According to a recent statewide survey, 47 percent of respondents cited the expense of housing or healthcare as the item that creates the most financial stress in their lives. I would work to expand access to affordable housing and healthcare, and provide Vermonters livable wages that can support these basic necessities.
School funding must be stable, sufficient, equitable, and sustainable. We must ensure funding meets the needs of students regardless of where they live or attend school, and that our funding mechanism is fair and reasonable for the resources of our small state and its residents.
I support the goal of reducing Vermont’s carbon footprint and obtaining 90 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050. The good news is that transitioning to a clean energy economy has a positive ripple effect, promoting the local economy, stronger communities, and healthier people.
Vermont’s waterways are crucial to the well-being of our state and its residents. Clean water promotes personal health, economic vitality, agriculture and forestry initiatives, recreation opportunities, and important wildlife habitats. I take the challenge of cleaning up Lake Champlain and other waterways seriously because doing so is vital to the future of Vermont.
We need a broader, less siloed agricultural policy and economy in Vermont. We should create stronger links between dairy, maple, and artisan food and drink enterprises, and greater integration of tourism, forestry, and agriculture through the promotion of Vermont's working landscape. The overall economy and identity of Vermont needs healthy dairy farms and farmers, so we should all be willing to solve these problems together.
