On May 16, 2018

Legislative Update: Session ends with late Saturday night

Portrait of Alison Clarkson
Alison Clarkson

By Senator Alison Clarkson, Windsor-5

The 2018 Legislative session adjourned very late Saturday evening May 12. It always ends after about two weeks of intense negotiations between the House and the Senate resolving our policy differences in committees of conference. And, it is always a bit of a shock, after such focused work, to end so abruptly. The Senate adjourned at about 11:15 p.m. – about an hour before the House. As a result, few lingered to celebrate. Most of us packed up and drove home while we were still awake enough to do so safely.

In adjourning, we said goodbye to several of our colleagues who have chosen to retire from legislative public service. No matter their party, the Legislature is going to miss the contributions of these members. Our Windsor County delegation is losing Sue Buckholz and Gabrielle Lucke. We are grateful to both of them for their thoughtful work and additions to debates in the State House.

Our session began with legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and ended with enhancing school safety, improving workforce development, raising the minimum wage over six years, improving firearm safety and an employee paid family leave program. We also passed a balanced budget and an equitable tax bill. These bills took into account windfalls of tobacco and VW settlements and reflect a more robust revenue forecast which is encouraging. As these are one-time windfalls to Vermont, the Legislature felt it was appropriate to invest this money in one-time expenses. These settlements enabled us to buy down future state debt – which will save taxpayers over $100 million in teacher retirement liability, fill the Education Fund reserve, pay off the Vermont Life deficit, fund expenses like additional support for our dairy farms, a de-carbonization study, sexual harassment education, additional beds for acute mental health needs, tobacco cessation and smoking prevention programs, and studies on childcare demand, pre-kindergarten and Corrections healthcare.

The governor is unhappy that we did not apply all of these one-time monies to reduce our education property tax. But school spending is an ongoing expense – not a one-time expense. Our school boards worked really hard to hold education spending increases to only 1.5 percent statewide this year. That was impressive. Education is our number one economic development investment – and while we need to ensure this continues to be affordable for Vermonters – we should not be shielding Vermonters from a cost we have voted to support. One of the perennial concerns the Legislature has is how to improve the connection for voters between their vote to support their local schools and the bill they get in August.

With regards to the education property tax rate – for the 65-70 percent of property taxpayers who pay by income – we have lowered the property tax from 2.55 percent to 2.53 percent; for full rate payers the rate has increased 2 cents – from $1.50 to $1.52 and for non-residential payers it has increased from $1.53 to $1.59.  The Legislature sets the statewide tax rate after Town Meeting’s school budget votes. This rate pays the bill local voters have elected to spend in March. There isn’t one of us who likes the idea of increasing our education property taxes — but this tax is a reflection of our local choices in school spending.  To address the concern of “right sizing” our schools to our declining student population, the Legislature has asked a task force to make recommendations on staff to student ratios.

I appreciate hearing from you. I can be reached by email: [email protected] or by phone at home, 457-4627. To get more information on the Vermont Legislature, and the bills which have been proposed and passed, visit the legislative website: legislature.vermont.gov.

Sen. Clarkson can be reached by email at: [email protected] or by phone at the Statehouse (Tues.-Fri.) 828-2228 or at home (Sat-Mon) 457-4627.

Contact your legislators.
Visit: legislature.vermont.gov/people/

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Two members, including chair, resign from the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont

June 25, 2025
By Corey McDonald/VTDigger Two members of the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont, including the commission’s chair, announced last week they would be resigning, saying they no longer believed their efforts would make any impact. Meagan Roy, the chair of the commission, and Nicole Mace, the former representative of the Vermont School Boards…

Vt plastic bag use dropped 91% following ban, researchers find

June 25, 2025
In the midst of 2020 Covid measures, another change took place in Vermont: A law went into effect banning businesses from offering plastic bags to customers, with paper bags only available for a fee. A 2023 analysis of a survey of hundreds of Vermonters found the law appeared to have worked. Plastic bag use in…

A Roadmap

June 25, 2025
The Vermont Legislature adjourned Monday evening, June 16, following the passage of H.454, the education reform plan. I call it a roadmap as the legislation lays out a list of changes that will take place over the next few years. And as various studies and reports come back in, there will also likely be adjustments,…

Vermont to get over $21 million in nationwide settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers

June 25, 2025
Attorney General Charity Clark announced June 16 that all 55 attorneys general, representing all eligible states and U.S. territories, have agreed to sign on to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family. This settlement was reached after the previous settlement was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. It resolves…