Most Vermonters support a second home tax. In a recent Vermont Public Poll, 57% said the state should impose a new tax on second homes. Twenty-eight percent disagreed, and 15% weren't sure. (A UNH poll found 78% support, but its question was worded more broadly.)

The poll didn't define "second home" or ask respondents whether they own one. Many probably pictured an empty slopeside condo owned by a family from Connecticut, and much of the public debate has pointed that way. But the reality of trying to define a "second home" is more complex. So let's test our assumptions.

When I stepped into this role in June I shared with you that we would sharpen our focus in the months ahead. Last month, I laid out why that urgency behind that focus: 64% of Vermonters under 35 are planning to leave the state within five years, while close to 100,000 Vermonters are approaching retirement age. On top of that, we are shrinking faster than any state in the country.

A problem that size invites a dramatic response, throwing time and attention in every direction. We are not going to do that.

Vermonters are already well-aware that our state is one of the highest spenders on education. Anyone who has shopped for real estate or an apartment recently knows how astronomical housing prices are. Families shopping on Vermont’s insurance marketplace have realized that our health care premiums are the most expensive in the world (no joke).

Household incomes have not kept up with these skyrocketing costs. While slightly above the national average, 18 other states generate higher household incomes than Vermont’s economy does.

Last month, Pat McDonald closed out her CFV era with characteristic grace, and with the same full heart and tremendous optimism she has brought to Campaign for Vermont over the past decade. I want to begin by thanking Pat for her years of leadership and for the strong, trusted voice she helped build CFV into. I'm grateful she'll stay close to this community as a member of our Advisory Council. The foundation she and so many others laid is exactly what makes this next chapter possible.

It is my honor to introduce myself as CFV's new President.

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.