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Diane Lanpher, Democrat, Addison-3
Qualification: Being a resident for 40 years, I have served in a variety of public roles. From participating in local service organizations, parish council, local education, City Council, energy committees, regional transportation, and 16 years as your local state representative in Montpelier. All my community activities have allowed me to have a broader view of the issues facing Vermont. The challenges are much more urgent now and will take a skilled, experienced public servant to bring a local voice, as well as the necessary leadership to understand, navigate and make substantial changes to housing, education, health care and flood climate resilience.
Education funding: There have been many attempts to refigure how Pre-K-12 education is funded, adjustments that were helpful for a while, an example is when we moved all the 6% sales tax to the education fund. The education fund is larger than the entire general state fund. In 2024 school boards across the state developed budgets with significant increases, and voters approved, which created an urgency in Montpelier around establishing a modern vision for public education and its ability to be financed. The Legislature created the Commission on the Future of Public Education, and they have been meeting. Please participate — education.vermont.gov/state-board-councils/commission-on-the-future-of-public-education. Our district has representation on the finance subcommittee. Additional analysis has been requested and could provide insight, but in the end, it will be all of us together deciding how education is restructured.
It is important to understand Vermont cannot just change the way it funds schools, we are all going to have to participate in how education is restructured, both achieving high quality education for our children as well as affordability for taxpayers. This will take setting multiyear legislative efforts, state agency leadership, as well as district driven community decisions. Absolutely none of these conversations or changes will be comfortable or easy. It is critical that we base decisions on knowledge. How the current system works, who is responsible for what piece of the current system, what is political rhetoric and what is not. That would be a good starting position for understanding what needs to change. Voters are key participants in the process, as well as school boards. I would like additional supports for the state Agency of Education as they are the state convener and must be supported with staff and expertise. I look forward to engaging in this process because the outcome is so important.
Housing: As Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, I work with committees on the VT House priorities. Housing has been the number one priority across the state for many years. Truly affordable housing requires government financial investments. In 2023 with the Governor, the Vermont Council on Housing & Homelessness was created. Their first report was submitted in December of 2023. Their recommendations supported affordable housing development and reduced and or helped prevent homelessness. They provided a road map of sorts, spelling out clear ideas on removing barriers to housing development, supporting innovative new initiatives, supporting what already works, and areas for future investigation.
At the same time, I worked with a group of Legislator’s during that off-session following the work of the Council. Their report and road map were worked into a bill H829 and it was expansive and expensive. The amount of funding for a ten-year plan was staggering, and the Vermont House passed the bill with two sources of funding. First an adjustment to the property tax transfer and second an increase on top marginal incomes (high income earners). This would have an investment close to $100 million a year of ongoing funds. Unfortunately, the bill was reduced in the Senate to a $17 million investment in H687, the Act 250 bill. Helpful but not the needed therapeutic dose to truly address the housing crisis.
The homeless crisis is getting worse, and state dollars cannot replace the robust COVID motel vouchers. COVID federal dollars provided rooms at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, now state dollars are being used. First, at around $75million for rooms, then in fiscal year 2024 at around $54 million for rooms and now fiscal year 2025 at $44million for rooms. The crisis will take years to address, and I will continue to do my part.
Climate crisis: Helping Vermonters move away from fossil fuels, with costs that are volatile and unpredictable while also supporting our state’s carbon reduction goals is a worthy action. Many Vermonters who can afford weatherization and updated heating and cooling are already making those investments. It is important to help all Vermonters. Efforts specifically for those least able to afford opportunities to improve their heating.
Energy use is changing rapidly, and it takes legislation with willing partners to keep up. We have all seen the push back from national fossil fuel companies and that is not surprising, but it is important to know what the Legislature will be looking at next session. As most citizens are aware, the Legislature has asked for more information this off-session before making a final decision. No decisions have been made, yet. In the 2025 session, the Legislature will get a report back and from there we have three ways to react. One, vote yes to continue. Two, vote no and it stops. Third, modify the bill and its actions. Therefore, I look forward to understanding the report, hearing the testimony, working with colleagues and constituents. It is important to understand the costs as well as the benefits.
Other priorities: If my summer of 2023 was all about housing, the summer of 2024 has increased my interests in two areas. First, the Commission of the Future of Public Education, specifically the subcommittee on finance. Their recommendations will be important to the coming session and beyond.
Second, has been the resulting recommendations of a bill passed in 2022 (Act 167). The Vermont Legislature passed Act 167 to fund investigations on how to improve health systems sustainability and hospitals’ financial health. The law required the Green Mountain Care Board to work with the Agency of Human Services to engage in a process to lower costs, improve health and increase access to health services. It has been an honor to be a part of the circle of legislators along with state agency leaders this past summer and into the fall now, who have met regularly on understanding the report, which has recently been released.
Vermont is facing several areas that require high priority action and most all of them require urgency. Housing, Public Safety, Public Health, Education, our Environment with climate disasters and Hospitals.
In my role as Chair of Appropriations it is important for me to be aware of all the pressures that will be impacting the state budget (general fund) and work with the full Legislature and the Governor on balancing funding priorities against taxpayers’ ability to pay.
Thank you for all your support over the many years of my service. The coming work ahead will be daunting, but it will get done. [email protected].
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