August 28, 2024

Why I Serve

I am a candidate for another term as State Representative for St. Johnsbury, Concord and Kirby.

I think we all recognize the 'demographic crisis' that rural areas like ours are facing. We have an aging population with a shrinking proportion in their prime working years. That is a recipe for higher support costs (health care, social services) on lower revenue (declining tax base). It is not a path to opportunity and prosperity.

Much is made of the 'affordability crisis,' but it is really a question of demographics. Too often 'affordability' is invoked as a synonym for reducing taxes. It's true Vermont's cost of living is relatively high, while wages are relatively low. Notwithstanding the education property tax shock this year (see FPF post on 8/27), taxes are not the whole picture. Housing, heating, transportation, health care are all expensive and largely out of our control.

But as for controlling taxes, the answer is back to demographics. We need to grow our tax base. That means attracting and retaining working families. Again, it's something we all recognize.

Opinions diverge about how to do that. Some focus on limiting taxes and government services. Others focus on strategic investments that improve supports for families and quality of life for communities. While I agree with holding the line on taxes, I am in the second camp.

Critical issues for young families include access and affordability of child care and housing, as well as infrastructure needs like broadband and amenities like recreation, arts and engaged communities.

We have made great progress in recent years, creating communications union districts to support universal broadband, and supporting child care with a very small payroll tax (0.44%, split 0.33% employer and 0.11% employee). We have also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in housing, which is finally beginning to yield actual homes — though there is still much more to do to catch up with decades of under-investment.

We also need to confront the impacts of climate destabilization, both environmental and economic. Environmental impacts are obvious, and after the recent flooding, economic impacts are painfully clear too. But there are also less-obvious economic impacts. As global and national economies finally begin to transition away from near-total reliance on fossil fuels, Vermont's economy will see disruption and opportunity.

And then there are health care and education, both huge systems that need drastic overhaul. As with everything, costs must be controlled, but these are investments in our present and future community.

In the end, what attracts and retains residents is a vibrant community and economy supported by a well functioning government.

I am seeking another term to help further that agenda. I welcome your thoughts and concerns. Please join me for 'coffee hour' one Saturday morning in the next few weeks. Here’s the schedule. I’d appreciate letting me know you plan to be there so I give the restaurant a heads up!

I welcome any support you can give!

Last update November 4, 2024

Republican Attack Ads are as distorted as they are relentless.

I have no intention of getting down in the mud with this kind of thing.

But I will address the facts.

Act 64 removed the stigma for free- and reduced-lunch students by funding universal school meals.

Act 18 seeks to fund subsidies for low- and moderate-income households for weatherization and non-fossil heating.

Act 179 is an historic agreement between environmentalists, utilities and renewable energy interests to update movement toward renewable electricity, stabilizing future costs.

Act 76, sponsored by Republican Mike Marcotte of Coventry, finally addresses the need to vastly improve availability and affordability of childcare. 

Act 62, the 2023 annual Transportation Bill, included catching up with various DMV fees that the Administration had refused to increase to keep up with inflation for six years. The Gov's solution instead was to raid the General Fund to cover the deficit.

S.39—note, vetoed and did not become law—was an attempt to address the "citizen" legislators’ relatively low pay in future sessions (not current legislators). The pay, about $14,000 per year plus expenses, effectively excludes most Vermonters other than the wealthy, the retired, and the comfortably self-employed. This is compared to the Governor's $191,734 salary, fifth-highest in the country.

More on Property Taxes.

• Why I voted to override the Governor’s veto of the “yield bill.”

• Apply for Property Tax Credit.

• Join me to discuss this and other issues.

Off-Session

This summer and fall, in addition to ongoing legislative work, I will be working with the Caledonia Food Co-op’s Building Committee to design and construct the Co-op store. It’s very long process, the timeline dictated by logistics and the funding and financing we must line up. At this point, we hope to start construction mid-2025 and open in early 2026.

I am also participating in the Building Energy Code Working Group. This follows on from last year’s study committee and includes many of the same stakeholder representatives: outside experts, a Senator, and me as the House member.

The purpose is to strategize ways to increase compliance with Vermont’s energy codes, especially for residential construction. This code has been in effect for 25 years, yet many homeowners and even some builders are not aware of it because there is no systematic administration and no penalty for not following it. As climate disruption bears down and storm damage becomes more frequent and severe, builders, consumers, insurers and mortgage lenders need higher compliance with building standards.

The Working Group meets through the summer and fall.

In the wake of back-to-back disasters, I have joined a tri-partisan group of legislators to focus on how the Legislature can best serve victims and prepare for inevitable future disasters.

Among other ongoing work as a legislator, I participate in the Climate Solutions Caucus and the newly formed Flood Recovery & Resilience Caucus. The climate disruption now underway due to human activity is a defining challenge of our time.

My background is building construction, design and energy-savings analysis.

I am not a climate scientist, but I have been keenly aware of the existential challenge facing us for more than 30 years.

Skyler Perkins is a Vermonter, documentary videographer and a member of the next generation, even more aware of this challenge and how we as a society have failed to confront it.

He is in the process of producing a series explaining how climate disruption, pollution, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss is poisoning the planet’s—and humans’—future.

Event calendar
St. Johnsbury/Concord/Kirby