H.273 seeks to enact a law painting all Vermonters and their history as white supremacists. This law is a vile, dishonest, ideological stain on the Vermont legislative landscape in 2021.
We don’t require deposit fees for cardboard boxes, newspapers, and other recyclable materials, yet we, as good citizens, still manage to, for the most part, dispose of these things properly. Why should we treat beverage containers differently?
We were told that legalizing pot would be fine in regard to youth use because the law says you have to be 21 to purchase the pot. The law says the same thing about cigarettes and vaping products. What’s the difference? Either such laws work, or they don’t.
The proposed “Enhanced Energy Savings Act” is a carbon tax, and maybe the Senate should “own it and come out swinging,” one senator told his fellow Natural Resources and Energy Committee members yesterday.
On Feb. 16, Rep. Hal Colston, D-Winooski, gave the daily devotional on the virtual floor of the Vermont House. Afterward, Rep. Scott Beck, R-St. Johnsbury, took the unusual action of requesting that it be put in the House journal. The devotional is a diatribe of all things Colston considers racist.
The bill would double the cost of a standard bottle deposit from 5 cents to 10 cents. The added up-front cost for a 24 case of beer or soda would increase from $1.25 to $2.50. A $3.98 40-pack of 16 oz. bottled water at Walmart would require a newly added $4 deposit fee.
Ten Vermont legislators have sponsored a bill to create a “Sex Work Study Committee” concerning the legalization of prostitution in Vermont. This bill strives to rewrite Vermont history via an absurdly vacuous lie that Vermont prohibited prostitution because of “white supremacist” motives.
On Thursday, lawmakers from the House Government Operations Committee heard social justice advocates testify on a bill to add two full-time employees for the task of weeding out systemic racism in state government.
Bills up for House committee review this week would encourage home visitation by school workers, allow candidates to spend campaign money on personal expenses, let a judge order police to take away firearms, study a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” for Vermont, and promote BIPOC home ownership.
“I picture myself sitting in the seat in Massachusetts and trying to explain to my constituents why I just spent $3.7 million dollars to buy something worth $80,000 [in] Vermont? I’m just having difficulty trying to articulate that. I mean, this reminds me of Enron, quite frankly.”
Last month the three-member Vermont Tax Structure Commission delivered a well-written, informative and conscientious report. The Legislature will now need to come to grips with some very large taxation change proposals. The longest part of the report deals with our complex property tax financing of education.
Through Feb. 19, Vermont lawmakers have claimed $218,144 in the $75 per diem permitted for at-home expenses. Legislators are entitled to travel and meals expenses, in addition to their $742/week in-session pay. However, the need for travel and eating outside of the home has greatly diminished since last spring.