05/31/2026
Hello,
Well, we finally made it out of Montpelier! The legislature passed the education transformation bill after weeks of negotiations. It is an improvement over last year’s education bill and it will, by design, be revisited for years to come as reports, contingencies and on-the-ground realities reveal the best path forward. I will be letting you know about many of the bills that passed, and a few that didn’t, over the coming weeks. For now, I want to take a big picture view and make an obvious, but often underappreciated, statement and a plea.
The legislature does its best work when Vermonters are involved and heard. The two bills that Vermonters were most engaged in this session were the education bill and the Act 181 reform bill (the land use reform of Act 250). The outcomes on both bills were significantly better for it.
After last year’s education reform bill, there was a task force established to create maps for the legislature to consider for forced consolidation of districts. But the task force engaged with Vermonters and heard that they did not want top-down forced mergers. The bill we just passed creates cooperative service agencies to help lower costs but does not force mergers. (It does highly encourage them though with financial structures designed to scale our education system to current student population realities.) It was an attempt to balance the desire for local control with the need for system-wide improvements. The Governor tried to force the legislature to mandate consolidation by repeatedly threatening to veto the budget, but Vermonters did not want this and in the end Vermonters won.
Similarly, as the Land Use Review Board (LURB) started implementing Act 181 (from 2024) it became apparent that there were problems and Vermonters made their voices heard, for the good. Those of us in the Rural Caucus knew there were problems with 181 early on. We asked for a significant delay when the session started in January and then, as the LURB’s overzealous mapping became apparent, we sent a letter to the Speaker demanding repeal of significant parts of the bill. This tri-partisan letter was signed by enough members to force the Environment Committee to take up repeal. But it was the growing outcry by Vermonters that helped force the issue and shape the outcome. If you were at town meeting, you heard me raise the alarm about this government overreach. The bad parts of the bill were repealed and will be signed by the Governor soon.
As the evolution of both these bills prove, the legislature works best when Vermonters are paying attention and are involved. And this is how the legislature was designed to function. You have a part-time citizen legislature with no staff, no benefits, low pay and, often, other jobs competing for our time. We need your help – your opinions, your ideas and, sometimes, your outrage. But – and this is important – we need to keep it civil and respectful. Threats against legislators have increased dramatically in Vermont. I can say without reservation that everyone in that building, regardless of party or ideology, is trying their best to represent their constituents and do right by Vermont. Please send us your ideas, not your hate.
From the outside, it might seem like there are right and wrong answers to problems. Or that there are Republican, Democratic, Progressive or Independent solutions to problems. The reality is that on almost every issue the struggle is about balancing trade-offs. Governing is less about ideology and more about wrestling with competing, often equally valid, viewpoints to develop sensible legislation.
I have learned so much in the last two years. It really does take some time to settle into this unique role and I now feel poised to have an even more meaningful impact in the coming years, if you will have me back.
Be well,
Chris
