Kane for Addison – 3

Vermont, like the Federal Government, has spent decades cutting taxes across the board. While this was necessary for the bottom 75% of Americans, it was a mistake to cut so deeply for the wealthiest 25%. Even the Wall Street Journal recently stated that low taxes for the wealthiest is doing real harm to the economy.

I am committed to making sure taxes are fair for all Vermonters while building back the services Vermonters need to succeed. In our area, farmers and land owners shouldn’t be punished when they struggle. Families and young workers need support. But our tax system isn’t able to fairly tax those who aren’t invested in our communities.

Act 73 will not save any tax dollars and will harm our communities. We need thoughtful reforms to Act 73 before our towns are irreparably harmed.

Act 73 cannot, in its current form, save anyone any significant amount in our property taxes. Unless there are a large number of school consolidations and the firing of teachers across the state, Act 73 will do little to decrease property taxes.

NW Addison County residents have recently expressed their feelings about further consolidations, and if merged into larger districts with Mt Abe and Middlebury the residents of ANWSD will lose a lot of local control over our schools, still face the same property taxes, and may lose our local schools.

Until we get healthcare costs under control, capping the rate at which property taxes can increase will cost jobs and force program cuts in our local schools.

Vermonters pay the highest per capita health care costs anywhere IN THE WORLD. But some in the legislature only care about more tax cuts. Would you pay $1000 more in taxes if it saved you $2000 in health insurance costs? I would.

The Vermont Legislature has been under the control of the health insurance industry for far too long. They have been unwilling to make any significant changes to how we pay for health care for far too long. Now, outside organizations are trying to make their voices heard in the legislature. But, they face an uphill battle against the deep pockets of health insurance lobbyists.

I will not take any funds or favors from health insurance lobbyists, and I will do my best to make sure that we are finding innovative and meaningful fixes to how we pay for healthcare.

Not only will fixing health care costs save Vermonters MUCH more than any further tax cuts, but will also help our schools become more affordable and save us from increased school taxes.

This should have been the first job of the legislature for the last 10 sessions, but cutting taxes to the bone has been the only goal of some of our legislators.

We cannot get more people of working age into Vermont until we have a fair and reasonable housing system in our state. NW Addison County should be at the forefront of building reasonably priced housing through Ferrisburg, Vergennes, Addison, and New Haven.

Our district should be a prime location for commuters and for remote workers. I will do everything I can to boost housing starts along Rt 7 and 22a.

I will not sacrifice our pristine lands to do so. We can work within our conservation laws and make minor adjustments to those laws in order to promote affordable housing and respect the property rights of those who currently own property in our communities.

Like health care, cutting our utilities costs will help our family AND school budgets. We need to figure out how to promote more renewable fuel sources so that we can save money in the long run.

Oil shocks, tariffs, and ballooning corporate profits are hurting our ability to support our families, our schools, and our businesses. If we can build more green infrastructure we will cut our utility costs far more than any further tax cuts would save us.

Getting our electricity from north of the border puts Vermonters at the mercy of international corporations and wildly unpredictable federal policies. It’s time we produced our power in the state, keep as much as we need in the state, and export our surpluses to other states. Solar, wind, and other renewables are so efficient now it’s possible for us to spend less in the long run and maybe even turn a profit.

You are the owner of your own data, and it shouldn’t be up to someone else to sell it and profit off of it.

You need to be able to protect and control your personal information in the same why that you can protect and control any of your real-world assets. In today’s interconnected world your data is an asset just like any other.

We must make sure that Vermonters are able to see how their data is being used and that they are able to opt-out of any use that they want.

Europe has shown that our data can be protected with little to no disruption of commercial progress or the ability of the people to access online services.

I believe that the Attorney General of Vermont should have sufficient resources to investigate companies and individuals who illegally access and share our data. The large-scale release of our data in 2025 needs to be pursued for the protection of all Vermonters.

It’s clear now that Vermont must take action to protect our democratic values from numerous threats.

We must take more action, and become more creative in defending the rights of every Vermonter from any who would attack our values. Elections must be secured by the state to ensure they are free and fair. Civil Rights must be expansive and iron-clad guarantees now and in the future. Our civic institutions must be trustworthy beacons of safety and fairness for all Vermonters.

I will never compromise on the values which made us a nation willing to admit our shortcomings and commit to the promises of liberty on which we were founded.

We have always been a nation of immigrants. We must uphold our American values in the face of fear and division.

Immigrants have long been a strength of our community. We rely on them to boost farm production, build new homes, and promote business growth across the state. Immigration drives our economy. We cannot allow illegal federal actions to drive immigrant communities into hiding and away from our state.

As a former federal employee involved in our immigration system, I understand that the vast majority of federal officers take their oaths to the constitution seriously. I also see that the economic challenges of affirming that oath hangs over the heads of many who, like me, see the reckless actions of the administration as damaging to our constitution, our communities, and our economy.

Vermont must take a stand against the illegal actions of the current administration under the long-held principle of dual sovereignty. Immigration enforcement in Vermont should be required to follow all the constitutional principles on which we have built this nation. No current crisis should ever shake our faith in democracy, due process, and freedom.

Vermont should require all law-enforcement to protect the civil rights of all residents and should be prepared to bring complaints under 18 USC 241 any infringement of civil rights by federal agencies. We need clear laws which mirror federal law to protect the civil rights of all Vermont residents.

Law Enforcement is one member of a larger team which keeps our communities safe. We must create a system which uses the proper response for any challenge.

Our public safety forces are stretched, being asked to do to much which conflicts with their core mission of protecting communities. We need to invest in more training for our officers to work with the more challenging conditions they face. We also need to take more off their plate by creating a complimentary force focused on social-service emergencies and deescalation. By creating this new core of professionals to work in conjunction with first responders we can reduce the cost of putting our officers on the front lines of mental health crisis and poverty driven community issues.

We also need to promote programs which studies show successfully reduce crime while provide alternatives to incarceration. Restorative justice programs can break the cycle of recidivism and broken families while increasing public safety and community strength.It’s clear now that Vermont must take action to protect our democratic values from numerous threats.

We can solve two problems at once here. By increasing the home-grown, in-state energy production we can rival the rate at which China is protecting itself from shocking oil prices and building their energy independence. At the same time we can create policies which can be the model for clean energy adoption.

I’m tired of paying 3 times as much for electricity as they are in Quebec, when Green Mountain Power is owned by the major energy supplier of Quebec.

Renewable energy helps the planet while helping families afford living in Vermont.

I understand the concerns about building energy infrastructure like the BESS project, but we can mitigate the risks and inconveniences posed by mass-energy storage while still getting Vermont cheaper cleaner energy. We can take that money we are throwing at the property-tax problem each year and use that to provide affordable home solar, and wind infrastructure throughout the state.

Climate change is an existential crisis that we have avoided confronting for far too long. Now we can make utilities more affordable while leading the way in renewable energy. Making these investments makes both environmental and economic sense.