Dear Editor,
As Pattie McCoy, our minority leader, stated, “Vermonters deserve to be able to live, work, raise a family, and retire here without facing an affordability crisis. I am committed to working with Gov. Scott and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make Vermont more affordable and the best place to live.
Overview
The first half of the 2026 legislative session has been busy, with roughly 400 bills filed in the House of Representatives alone. Gov. Scott delivered his State of the State address and budget recommendations. He focused on the need for education reform to stop property taxes from skyrocketing, and a general fund budget that lives within our means. I support the governor’s efforts! As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback on any of these issues we are grappling with. Many of these bills that would begin to solve our affordability crisis, rather than kicking the can down the road, are held up and blocked in various House committees. Republicans still don’t have enough House seats to move these practical solutions to the House floor for a vote, stalling any real progress I believe I was elected to support.
Legislative priorities
Education reform – Since the 1990s, Vermont has lost roughly 30,000 students, yet our education structure remains unchanged, with massive overhead, redundant bureaucracy, and inequities across towns. The latest report card from the Agency of Education shows that student performance in Vermont is declining, even though our costs are among the highest in the U.S.A. Our students deserve an education system built for their future – one that puts outcomes first, not the goals of special interests or the status quo. I remain committed to working with Gov. Scott to put our kids first.
Property taxes – In 2023 and 2024, the average Vermonter faced back-to-back, double-digit property tax increases. This is unaffordable, unsustainable, and unacceptable, which is why many Vermonters went to the polls in 2024 to help restore balance in Montpelier. Rest assured that your trust is paying off. Last year, the average property tax increase approved by the legislature was just 1%, compared to 13.8% the year prior. We also passed a bipartisan education finance reform package that requires the legislature to continue to work this year on finding a long-term solution to pay for education in Vermont. I realize that savings have yet to show up in our property tax bills, but our work has just begun.
Affordability – This year, numerous pieces of legislation have been introduced to lower the cost of living in Vermont, including stabilizing our health insurance market to lower premiums, easing red tape for housing to lower cost; further reducing taxes for all vulnerable populations, such as retirees living on fixed incomes; and much more. I am supportive of all efforts to make Vermont a more affordable place to live, work, raise a family, and retire. A root-cause challenge is to find substantive ways to attract and retain productive, tax-paying families.
There are a handful of bills I would like to see brought to the floor to be debated and hopefully passed: H.585, to reduce health care costs by offering low-cost insurance coverage options; H.602, to ease housing red tape by simplifying housing rules to increase supply; H.721, to increase public safety by changing the court system (e.g., to restrict sentence reductions for repeat felony offenders or probation violators); H.754, to establish a repeat-offender statute permitting the State of Vermont to seek stricter penalties; H.759, to repeal several tax types and replace them with a flat income tax; H.767, to “pause” multiple climate-change related laws for eight years; H.769, to reduce legal risk for parents who choose to allow their children to engage in safe activities without supervision; H.774, to cap education property tax rates for 2027-2029 at 2026 levels; H.778, to require the Division of Emergency Management to develop a plan for each dam that puts people significantly in harm’s way; H.780, to establish required minimum sentences of incarceration for retail theft and drug trafficking; H.842, to improve the composition of members of the Commission on Public School Employee Health Benefits board; H.900, to exempt all social security benefits from Vermont personal income tax; S.300, to require hospital screenings for fentanyl as part of drug screening for diagnosing a patient’s condition; S.303, to amend requirements on the three-acre stormwater discharge permit; and S.304, to declare a public policy encouraging sharing of divorced parents’ rights for the good of our children.
Most probably, none of these bills will even get to the floor for debate or a vote. Republicans are still in the minority even though Vermonters sent a record number of Republicans to Montpelier because they believe the legislature is on the wrong track.
It’s an honor to serve you in Montpelier, and I will continue to look for ways to work with anyone willing to make Vermont safer and more affordable so that we can attract productive families who want to enjoy and keep Vermont beautiful. May God bless you, and may God bless America.
Regards,
Rep. Kevin C. Winter
Rutland-Windsor District