In late-August, Representative Kiah Morris, a friend from Bennington, announced she was withdrawing from her re-election bid. She had recently won her district's Democratic nomination for state representative and faced no opposition. While Kiah didn’t speak to it in her formal announcement at the time, in the days since she has been clear about the racism, vitriol, and concerns for the safety of her family that drove her decision. Kiah is a young mother and the only African-American woman serving in the State House. We were both members of the class elected to the legislature in 2014 and served together on the Health Care Committee. I knew that Kiah and her family had been the target of

Every year as we approach adjournment the legislature passes a Miscellaneous Tax bill (Misc Tax). The bill often contains things such as changes to filing requirements for the homestead declaration, obscure taxes on bank franchises and any proposed changes to sales and/or income taxes. In a normal year, the legislature and Governor agree to Misc Tax before the budget is ready for passage. But this was not a normal year. Misc Tax and other key policy and tax issues were held hostage to political wrangling. For the second year in a row, Governor Phil Scott vetoed the state budget while insisting on changes he wanted in property tax rates. He insisted that some $63 million in one-time money be