning that is seen as exclusionary and by making significant investments in low-income housing stock. Critics question the effectiveness of the bill without significant revisions to the Act 250 land use regulations to make development easier.

The 2023 legislative session came to an end this week. While legislators are expected to return next month for a veto session, they passed a number of bills in the final days. These included the primary housing bill of the session and a major overhaul and investment in early childhood education. In a last-minute effort, legislators also invested in themselves, significantly increasing legislative pay and creating an entirely new benefits package.

The budget that emerged this week contained $8.5B in spending and included a new payroll tax that would be split between employers and employees (to fund the afore mentioned child care bill).

The Senate Economic Development Committee came back on Wednesday to review the House changes to S.100, which they did not yet possess, and the single House floor amendment that persisted with the bill (there were many other attempts to amend it).

The Senate Economic Development Committee finished reviewing changes to S.100 on Friday morning and brought the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Funding was still pulled out and included in the budget. Currently it appears fairly significant (over $200M according to the Committee of Conference report) but the Governor is expected to veto the budget bill so things could change.

No new arguments were presented on the House floor Tuesday; the bill primarily deals with municipal zoning reform and feigned to address Act 250 issues, shy of a few time-limited exemptions. It focused on large lot sizes, excess parking requirements, excess setbacks, and other local zoning requirements legislators felt inhibited housing growth.

Critics of the bill argued that municipal reform should be paired with rollbacks to Act 250, the state’s major land-use and environmental law. However, since the bill passed third reading in House with a voice vote, incremental progress will have to be settled for. Amendments were introduced to limit energy requirement that could drive up construction costs by tens of thousands of dollars, but it was disagreed to. Other amendments would have moved up some of the implementation dates, add reviews of current processes for inclusivity, and widen the priority housing project exemption in Act 250. They were met with varying levels of success.

After passage, the Senate Committees began reviewing the bill.

The session’s major Housing bill, S.100, arrived on the House Floor Monday. Speaker Krowinski announced they would only receive the committee reports and then adjourn for committees of jurisdiction to consider amendments before returning. No votes would be taken during this floor session.