Brad James (Director of Finance, Agency of Education) provided the House Ways & Means Committee with an update on school budgets. The December letter from the Tax Commissioner estimated an 8.52% increase in spending over FY2023. James has heard from about 20% of schools about their budgets (as passed by school boards) as of right now, budgets are coming back closer to 9%.

The Senate Natural Resources Committee kicked off the week hearing from Kathy Beyer (Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development, Evernorth). Evernorth is working in ME, NH, and VT and consider themselves leaders in energy efficiency and renewables – connecting apartment units to advanced wood heating systems, solar hot water, solar PV, geothermal and heat pumps. They are focused on energy equity, which, according to Beyer, Vermont lags behind on implementation of energy equity. Other states in the region are ahead of us. 

Fuel dealers and heat pump installers launched an impassioned plea this week for the Senate to abandon the Clean Heat Standard as it is currently conceived. They stressed that installing heat pump systems, as the bill envisions, is much more costly than existing fossil fuel systems and they are more expensive to operate in cold temperatures. They claim that Vermonters do not want this and there are other ways to reduce net carbon emissions that are less costly and easier to implement. Will the Senate listen?

Action Alert!

Friends, the Senate is voting TODAY on a bill to introduce a carbon pricing scheme for home heating fuels that the Scott Administration says will increase the cost of heating fuels at least $0.70 per gallon. This morning I sent the letter below to all our Senators, but we need you to speak out as well. NOW is the time to make your voice heard. If carbon pricing on heating fuels will hurt your family's financial stability, Senators need to hear from you!

This week Administration officials came out strong on the Clean Heat Standard being contemplated by the Senate. They asked that the legislature hold off until more robust financial impact analysis could be done on the policy instead of passing it and then analyzing later.

Friends, Governor Scott presented his FY2024 budget to the legislature this week. He largely focused on making strategic investments that draw down the historic amount of federal funds available (infrastructure, Covid, etc.). He indirectly challenged the legislature by proposing nearly $1M for “our Climate Office to develop a real plan, outlining exactly what work needs to be done," implying that the legislature's Climate Action Plan is not a workable solution.

Also, after much testimony in the House Education Committee this week it is becoming clear that there will be a bill to limit which schools can access public tuitioning dollars by leveraging the review and approval process already in place by the Agency of Education and the State Board of Education.

The legislature dove in with both feet this week as committees pushed to get new legislators up to speed. Already, the Senate has re-introduced the Clean Heat Standard (carbon-pricing) bill that Governor Scott vetoed last year. Committees in both the House and the Senate are also already taking testimony on the federal legal action surrounding school choice and public tuitioning.

We (and the legislature) are just getting into it. This week kicked off with the typical rituals we would expect at the start of a new legislative biennium with lawmakers being sworn in, light and fluffy speeches from the floor, and Governor Scott's inaugural address. Now the real work begins.

Over the next several months, new members will work to get up to speed as the legislature tackles big issues like housing, carbon reduction, access to childcare, and paid family leave. These are big and complex policy initiatives that will take time and effort to get right. Campaign for Vermont will be there for all of it.