Candidate for Vermont House of Representatives - District Lamoille-2 in 2020 Vermont General Election.
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Get StartedEnd Qualified Immunity for Police Officers. Learn more
Climate change is an existential threat to our economy, our way of life, and to millions of Americans who live in low-lying coastal regions and do not have the resources to move easily. Our national leaders need to come up with real climate solutions, and they need to do so quickly, but Vermont has a very unique role to play. Currently, Vermont is a net carbon sink, meaning more carbon is stored in our forests than we output each year - by a long shot. We have the potential to double down on this feature of Vermont’s life, and bring money to farmers and rural communities while we do it. The state of California plans to spend roughly $2.2 billion on carbon sequestration credits over the next decade, and Vermont’s forest economy stands to grow significantly as a result. I would propose a bill that directs our Governor to pursue a deal with California’s sequestration authorities, and get Vermonters paid for the work of carbon mitigation we have been doing for decades. Learn more
Public, independently administered Internal Affairs investigations. Learn more
Mandatory Body Cams for all On-Duty Officers. Learn more
Vermont is one of only seven states which taxes the pensions of retired veterans who live in our state. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that Vermont is in the bottom 5 states in terms of veterans population. Last year, Governor Scott led the charge to exempt veteran’s pensions from the income tax, and this is a necessary step to take in the next legislative session. I would also support the creation of an Executive Branch position dedicated to identifying military service members who are exiting the service who would be a good fit for existing Vermont jobs. Only by supporting veterans can we send the message that Vermont is a good place for veterans to live and continue to serve our country and state. Learn more
Thousands of Vermonters are suffering from addiction to opiates and other prescription drugs, and for years our efforts to address this have been insufficient, to say the least. We need to fundamentally change the way we approach substance abuse issues as a society, and that starts with encouraging addicts to come out of the shadows by decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs. We should leave in place harsh penalties for those who are involved with the sales and transportation of large amounts of illicit substances, but addicts and small-time users should be given treatment and support, not a criminal record. We must instead treat it like the medical issue it is, and provide addicts the resources they need to get healthy and clean, and rebuild their lives. I would also push for any potential settlement money from lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies be put directly into building more recovery residences around the state. Learn more
A few years ago, our legislature passed, and our Governor signed, a bill legalizing the recreational use of cannabis, which is a policy I supported and advocated for in my years at the State House. However, at that time there was not the willpower to go to the logical next step, of setting up a legal and regulated cannabis market. It is well past time we bring this massive illicit industry out of the shadows. Vermont has already seen great success with craft beers, and the same type of novel industry could flourish from legal cannabis. I would push to pass legislation that establishes a legal market for cannabis, as well as establishing responsible regulations to ensure those products are safe and healthy, and kept out of the hands of children and teenagers. Learn more
Vermont’s economy continues to grow, but in many ways we are missing out on the rapid economic growth experienced by the rest of the country because of our suffocating taxes and regulations. Vermont’s economic growth needs to be supported and expanded through reforms to our Office of Professional Regulation and its related fee structure, to make it easier for Vermonters to use their skills to earn an income. One of many such reforms I would propose is to lower the limited liability corporation (LLC) filing fee to $50, and to reduce the annual renewal fee to $0 for businesses with over $1,000 in revenue. Vermont small business owners, who employ over half of all Vermont workers, should not have to pay their government an additional fee every year, just to keep their records on file. This, along with other reforms, will allow more Vermonters to start and run their own small businesses, and democratize our economy, putting more money in rural Vermonters pockets. Learn more
Vermont’s school system is one of the strongest in the nation when it comes to educating our students, with consistently high scores in standardized testing, awards for achievement of low-income students, and some of the highest high school graduation rates in the nation. However, our costs are also consistently among the highest in the nation, and many of the other states with good educational outcomes are able to spend much less. Vermont’s education system is also not right-sized for Vermont’s population. Despite being built for a student population of over 100,000, our system is currently educating around 76,000 students, according to 2018 data. This is leading to overspending, but our legislature has been unwilling to take responsibility for real reforms - instead, they’ve passed the buck to school boards through Act 46, and we don’t need to look very far before we see several examples of what a disaster that has been. We must fundamentally re-imagine how we deliver education to our state’s students, including exploring remote, Internet-based homeschooling models that could be saving us countless millions in transportation and building costs. Learn more
That's why I'm proposing we make major amendments to Act 250 to allow rural communities to take control of their own development futures. By streamlining permitting processes, giving clarity early on about the chances of success, and pre-approving lots for development in line with community needs, we can encourage smart growth in Vermont's rural areas while also protecting what makes those areas so amazing, Vermont's natural landscape. Learn more
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