Dear Editor, Vermont, like many states, is dealing with a budget deficit; this year, legislators are grappling with an estimated $40 million shortfall. New sources of revenue are increasingly hard to come by, so the idea of increasing tax revenues […]
Category: Op – Ed
Op - Ed
The heat in Paris
Limiting global warming to under two degrees By Deb Markowitz, Secretary, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources The last time I was in Paris, the temperature was unbearable. The country was suffering through a record-setting heat wave that caused the deaths […]
Op - Ed
Time for common sense gun safety
By Sue Minter Three dead and nine wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. Fourteen dead and more than 20 wounded in San Bernardino, California. In less than one week. Gun violence is a crisis in our country. […]
Op - Ed
Legislature must focus on the fundamentals
By Lt. Governor Phil Scott At the start of every legislative session since being elected Lt. Governor, I’ve urged legislators to evaluate every proposal based on whether it helps our economy, improves efficiencies or reduces costs. If the answer to […]
Op - Ed
Reversing the trend of rising incarceration rates in Vermont
By Gov. Peter Shumlin For most of the last two decades, Vermont’s prison inmate population has been rising. Between 1997 and 2008, it grew by 86 percent. Projections made in 2007 said that Vermont’s inmate population would grow to 2,619 […]
Op - Ed
Washington’s latest deal: little cause for celebration
By Lee H. Hamilton You can understand why President Obama and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle sought to cast their end-of-October budget deal in the best possible light. They avoided a potentially catastrophic national default. They reduced […]
Op - Ed
Help our students reach higher
By Rebecca Holcombe and Scott Giles Fifty years ago, on Nov. 8, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Higher Education Act of 1965 into law. This historic act marked our first commitment to universal access to higher education, and represented one […]
Op - Ed
Beyond panels and turbines
By Gov. Peter Shumlin When we talk about renewable energy, the focus is often on the project–the solar panel or the wind turbine that allow us to harness local, Vermont-grown energy to power homes and business around the state. But […]
Op - Ed
Marijuana legalization and our children
New report outlines the impacts By Julia Purdy At its Town Meeting in Killington recently, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns came out in opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana in Vermont. Apparently they have read the latest […]
Op - Ed
Rutland’s oxen are conquering its lions
By Steve Costello As many of your readers may recall, I enjoy perusing “Aesop’s Fables” from time to time, and look for lessons that apply to life, work and community. Three recent events, a speech by incoming Rutland Police Chief […]