Pouring subsidies into building low-income “affordable” housing has not made an appreciable dent in the shortage of either middle-income or low-income residences. The most effective steps government can take to provide housing is to remove zoning restrictions, update land use plans, and speed permitting.
Last Thursday, lawmakers in the House Committee on Environment and Energy heard testimony on a bill that would restrict about a third of the state’s lands from development.
The Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs began looking at a marked-up copy of an omnibus housing bill, with further deliberations slated for later this week. State Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden, introduced the bill.
With winter weather becoming harder to predict, Vermont’s skiing and outdoor recreation industry is looking at new ways to keep the season’s business going.
We don’t need the State to step in under the guise of a housing shortage and control local zoning. The State already did this with education when there was a funding crisis; welcome ACT 60/48. Also, the Climate Crisis has justified the State to take over our fossil fuel usage.
Before voters on Town Meeting Day say “yes” or “no” to proposed local and education taxes for the coming year, the numbers they see on the agenda go through a labyrinth.
The fact is that the Unaffordable Heat Act will be twice as expensive for Vermonters as the failed Clean Heat Standard. First of all, it will pressure Vermonters to buy a brand new heating system, which could cost Vermonters an out-of-pocket expense of upwards of $20,000.
Nearly one in five positions sits empty within Washington County’s state-designated mental health provider. That’s a slight improvement from the vacancy rate over the last 18 months.
Devanney’s point applies in many types of government regulated activities. The regulator has to overregulate to protect his own position, no matter how senseless or costly the outcome.
Recent debate regarding a potential ban of gas-fired stoves has provided a fresh example of the Biden administration’s callous regulatory bent. Public backlash, however, could cause them to put the notion on the back burner.
“South Dakota’s kids are our future. With this legislation, we are protecting kids from harmful, permanent medical procedures,” Noem said in a press release. “I will always stand up for the next generation of South Dakotans.”
Vermont’s long history of parental choice in education will come to a crashing end in 2028 if a bill designed and backed by the “Educational Equity Alliance” makes it through the Legislature.