By Allen Gilbert Editor’s note: Allen Gilbert is a former journalist, teacher and ACLU-VT executive director. He chaired his school board in Worcester when it joined the education funding lawsuit that resulted in the Brigham v. State decision by the Vermont Supreme Court in 1997. Gilbert is the author of “Equal Is Equal, Fair Is Fair,” a…

By Rep. Rebecca Holcombe Editor’s note: Holcombe is the state house representative for Windsor-Orange 2 and member of the Vermont House Appropriations Committee. She also served as the Vermont Secretary of Education 2014-2018. It’s groundhog day. Governor Scott vetoed the yield bill, again leaving Vermont school districts adrift. The reason: all the school budgets voters…

By Governor Phil Scott  Editor’s note: Governor Phil Scott gave the following speech at his weekly press conference, Wednesday, May 22, discussing his decision-making process with bills on his desk. Last week, I talked about all the bills that passed at the very end of the session, which are starting to head to my desk…

By Tom Evslin Editor’s note: Tom Evslin, of Stowe, is a retired high-tech entrepreneur. He served as transportation secretary for Gov. Richard Snelling and stimulus czar for Gov. Jim Douglas. The Vermont Legislature is playing an expensive shell game — and planning worse. The “equalized pupil” is the shell under which the pea is hidden.…

By David Bittersdorf Editor’s note: Dave Blittersdorf is the president of All Earth Renewables in Bristol. The Vermont General Assembly — in attempt to move the state to 100% renewable energy — is making changes to how the state’s utilities buy energy. Within the next couple of weeks, the Senate Natural Resources Committee will consider…

By Jack Hoffman Editor’s note: Jack Hoffman is Senior Analyst at Public Assets Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Montpelier. He is a resident of Marshfield currently living in France. A projected jump in school taxes next year has everyone’s hair on fire in Montpelier. But before taking drastic action, legislators and the administration…

Select Board leaders choose to divert voter attention to a known dead-end instead of addressing hard choices for school facilities By Polly Mikula The Select Board meeting Monday night, Jan. 22, meant to inform voters about the proposed $99 million bond for a new middle school/high school, but instead sowed confusion. Instead of focusing on…

By John Gonter Editor’s note: John Gonter teaches cooking, foraging, fishing and hunter safety. He volunteers as an instructor with Vermont Fish & Wildlife. In Vermont, we are blessed with opportunities outside. Direct experience with our mountains, lakes, rivers, fields and forests are restorative, develop our outdoor skills and reduce our stress. Our modern lives,…

  Understanding the Dec. 1 property tax letter By Kathleen James Editor’s note: Rep. Kathleen James, D-Manchester, serves as assistant majority leader in the Vermont House.  On the last day of November, the annual “Dec. 1 Letter” was published by the Vermont Department of Taxes.  This year’s letter landed with a bang, as Tax Commissioner Craig Bolio…

  By Rep. Erin Brady, Rep. Rebecca Holcombe and Rep. Monique Priestley Editor’s note: Rep. Erin Brady, of Williston, is an active public school teacher; Rep. Rebecca Holcombe of Windsor-Orange 2, is the former Vermont Secretary of Education; and Rep. Monique Priestley, of Orange-2, is the tri-partisan Rural Caucus clerk. Governor Scott recently described an…

By Megan Sullivan Editor’s note: Megan Sullivan, of Jericho, is the vice president of government affairs for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Last year at this time, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce shared that “amid a nation more divided than ever, Vermont remains a leader in unity, particularly when it comes to agreeing on the top issues…

  By Secretary Lindsay Kurrle and Secretary Jenney Samuelson  Editor’s note: Lindsay Kurrle is the secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, which includes the Department of Housing and Community Development. Jenney Samuelson is the secretary of the Agency of Human Services.   Vermont faces a housing crisis. So, like we did during the…

  By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the editor and publisher of the Addison County Independent, a sister publication of the Mountain Times.  Vermont Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), were joined by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in sending a letter to President Biden expressing their serious…

By Bill Schubart Editor’s note: Bill Schubart is a retired businessman and active fiction writer, and was a former chair of the Vermont Journalism Trust, the parent organization for VTDigger.  I once weighed 485 pounds. I now weigh a bit over half that. My addiction to sugar and refined carbohydrates was killing me. When I…

  By David Moats David Moats, an author and journalist who lives in Salisbury, is a regular columnist for VTDigger. He is editorial page editor emeritus of the Rutland Herald, where he won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for a series of editorials on Vermont’s civil union law. At a time when facts, science, and the…