The Bad and the Good -1/30/26

FEDERAL OVERREACH

I explained my vote on House Resolution 12 last week by quoting Thomas Jefferson — ‘In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution.’

HR12 was the House’s response to the Federal Government’s actions in Minneapolis, and in support of Governor Scott’s excellent statement which began, “Enough … it’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their God-given and constitutional rights to protest their government.” (The full text of his statement is in the Resolution, more on this here).

Volumes have already been written about this topic by people smarter than me. Suffice it to say that the Federal Government is usurping powers for the intent of instilling fear into the hearts of its citizens. This is a precursor of wider intimidation to come as we enter election season. The flat-out racial profiling (of lawful US Citizens) that is underway makes me sick and is antithetical to the founding principles of this country. The VT House is introducing a few bills to prepare for when its our turn, but we have little leverage to stem a federal incursion.

EDUCATION – THE THREAT TO SCHOOL CHOICE IS BACK

Once again, the threat to school choice is under full assault by ideological radicals (on this issue) in the legislature. I was hoping that the Education Committee would focus on the major cost drivers of our expensive education system, but it appears they will be diverted to the ideological flashpoint of independent schools vs public schools. Act 73 already lowered the number of independent schools down to 18 in the whole state, but that was not enough for some people. It is not hyperbole to say that these bills threaten the foundation of our wonderful education system in the region.

Please know that your delegation is doing all it can to fight this effort. If you feel inclined to act on this issue, please email House leadership and the Education Committee and let them know your thoughts and that you are opposed to H777 and H813.

Here is the email list: jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us, LHoughton@leg.state.vt.us, pconlon@leg.state.vt.us, cataylor@leg.state.vt.us, ebrady@leg.state.vt.us, jbrown@leg.state.vt.us, jdobrovich@leg.state.vt.us, lharple@leg.state.vt.us, rhunter@leg.state.vt.us, elong@leg.state.vt.us, kmccann@leg.state.vt.us, lmorgan@leg.state.vt.us, bquimby@leg.state.vt.us 

ELECTRICITY IN VERMONT

We heard testimony from the Department of Public Service last week about their 2026 Energy Report, which is worth a scan if your are interested. The electricity market is an interesting example of when regulation works well. In my experience, it is hard to be doctrinaire about regulation vs deregulation – the “free” market often does not act in the public good, but it sometimes does. For example, look at this graph:

You can see that Vermont has the lowest prices in New England and New York. As importantly, Vermont has a steady line, not prone to extreme price shocks from the Ukraine war (natural gas) or weather events. This is all due to VT having a tightly regulated market which mandates long-term planning and putting the consumer first. Our region has some of the highest electricity prices in the country, so that is an important context, but that is largely due to insufficient generation and nearby fuel sources. This is one reason why the offshore wind projects which are being built, but which are now frozen by the President, are so important to lowering rates in the region. They will also add generation at peak usage times, which is highly beneficial to prices and grid stability. The single biggest driver of costs right now is paying for the New England transmission grid - the high voltage power lines and transformers which supply and regulate electricity flow in the region. Thankfully, we have one of the most robust grids in the country.

VERMONT SUCCSS STORY

I want to highlight a big success story – broadband built out in Vermont. We all know how important broadband is for our children’s education, our ability to work remotely, our access to telehealth and government services and to generally conduct business and access entertainment. Due to state policy, federal money, an innovative organizational structure and many volunteers, Vermont leads the country in the percentage of households with broadband access. This is a big equity issue as well. The free market did not reach many thousands of households due to the cost of reaching them and the limited return on investment in the most rural areas. Through a combination of four bills passed by the legislature over a decade and the amazing work of the staff and volunteers of the Communication Union Districts (CUDs), the regional organizations installing and managing the fiber network, Vermont is 99.5% covered! Only 1,800 of the hardest to reach households remain to be connected. Here is a map of the state broadband network.