Vermont’s latest tax letter confirms another double-digit property tax increase, following last year’s nearly 14% jump. With education spending rising and enrollment falling, the state continues raising the cost of housing while expressing
Vermont's effort to lead on climate change is turning into a cautionary tale. With firewood now in the crosshairs of environmental policy, Montpelier risks alienating rural residents while showcasing the economic harm of overreaching green
Vermont’s Act 180, passed in 2024, expands restorative justice statewide, aiming to reduce court congestion. However, shifting the burden to local police without added funding is straining community resources. Small businesses feel the impa
Vermonters are paying for an environmental illusion. While their renewable energy powers local homes, the "green credit" is sold to other states, leaving inflated emissions numbers behind. These distorted figures fuel costly mandates like t
Northwestern Vermont’s “gas towns” enjoy the cost-saving benefits of natural gas, while rural and southern communities bear higher heating costs without affordable options. Vermont’s renewable energy policies, shaped by these privileged reg
Vermont celebrated Marble Village as a “$13 million affordable housing success,” but the building’s own Act 250 filings show just $7.56 million in actual construction cost. The rest was swallowed by regulatory layers, soft costs, and public
Vermonters aren’t imagining it — rising costs, housing shortages, and ignored concerns all trace back to a structural issue called a policy preference cascade. When activist groups and NGOs shape laws more than voters do, daily life gets ha
Vermont’s housing debate is stuck on three incompatible goals: building far more homes, keeping them affordable, and maintaining strict environmental protections. Policymakers and advocates avoid acknowledging that the state can only achiev
A temporary expansion of ACA subsidies, extended twice since 2021, is now producing a steep policy cliff as the 2025 sunset approaches. Premiums rose faster under subsidy insulation, and the expiration exposes both the lost support and the
Vermont spent over $100,000 on a redistricting task force that never delivered the maps required by law. Despite clear directives in Act 73, the group rejected its mandate, accepted per-diem funds, and produced no statutory outcome—raising
Vermont spends over $30 million a year on emergency motel housing, but new federal homelessness rules could shift those costs to HUD-funded treatment and transitional programs. With hundreds of thousands of square feet in vacant state-owned
Vermont is pushing rent control, eviction limits, and new housing mandates without the basic data needed to understand the crisis. The Legislature’s own study admits it lacks core facts on homelessness, landlord costs, or rental economics —
