My commitment is to work hard to improve St. Johnsbury and Vermont, to listen, learn, and explain the conclusions I come to.

The unique challenge of the pandemic brought unique opportunities to address longstanding gaps and weaknesses in public policy.

Federal pandemic relief supports for State government, businesses and individuals brought a flood of revenue, and is funding a State budget one-third larger than the pre-pandemic fiscal year 2019. This is allowing long overdue investments in all the priorities headlined above and on the Home page (broadband rollout, State College transformation, pension reform, school funding equity, tax relief) — and more.

It’s an unprecedented opportunity to lay the foundation for future prosperity and equity. But we must remain mindful that the high tide of funding will recede in a few short years. We must not build ongoing budgets that we cannot sustain.

At the same time, we must recognize that the path to prosperity lies in prudent investments rather than penny-wise, pound-foolish budget cuts.

One of my key interests is the impact of the global climate crisis on Vermont’s economy, communities and infrastructure. As the world economy transitions off near-complete reliance on fossil fuels, and dislocations from environmental disasters and political upheaval increase, the vulnerability of our small State to volatile fossil prices and supply interruptions must be a serious concern to all policymakers. Furthermore, national policies and regional competition will force the energy transition on us. We must begin now to harden our infrastructure and transform our energy landscape. The longer we dither, the more disruptive and expensive the inevitable transition will be.