Kane for Addison – 3

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.

We need significant changes to health insurance if we are going to make Vermont more affordable.

1. Unite with other states in the region to grow our “risk pool”. We have a small risk pool which is an excuse Heath Insurance companies use to justify higher costs.
2. Create a system which treats Direct Primary Care as insurance. This reduces cost and provides better care. Combined with Catastrophic Insurance this would reduce costs for the state and families.

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.

1. We need to identify plots of land that are ready for building. these plots should be in or near already existing housing. We will work with builders to create small homes for families just starting out, and for older Vermonters who are looking to downsize.
2. We will make sure that part-time residents are paying their fair share of taxes. If they live in other states they aren’t paying income tax here. We need to make sure our tax system encourages owner-occupied housing.

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.

Instead of “one time” massive handouts of tax dollars to “keep property taxes low” we will use part of that money to grow home solar and farm wind. Cutting utility bills will make Vermont more affordable than blanket buy-downs.

1. Subsidize home solar through state-run programs. Cut utility bills in half, and those bills now get paid to the state to pay for more home solar.
2. Subsidize wind turbines on farms. Allow farm owners to sell their excess power through grid improvements.
3. Incentives for Electric Vehicles to replace the incentives cut by the federal government. Gasoline is subject to price spikes, and families and businesses cannot afford to grow if they don’t have cheap transportation.

Take the point of view of business owners large and small. They don’t hire more workers than they need to serve their customers efficiently. So even if we were to build a jobs program, businesses won’t hire unless there is a demand for their services. So how do we increase demand for local businesses?

Decreasing the utilities bills for families and businesses will allow for money to flow to a greater variety of local businesses. If we can decrease the health insurance costs of businesses and families that will allow for more spending at businesses. Promoting the purchase of EVs will insulate our economy from fuel spikes, as we have seen this summer.

Once we are able to super charge discretionary spending we will see greater demands on existing businesses and lower start-up and operating costs for new businesses. We can use the funds that are now flowing out of state for utilities, fossil fuels, and health care to grow demand for in-state products and services. More people will be able to hire our local builders to renovate homes, they will be able to hire more landscapers to prepare their properties for summer and winter.

The key to creating jobs is building demand. The key to demand is to keep more money in as many pockets as possible.

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.

1. Support BOCES (Boards of Combined Educational Services) to cut costs. Share student support services, food services, transportation contracts, and administrative services to create efficiency.
2. Reform the Commission on Public School Employee Health Benefits. Create an independent commission committed to lowering costs. Establish a single HRA administrator for Vermont.
3. Support Community-Based Education through policies which support local elementary schools. Our youngest students should not have to be on a bus for longer trips than necessary.
4. Fully fund school-based youth support programs to meet the growing needs of students, and reduce downstream educational distractions. Reform 40-year old laws to facilitate getting students with increased needs into placements which serve them.
5. Address major cost drivers by making sure that educational decisions are data-driven and proven to reduce overall costs rather than plowing ahead based on soundbites or guesses.

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.

1. Create 2 new tax brackets. $350k – $750k, and $750k+ because affordability is less of a concern for those at the top. $700m in tax breaks from recent federal tax breaks went to the top 20% of Vermonters. That’s individuals earning over $135k. The top 5% of Vermont earners are $240k or more. Higher tax brackets for the top 5% isn’t unreasonable.
2. The highest effective tax rate is 10.6%, and hits those earning between $135k and $240k. Many of those are small business owners. I would reduce the tax rates between $55k and $240k so that small businesses can thrive. I would increase taxes for individuals over $240k, with additional increased for the top 1%.
3. Significantly increase property taxes for home-owners who don’t pay income tax in Vermont.
4. Securities-based wealth should see a wealth tax at 2% for non-retirement accounts and non-farm investments of over $7.5 million. The top 1% in Vermont have over $9m in net worth and over $500k in income.
5. Create an automated toll system for vehicles with out of state registration. These tolls can be placed at state highways where they cross borders to other states. These tolls would supplement our transportation budget.

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.

1. Ban data-center construction in Vermont
2. Increase liability for those who misuse personal data of Vermonters.
3. Sanction the Scott administration for sending voter data to the federal government, which has been found to be illegal by a judge.

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

1. Ban any intervention or assistance from law enforcement in the handling of ballots
2. Support interstate agreements to expand the size of the House of Representatives and link the Electoral College to the popular vote.
3. Strengthen protections for 1st Amendment Rights
4. Fund court challenges over the implementation of all federal voter suppression efforts in Vermont.

We have always been a nation of immigrants. We must uphold our American values in the face of fear and division. 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. I resigned my federal job when the administration began illegally attacking immigrants.

1. Ban the masking of law enforcement in Vermont.
2. Support immigration attorney services for farm and construction workers.
3. Expedite law enforcement assistance for the filing of U-Visa petitions.

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.

1. Create a special force which is trained in de-escalation and community policing.
2. Increase training for de-escalation programs for all law-enforcement agencies.
3. Increase transparency to prevent officers with a record of misconduct from easily moving to a new agency.
4. Create a state-program modeled on the HELPER-Act to encourage new officers to move to Vermont.

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.

1. Home Solar subsidies to cut utility costs for households under $250k instead of blanket tax buy downs.
2. Wind Turbine Subsidies for farms over 20 acres, and improved grid infrastructure so that farmers can sell their excess electric productions to local communities.
3. Support sodium ion batteries in communities.