I will be voting for Chris Bray for Vermont State Senate, and I urge you to vote for Chris too. Chris has been a leader on such important issues as food, agriculture, clean water, clean energy, healthcare, affordable housing, and education. His positive impact on Vermonters’ lives extends beyond his constituent towns in and near Addison County, to the entire state. He listens to his constituents and fellow legislators, and cooperation with others makes him an especially effective senator.

Here’s what Chris has not done: Despite false statements by the Vermont Republican State Committee, he did not vote to raise your property taxes. Those taxes are set by voters in each school district when they approve their annual budgets. The State Legislature is obligated to raise the dollars needed to fund those budgets. Chris Bray actually worked to find other sources of school funding, helping to limit what would have been even higher property tax increases. This was a difficult year for school funding, especially in light of a 13% increase in health insurance premiums and the ending of federal COVID funds, and Chris has worked with his legislative colleagues to minimize the impact on taxpayers.

Chris Bray is also being targeted by out-of-state fossil fuel interests because of his courageous efforts to move Vermont’s economy away from fossil fuels. That’s important: Just this week, Florida was devastated by flooding and other impacts of Hurricane Milton, and researchers suggest that property damage from that event was twice as expensive as it would have been without global warming caused largely by fossil fuels. Vermonters, too, have experienced significant flooding in recent years that was exacerbated by global warming.

As a senator, Chris Bray has been a steady, effective presence, pushing legislation to help Vermonters and the wider world. Your vote for Chris will help keep him working for us.

Richard Wolfson

Middlebury