The legislative session came to a conclusion on Friday night, but that is not the only thing coming to an end. I'll be stepping down as President of Campaign for Vermont.

Campaign for Vermont fought hard to get ethics legislation passed in 2017 (Act 79). Not even a decade later it is feeling like the legislature is dismantling the ethics and transparency framework in the state... and it's coming from all sides.

In 2024, the legislature passed Act 171, which was intended to build on Act 79 by giving the Ethics Commission more oversight and (finally) enforcement powers. Unfortunately, Act 44 last year paused the enforcement powers (the House version of that bill would have scrapped them completely if we hadn't stepped in on the Senate side). More importantly, the Commission, overwhelmed with requests from the public, stressed the need for additional staff. State budget-writers denied that request last year — leaving the Commission under-resourced.

Vermonters understand the value of balance. We want to protect our forests, fields, rivers, and wildlife. We also want our children and grandchildren to be able to afford a home, find a job, and build a life here. Good public policy should recognize both realities. That is why the debate over Act 181 matters.

The law was intended to strike a grand bargain: encourage more housing and development in designated growth areas while tightening protections for ecologically sensitive parts of the state (conservation more or less). On paper, that sounds reasonable. Direct growth where infrastructure exists. Reduce sprawl. Protect natural resources. Streamline permitting where Vermont wants development to happen.

But as often happens in government, what sounds straight forward in theory can become much messier in practice.

I think we all are aware that they are several large funding gaps that need to be filled this year and a lot of issues that need to be addressed like a housing shortage, cost of living, health care, the economy, education crisis (on several levels), etc. We are faced with some touch decisions this year. There is perhaps another issue, a more fundamental one, that looms above them all...

The legislative session is off to a fast-paced start. Maps seem to be a key theme: from the Governor's threat to veto the state budget unless legislators move forward with his mega-district school consolidation plan to the statewide zoning plan set to replace the Act 250 framework all come down to drawing lines on a map. We have been keeping up with all of it in our legislative updates. If you haven't subscribed already, you should!

We leaned into our core strengths in 2025: providing clear, data-driven, nonpartisan analysis at a time when Vermonters are hungry for practical solutions. Our mission remains the same, to reconnect middle-class Vermonters to their government and champion policies that support family-sustaining jobs, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility. But this year, our work took a sharper edge in three key areas: transforming education, defending ethics and government accountability, and confronting Vermont’s long-term economic and demographic challenges.

Vermonters have always valued education as the cornerstone of our communities—places where children learn not just facts, but the grit that comes with rural life and the kindness to lend a hand to a neighbor. I remember my own school days: lessons in reading, arithmetic, as well as those that went beyond the textbooks. Vermont education has worked for generations because it was accountable—to parents, to townsfolk, to the shared stake we all hold in our kids' futures.

Today, that foundation feels unsteady. Our public schools remain vital to our towns, yet they're caught in a troubling bind: declining student outcomes amid escalating costs that strain budgets and drive families out of our state. Enrollment has dropped 20% over the past two decades, leaving echoing hallways and underutilized resources, while education spending tops $2.4 billion annually; more per pupil than nearly every other state. All the while, students are struggling to achieve the same outcomes they did just a decade ago.

We (Ben and I) attended an event last week hosted by Let's Build Homes. The room was full of different voices, including banks, local businesses, developers, chambers of commerce, statewide politicians, utility companies, local broadcasters, and nonprofits. It was a coalition of people and organizations that recognized the dire need for housing in our state. In a little under a year, this coalition has already changed the housing landscape in Vermont by passing the historic CHIP bill. But, there is more work to do. Regulatory changes are needed to guarantee predictability for developers and unlock private investment from out of state that is sorely needed in order to truly grow and modernize our housing stock. We also need to find innovative ways to bring down the cost of construction for "affordable" state subsidized housing units. We need to cut the $500 per square foot cost of construction in half. In our 2025 research priorities, we are looking at one way of pursuing that.

Rising health care costs in Vermont have emerged as a pressing economic and social challenge, with an outsized impact on working families across the state. As premiums and out-of-pocket expenses surge well above national averages, many households are grappling with financial strain that extends beyond medical bills to influence decisions on housing, education, and daily necessities.

Housing is a cornerstone of stability and prosperity in any community, but in Vermont, its importance is amplified by the state's unique demographic, economic, and environmental challenges. With a population that is aging rapidly—projected to see 170K households aged 55+ by 2029—and a persistent shortage of affordable units, housing directly influences the ability of Vermonters to live, work, and thrive. Our state requires an additional 24K to 36K homes by 2029 to meet growing demand, normalize vacancy rates, and accommodate workforce needs, yet only about 2,300 new homes were permitted in 2022, far below the annual target of 5,000 to 7,000. This shortfall exacerbates issues like homelessness, where Vermont ranks second nationally in per capita rates, with over 3,295 individuals counted as unhoused in 2023, including a 200% increase in child homelessness since 2020. Without sufficient housing, basic social structures erode, affecting health outcomes, family stability, and community cohesion. This is particularly true for low-income and BIPOC families.