“Peter is a strong voice advocating for our rural communities in Montpelier, especially complex areas such as education finance, broadband expansion, affordable housing and rural economic development.”
-Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski
With existential threats such as climate change, immediate major challenges like housing and childcare, and workforce needs across the state, there is much work to be done for the Vermont Legislature and the Governor. Below is a list of some, but not all, issues facing Vermont. If you have an issue to discuss, send me an email: pconlon@leg.state.vt.us.
CLIMATE CHANGE
The Legislature has taken bold steps so Vermont can do its part to reduce carbon emissions. Last year, I voted to pass the Clean Heat Standard bill to address a major target area of CO2 production: burning oil and gas to stay warm. This legislation would have set up a system to provide incentives for fuel dealers to pivot to cleaner sources of heat, especially the installation of heat pumps, and provide homeowners, especially lower income Vermonters, help to purchase them.
Unfortunately, Gov. Scott vetoed the bill, and the House was unable – by one vote – to override the veto. This must be addressed in the next session.
Still, much has been done. With ample federal dollars helping, Vermont has significant incentives available to help Vermonters buy electric vehicles. In our family, it allowed us to lease a Kia Niro EV for a monthly payment significantly better than buying a gas-powered car. These incentives are being paired with rapid state-funded expansion of EV charging stations throughout Vermont.
One of the biggest areas of state investment, with the potential for an excellent payback, is weatherization. Vermont has a significantly older housing stock, and much of it is ripe for weatherization improvement. In the past session, the Legislature committed $80 million to improving the efficiency of Vermont homes through both weatherization services and financial incentives provided through Efficiency Vermont.
It will be our job next year to see that these programs are meeting their goals. The most significant challenge will be finding the skilled labor to turn these goals into reality. While programs have been created to help fill this gap, the labor shortages are hitting the trades especially hard, and so much is tied to housing and child care.
HOUSING
With the influx of federal funds, the Legislature has committed well in excess of $100 million toward creating housing in Vermont, especially for low-income Vermonters, the “missing middle” and the homeless. The next challenge will be to assure that those on the ground executing these programs can make it happen in an era of labor shortage, rapidly increasing material costs, local zoning restrictions and NIMBYism. There is no argument that solving the housing shortage in Vermont will require a partnership with government, from direct subsidies for building, to changes in land-use laws such as Act 250, to making sure that towns have the necessary infrastructure to accommodate housing growth. I am committed to making sure the Legislature remains engaged in developing these partnerships.
CHILD CARE
The coronavirus pandemic exposed many fragile parts of life in Vermont, and one of the most profound examples was childcare, especially for the birth to age 3 category. This won’t be easy to solve as it requires more skilled providers entering the field (several new programs are addressing this), navigating a challenging regulatory system, and hoping that new increases in state funding prove enough to build sustainable programs.
Part of the answer must be partnerships. We have seen successful models in Vermont of non-profits stepping up – as we see with the Middlebury Congregational Church just this summer announcing more than two dozen slots for 2023 for infants and toddlers – and public schools offering available space to private providers at no charge. The Legislature needs to do what it can to help build these partnerships and I am fully committed to making sure this remains a legislative priority.
HEALTH CARE
Providing affordable health care to Vermonters continues to be a struggle. I was disappointed when Vermont nearly a decade ago abandoned its pursuit of providing universal health care in our state. It should continue to be our goal in Vermont, but would be best solved at the federal level.
I continue to support efforts to create a universal primary care system. This proposal has been given little attention so soon after Vermont spent tens of millions of dollars examining, but abandoning, universal care. Its time to give this idea the attention it deserves.
Vermont continues to build its One Care system, which rewards doctors for keeping their patients healthy, rather than reimbursing them for how many procedures and tests they order. Building One Care has been a slog, and not terribly successful to date. But as more groups chose to participate, such as the Vermont State Employees Union did two years ago, it grows closer to reaching its potential. Vermont needs to look at how to attract other large groups – most notably the Vermont NEA – give One Care a solid base of Vermonters for the system to prove itself.
EDUCATION
I have served for six years on the House Education Committee and have been proud of the work the Legislature has done, from creating a more equitable funding system to continuing the universal meals programs at all Vermont schools after the federal funding ran out. I supported legislation giving schools more flexibility in spending their special education dollars so more work can go into early intervention and implementing best practices, and I have strongly supported ongoing efforts to target literacy needs in students before grade 3.
We have addressed exclusionary practices such as suspensions and expulsions in young grades and we have significantly shored up our state college systems for older students.
This past session, I was proud to lead legislation that protects our small towns voting to create their own school systems from having non-elected state officials stop those efforts.
The challenges for the future are significant. The return to something approaching normal from the pandemic showed significant student needs, and a great need for specialists to address these challenges, both within the school system and with the mental health agencies that support our schools. This will take people to solve this: skilled professionals. The Legislature needs to continue to support programs that put more of these folks in the field through our Vermont college systems.
Another major challenge across Vermont is the state of our school buildings. For many decades, school boards working to keep costs under control and provide quality programs have neglected building needs. There is at least $500 million in known needs as of several years ago, a number that has surely grown. I am committed to seeing this addressed on a statewide basis, since the needs of any one district are ultimately funded in part by all districts under our statewide funding program.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Vermont has a strong tradition of environmental protection, and the Legislature must continue that. This year, we made several good steps forward: passing changes to the Current Use program that will allow unmanaged “reserve” forests to qualify for these tax savings, changes to Act 250 to stop forest fragmentation, and smaller changes that help steer development to village and town centers. Not all these efforts made it past the governor, such as preventing forest fragmentation. These policies need continued support as Vermont balances the need for growth and protection of the environment we hold dear.
RURAL VERMONT
I have been a proud member of the House Rural Economic Development caucus for six years. This group of rural legislators from all three parties each year works together to identify needs in rural Vermont and advocates for legislation to address them.
One of the success stories of our efforts has been significant funding increases for the Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Initiative, including $2 million this past year. The VWLEI is a highly successful grant program that targets businesses and other efforts to support land-based – farming and logging, for example – enterprises in the state. Its track record for turning grants into jobs in rural Vermont has been excellent, and this increased funding is money well spent.
I am committed to continuing efforts, including helping develop Vermont’s outdoor recreation economy, and assisting sustainable forest management businesses.
One of the major challenges rural Vermont, and especially the Champlain Valley, faces is the limits on smart growth caused by a lack of wastewater infrastructure. Clustered development in our village centers, rather than splitting up our rural landscape, is hampered by the cost and technical challenges of creating wastewater systems in smaller villages. I would like to see the state commit more technical and financial resources to address this and will be actively involved in the effort.
BROADBAND
Vermont has committed nearly $200 million to expand high-speed broadband to rural parts of Vermont. I strongly supported this appropriation and the creation of Communication Union Districts across Vermont to turn that money into publicly owned systems providing excellent service to the most rural areas. This is already yielding results in both build-out by some of these new CUDs and existing companies stepping up, knowing they could face competition from the CUDs if their service doesn’t improve.
