Rep. Stevens: Looking ahead to new biennium
Jan. 3, 2022 | By Rep. Tom Stevens
We’ve welcomed our family home, opened our presents, and dined in a holiday fashion…without a power outage and with the gratitude that comes from what many of us take for granted — shelter, warmth and food. We feel lucky that our electricity and heat held, and we are grateful for the family that was able to be with us in good health and spirit.
These last three years have been experienced with the cloud of the pandemic above us, as well as the fiscal health of our own jobs, businesses and community. On one hand, the financial assistance from the federal government has prevented a full economic breakdown, but the changes we have experienced in our economy — primarily the service economy but seen everywhere — has shown us how precarious the conventional wisdom has been over the last generation.
Something about this pandemic and the ensuing stressors has given many of us a wholesale change of vision of what our world, starting with our local communities, represents and how it has been built over time. For many of us, we’ve avoided the pitfalls we can afford to avoid, but for others, the uncertainty of the next meal, or the next bed, or the next delivery of fuel oil, or the next job, has increased the stress and made our lives more difficult. For businesses large and small, the uncertainty of having enough employees, or the supply chain, or the increase in the prices of goods and services or transportation, has made the day-to-day experience ever more difficult.
Those of us who serve in the General Assembly are not immune to these uncertainties, and we are learning who they affect and how they affect them every day, even in this off-season. The calls I have received asking for help, or for direction, or for a phone number, have been a bit different than in years past. Perhaps not so different, but more intense, because we do not know exactly what the near future holds for each of us. I listen, and I read emails, and I try to respond in a way that will bring some relief, but I know relief only comes when one knows there will be electricity, or heat, or food, or a place to stay.
We have been lucky, in a way, that Vermont is a small state, and the financial help we’ve received over the course of the pandemic is greater per capita than larger states. As a result, we’re seeing revenues (tax collections) at a higher number, which has softened the economic blow in ways that are helpful, for example taxes for schools have been lowered on the state level. But there are other inflationary areas out of our control like the price of gasoline or real estate — that have negatively affected us.
As we rest up before the beginning of the new legislative biennium, we are also preparing for another COVID-related year with an influx of nearly 50 new state representatives (out of 150) and 10 new senators (out of 30) in the senate. This is a lot of change, and it is unclear how this much change will slow us down, especially at the beginning of the biennium. I’m looking forward to having this “new blood” in the House. It is truly a living proof of how our government and democracy needs to work when we have free and open voting, and turnover like we do in the General Assembly.
Issues that will come before us are many such as:
Passing a balanced budget which we always do
Providing business incentives and protections that will keep Vermont businesses healthy
Reforms that will allow more and better housing to be built in our downtowns and adjacent areas to alleviate some of the difficulties we are seeing with housing
Developing a child care system that reflects the needs of working parents and their children, as well as the needs of their employers
Public health policy that will try to bend the curve of the cost of care and insurance.
We won’t know the shape of these issues until we see the bills introduced in January and February, but these issues listed are ones that are almost always near the front of the line.
I remain grateful for the privilege of serving this town and district in the Vermont House of Representatives. Please remain in touch and do not hesitate to call or send an email to me with your thoughts and concerns. The best number to reach me is my home phone, 802-244-4164. Now that the session is upon us, the best email is tstevens@leg.state.vt.us.
Thank you for your support and your kind words over the election season. I look forward to doing the best work I can on your behalf in 2023.
Rep. Tom Stevens, D-Waterbury, represents the Washington-Chittenden House district and chairs the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs.