As we reach the quarter-century mark in the new millennium, it’s worth looking back on what the politics of this era have done for (or, spoiler alert, “to”) Vermont. First, some important historical context:
The last time Vermont Republicans had a majority in the Senate was 1996. The last time Vermont Republicans had a majority in the House was the brief period of 2001-2004. Democrats, on the other hand, have enjoyed “trifecta” status (controlling both chambers and the governorship for unchecked lawmaking capability) for ten of those years starting in 1997, and for eight additional years enjoyed “supermajority” status in both the house and senate to pass laws over the veto check of a Republican governor.
In practical terms, this means that at no point in over a generation have Republicans in Vermont been in a position to pass any law. Not a one. Yes, Republican governors Douglas and Scott were able to delay or stop some Dem/Prog initiatives or use the threat of a veto to get a concession or two, but an actual Republican conceived and executed policy…. There are more catamounts roaming the Green Mountains today, which is to sadly say zero.
So, what has this era of progressively Progressive Democrat rule given us?
EDUCATION: If we look at this era as beginning with the trifecta year of 1997, the first big policy initiative undertaken was, of course, Act 60 education reform and it and its patchwork of “fixes” – Act 68, Act 46 school district consolidation in 2015, Act 127 pupil weighting in 2022, etc. These are all still swinging like a wrecking ball through our public education system.
Coupled with this k-12 “reform” initiative was the Dem/Prog push to expand government-funded, government-controlled pre-k beginning in 2006 with Act 62 allowing public pre-k programs to draw down state education funds, Act 166 in 2014 that made publicly provided ten hours of pre-k per week mandatory, and most recently, Act 76 in 2023 expanding the program with funding from a $100 million plus payroll tax.
It’s been an unmitigated disaster.
Costs have exploded. Vermont now has some of the highest property taxes in the nation, plus that new $100 million or more payroll tax, and a new $20 million internet services tax, a new $20 million surcharge on short-term rentals, as well as all of the money collected by the sales tax, the lottery, and major chunks of the use tax and the rooms and meals tax going to fund this monster.
We are spending significantly more money to serve thirty percent fewer k-12 students since Act 60 passed, yet test scores have been steadily dropping for a decade and a half. We have created a childcare crisis both in terms of affordability and accessibility by regulating hundreds of private providers out of existence, while the more children who actually matriculate through the government run/regulated self-styled “high quality” pre-k programs the more mental health issues we seem to be encountering in elementary school and, as noted before, test scores continue to fall. Is this causation or correlation? Maybe worth some major study! Either way, epic fail.
HEALTH CARE. Healthcare is a human right! That’s been the Dem/Prog mantra. Well, under Dem/Prog rule the humans are screwed. If we go back a few years earlier in our history to the early/mid 1990s, Howard Dean (D-VT) passed community rating and guaranteed issue regulations on health insurance providers – which succeeded in driving out all of the providers but two in the name of fairness or some such thing. Since then, all of the Dem/Prog big ideas for making health care more affordable and accessible have backfired. Spectacularly.
We were handed Catamount Healthcare in 2006. Bust. Peter Shumlin’s single payer fantasy passed in 2011 and famously exploded on the launchpad three years later in 2014. The experiment with OneCare followed, and that just flamed out in a shock to, well, nobody who’s been paying attention.
The results of all this Dem/Prog healthcare policy over the first quarter of the 21st century recently gained national recognition – as a cautionary example of what a state should absolutely not to do under any circumstances! This story in KFF Health News, In Vermont, where almost everyone has insurance, many can’t find or afford care, sums things up neatly. (Click the link to read the whole story. Worth it.)
Vermonters pay the highest prices nationwide for individual health coverage, and state reports show its providers and insurers are in financial trouble. Nine of the state’s 14 hospitals are losing money, and the state’s largest insurer is struggling to remain solvent. Long waits for care have become increasingly common, according to state reports and interviews with residents and industry officials.
Rising health costs are a problem across the country, but Vermont’s situation surprises health experts because virtually all its residents have insurance and the state regulates care and coverage prices.
And right there in that last phrase you find the problem! Thanks, Bernie Bros! You did this.
ENERGY. Here we may have dodged a bullet – or at least suffered a mere flesh wound instead of the intended kill shot that the Clean Heat Standard will be if implemented. (We’re still stuck with the Renewable Energy Standard, which passed over the governor’s veto in 2024 and will drive up electric bills.) While the Dem/Progs seem intent on doing to our energy policy what they’ve done to education and healthcare, making electricity, gasoline and diesel, home heating fuel as expensive and unreliable as modern technology allows, the voters seem to have spoken – NO! – in November 2024. The question is, will the Dem/Prog majorities listen when they return in January.
It’s not enough to vote down or simply ignore the Clean Heat Standard rules proposal from the PUC. Act 18 needs to be fully repealed. Additionally, the Global Warming Solutions Act needs to be, if not fully repealed itself, modified to remove the lawsuit provision that is currently allowing the Conservation Law Foundation to sue the state at taxpayer expense and to push back the dates for greenhouse gas reduction targets to something realistic.
Happily, Vermont Republicans, on the heels of historically large victories in the State House and Senate, have pledged to introduce legislation that would, if passed, accomplish each of these objectives. However, despite doing well in the last election, Democrats and Progressives still control both chambers of the legislature. For now.
Until that changes, it will take significant and consistent public pressure to get the majority to go along with any sane legislative initiative to fix our education system, healthcare system, energy policy, and (didn’t have time to touch on all of them in this article) the housing crisis, labor shortage, substance abuse crisis, rising crime…..
So let that be your New Year’s resolution: Hold your representatives in Montpelier accountable for what they are doing in your name and, ostensibly, on your behalf. It’s way easier than sticking to a diet and cheaper than a gym membership you’ll stop using on January 23rd. And a lot more fun. I speak from experience.
Happy New Year!
