FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MARCH 23, 2017
CONTACT:
BENJAMIN KINSLEY
(802) 448-2380
[email protected]
Group Releases Plan for $350 Million in Taxpayer Savings
Burlington, VT – Campaign for Vermont Prosperity (CFV), a non-partisan advocacy and policy development group, today released a plan that could save property taxpayers as much as $350 million per year.
Written by Ben Kinsley
March 23, 2017
Email Blast Sent to Supporters on March 20, 2017. Subscribe!
Friends,
We are proud to announce a partnership with NewGrassroots, a grassroots solution to put THE PEOPLE back in control of our government. Legislators often tell us that phone calls are the most effective way to influence their decision-making. The problem is, phone calls are difficult to track and there's no good way to tell how many calls a legislator gets from one side of an issue or the other. NewGrassroots fixes this problem.
How does it work? WE let you know when there is an important issue being debated in the Statehouse; YOU simply record a short voice message for your legislator. NewGrassroots delivers the message and then provides data on how many messages were sent and which ones were listened to. We can then use this data to hold our public officials accountable!
Written by Ben Kinsley
March 21, 2017
Posted in Vermont Watchdog on March 13, 2017.
Two studies since 2013 have shown that Vermont government is doing poorly when it comes to everything from independent oversight of state officials to public access to information.
State lawmakers have a proposal that aims to address those shortcomings.
Vermont is ranked among the lowest of the 50 states in government integrity laws, according to the Better Government Association. And the state received a D- grade, when it comes to integrity, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Center for Public Integrity.
Written by Ben Kinsley
March 14, 2017
Email blast sent to supporters March 6, 2017. Subscribe!
Friends,
Tomorrow is Town Meeting Day; please be sure to get out and participate in our direct democracy! For as much media attention as national and statewide politics get, what happens in our towns and local communities has a far greater impact on your daily life than what happens in D.C. or Montpelier. A group in Stowe has put together a guide on how to participate in Town Meeting, check it out!
Written by Ben Kinsley
March 06, 2017
Listening Beyond The Sound Bites ™
VOTE FOR VERMONT COMMENTS ON INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR ISSUE
Pat McDonald producer and host of Vote For Vermont and Ben Kinsley, Executive Director of Campaign for Vermont Prosperity co-hosted a show on Independent Contractors. Our guests were Jon Guiffre, owner of Allied Building Contractors, LLC, John Hollar, Esq. from Downs, Rachlin and Martin, and Representative Heidi Scheumann. The following is a summary of our discussion.
Written by Ben Kinsley
March 02, 2017
There are only a few days left to ensure progress on the issues most important to YOU. Whether you support a sustainable state budget, changes to Act 46, or holding our public officials to ethical standards, Campaign for Vermont is your voice in the Legislature.
Pledge towards one of the campaigns below to support our legislative activity on these initiatives. But hurry, they expire Monday at noon:
Written by Ben Kinsley
February 24, 2017
Email blast sent to supporters February 16, 2017. Subscribe here!
You have spoken, and here are the results…
Written by Ben Kinsley
February 16, 2017
This commentary appeared in Vermont Business Magazine on February 6, 2017
Many Vermonters probably had mixed reactions to the nomination of Betsy DeVos as US Education Secretary. On the one hand, she is espoused as a proponent of school choice which is prized by many of our rural communities. On the other hand, Vermont lead the country in rejection of Donald Trump last November (by 28 points). Nearly every single one of his cabinet choices have drawn criticism, but none have drawn quite the ire that DeVos has. Most of this opposition has come from teachers unions who represent public school educators, and Democrats who believe DeVos plans to gut public schools across the country. They may not be wrong.
Written by Ben Kinsley
February 15, 2017
Email blast sent to supporters February 6, 2017. Subscribe here!
It was another week of legislative lunacy as lawmakers grappled with Governor Scott’s budget proposal, which suffered its first defeat on Tuesday when the Senate Education Committee voted 6-0 against pushing school budget votes out to May 23rd. The real blow, however, came later in the week when the House torpedoed the proposal on a 47-87 vote.
Written by Ben Kinsley
February 06, 2017
Vermont is one of three states in the country with no ethics laws for public officials. Campaign for Vermont Prosperity has spent years advocating for these needed changes to demand the best from our elected officials. Vermonters deserve to know that their public officials are acting in their best interest, and not being influenced by conflicts of interest.
Here are some facts about ethics reform in Vermont:
Written by Ben Kinsley
February 06, 2017