Robbing the Transportation Fund to Pay for “Green” Priorities
There is a bill currently before the House Transportation Committee, “An act relating to transportation initiatives to reduce
carbon emissions” (H.94), that any Vermonter who has routinely experienced a miles-long, tooth-rattling ride over pot holes and frost heaves should be concerned about.
A ‘Climate Emergency’ Power-Grab: One Scenario
If we’ve learned anything from the past year, it’s that governors across the country have more power during “states of emergency” than absolute monarchs did 500 years ago. A week ago, I wrote about how Vermont has the worst legislative oversight of the governor’s emergency powers in the country.
Flint Water Crisis Revisited: Different Verdicts for GOP & Dems
Five years ago I wrote a column explaining the Flint Michigan lead-polluted city drinking water disaster. At the root of it was a government project to build a new water supply system from Lake Michigan, sold as a jobs creation program for the distressed industrial city.
Steve Merrill’s Question Sadly Needs an Answer
Steve Merrill, who runs a cable access news program in the Northeast Kingdom, was recently banned
from Governor Phil Scott’s virtual press conferences for asking a tough question:
“Governor, you’d mentioned set-asides for the BIPOC community. What with no tribal — federal tribal recognition and, you know, reservations or anything like that, how would one qualify as indigenous?”
Green Police Will “Break Your Will!"
So, the Vermont Climate Council, established by the Global Warming Solutions Act passed last year, has started their work in how to figure out the ways in which Vermont can reduce its greenhouse gas emission to 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050. It’s a daunting task. some would say impossible – others would say impossible and a useless gesture in virtue signaling that will accomplish nothing at great expense. But…
Scott and School Choice
A week ago, Gov. Scott’s new press secretary Jason Maulucci told the media that the governor is “willing to have the conversation about changing how we pay for education.” But he said that conversation must also examine the state’s spending on education “with a focus on equity.”
VT Labor Union Boss Reaffirms Opposition to TCI
On January 19, the Vermont AFL-CIO labor union hosted a virtual panel discussion, in which they answered questions from members of Vermont Interfaith Action, a left-leaning faith-based, political action group.
Biden and Jefferson
President Biden did a pretty good job on his inaugural address. His theme was unity, and his speechwriters decorated it with lots of good words like hope, truth, honor, respect, tolerance, goodness, faith, and of course democracy. He also listed half a dozen of the great causes he intends to address, which left me a bit apprehensive.
Push Is On To Expand VT Sales Tax to Services
The Vermont Tax Structure Commission released its 180 page draft report to the legislature, and one of the major recommendations it makes is to expand Vermont’s 6% sales tax, currently limited to goods and a few singled out services such as ski rentals, to everything but healthcare, and to reduce the overall rate to 3.6%.