S.5, with its multi-billion-dollar price tag that will add at least $500 a year to the average household’s annual heating bill, is just the tip of the iceberg for what legislators have in store. Once S.5 passes, the plan is to bring forward a similar carbon tax on gasoline and diesel motor fuels.
While most countries in Europe are now shielding youth and minors from gender-affirming care practices, most Vermont legislators plow forward regardless of evidence of the harms of gender-affirming care. For the sake of the mental health and physical well-being of our children and youth, we ask you to vote “no” on both H.89 and S.37.
The estimates are that S.5 will add somewhere between $0.70 and $4.00 to each gallon of oil, propane, natural gas, and kerosene sold in Vermont. That means it will cost Vermont sugar makers somewhere between an extra $2.80 and $16.00 to produce a gallon of syrup.
Joyce Manchester testified that one aspect of the bill would be “challenging” to live up to in reality: the social equity promises to protect low-income Vermonters from the spike in home heating fuel prices brought about by the requirement to purchase clean heat carbon credits.
H.89 will protect every unknown person participating in the one direction of “gender-affirming” care, leaving no protection for parents, mental and medical doctors, and others who do not agree.
To figure out what this kind of age disparity looks like in the day-to-day of state politics in Vermont, Community News Service interviewed four state legislators to have a candid conversation about generational politics and perspective.
Speaking Wednesday afternoon during his weekly press conference, the Republican governor said that while he has been critical of the governing body recently, he said the Legislature had made progress this session. At the same time, he remains concerned over the state’s budget.
Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday threatened to veto the Brattleboro charter change allowing 16-year-olds to vote in local elections.
A bill was introduced to the Committee on General and Housing last week that aims to prevent discrimination when hiring or offering services to the public based on vaccination status.
“We have this elite group that has come up with a policy that proposes to totally disrupt an entire industry in the state of Vermont without the transparency that the legislators are being led to believe happened at the Climate Council.”
We do not want, nor does Vermont need, a full time, professional political class. These people are a big enough menace as it is with the time and resources they already have.
But despite the super-majority Democrats have, Republicans have been able to make some modest gains on certain issues that advance our cause despite our minority status, and we’re not letting up.