The following piece is not by me, it's by Paul Cillo of the Public Assets Institute. It is a deeper explanation of the legislature's initiative to hold the line on property taxes this year in light of the COVID-driven financial challenges faced by Vermonters. While I briefly mentioned this legislative action in my September 27th posting (2020 legislative session: Act II), the following piece gives this issue the attention it deserves: No School Tax Increase for COVID Shortfall The Legislature did the right thing this year by holding property tax payers harmless after the COVID pandemic took a big bite out of the state’s Education Fund. The state is better situated to deal with a revenue sh

Most registered voters in the Windsor-Orange 2 legislative district received their 2020 general election mail-in ballots around October 1st. So, today we’re at about halftime before the November 3rd Election Day. Across the four towns of Windsor-Orange 2 – Norwich, Sharon, Strafford, and Thetford – about 2,630 people had voted as of Friday. That’s about 34% of the approximately 7,700 registered voters in these four towns and 48% of the 5,457 votes cast in the 2016 Presidential election. In Norwich, about 1,150 people had voted as of Friday. That’s about 35% of registered voters and 49% of the votes cast in the 2016 Presidential election. In Sharon, about 278 people had voted as of Friday. T

The third and final act of the 2020 legislative session began on August 25th and it was an all-out sprint. Over 20 legislative days, we passed the largest and most complex budget in Vermont’s history, passed and then overrode Governor Scott’s veto of the Global Warming Solutions Act, initiated the first of several initiatives aimed at racial justice reform, began the implementation of Vermont’s taxed and regulated market for cannabis, and reinforced the VT State College System with $24 million of bridge funding to keep all campuses operating through the pandemic and to stabilize the system in preparation for a more sustainable future framework. The Vermont House gave final approval to a $7.1

The Herald (I still call it the "Herald of Randolph") asked state rep candidates in northern Windsor County and western Orange County to answer questions for readers. You can see the print edition of my answers at this link (page B12), or I've copied them below. 1. As a result of the pandemic, Vermonters, Vermont businesses, and the state’s coffers have suffered financially. How should the legislature balance supporting Vermonters and their businesses with fixing the budget deficit provoked by the COVID-19 crisis? The budget just passed by the legislature threads the needle of constraining spending in state agencies – we reduced agency budgets by approximately 3% relative to the original bu