Practical Action for Bennington County

I am not running for Vermont State Senate to manage the same problems year after year.

I am running to help fix them.

Vermonters are tired of hearing that relief is coming someday. Families cannot afford “someday.” Seniors cannot budget around “someday.” Small businesses cannot hire, expand, or survive on “someday.”

Bennington County needs a senator who will focus on results, not excuses.

Here is what I will work to do.

 

Make Vermont More Affordable

I will fight to reduce the pressure on taxpayers and stop treating Vermonters like an endless funding source.

That means I will:

• Oppose new broad-based taxes and fees that make it harder to live, work, retire, or do business in Vermont.

• Push for real property tax relief tied to spending discipline, not temporary one-year fixes.

• Demand that state spending be measured against results, not intentions.

• Support policies that grow jobs, strengthen small businesses, and help working Vermonters stay here.

• Push back on mandates that raise energy, housing, healthcare, and transportation costs without clear benefits to the people paying the bills.

Vermont does not have a revenue problem.

Vermont has a spending discipline problem.

 

Reform Education Without Punishing Taxpayers

Education matters. Students deserve opportunity, teachers deserve support, and taxpayers deserve a system they can afford and understand.

I will work for education reform that:

• Controls costs before asking taxpayers for more.

• Measures outcomes honestly.

• Supports public schools and respects the approved independent schools that serve many Vermont communities.

• Protects local voice and family involvement.

• Makes education funding easier to understand.

• Demands that public dollars serve students, not bureaucracy.

Families cannot wait years for promised reform while property taxes keep rising.

 

Defend Property Rights and Local Control

Property rights are about more than land.

They are about whether families can build homes, farmers can work their land, small businesses can expand, towns can grow responsibly, and the next generation can afford to stay in Vermont.

I will work to:

• Repeal and replace broken land-use laws with clearer, simpler, more predictable rules.

• Push back against Act 181 and other state policies that move decisions away from local communities.

• Restore local control where towns have the ability to plan and manage growth responsibly.

• Streamline permitting so projects are not trapped in endless delays.

• Protect working lands, farms, forests, and rural landowners.

• Support housing growth that fits communities and respects local character.

Vermont cannot say it wants housing and then make it nearly impossible to build.

 

Protect Working Lands

Vermont’s farms, forests, and rural landowners are part of what makes this state worth saving.

I will support policies that recognize working lands as conservation.

That means:

• Respecting farmers, foresters, and landowners as stewards of Vermont.

• Opposing policies that lock up land without considering local families, local economies, and future generations.

• Protecting Current Use and other tools that help keep land working.

• Balancing conservation with housing, farming, forestry, recreation, and economic opportunity.

We can protect Vermont’s natural beauty without making Vermont unaffordable for the people who live here.

 

Lower Barriers to Housing

Housing is not just a social issue. It is an affordability issue, a workforce issue, a property rights issue, and an economic issue.

I will work to:

• Remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to housing.

• Support local and regional infrastructure that allows responsible growth.

• Encourage housing near existing roads, services, schools, and town centers.

• Reduce permitting delays that drive up costs.

• Make it easier for families, workers, seniors, and young people to find a place to live in Bennington County.

People should be able to live in the communities where they work, serve, and raise their families.

 

Support Practical Energy Policy

Energy policy has to work in real life.

It has to work for the family heating their home, the senior on a fixed income, the farmer running equipment, the contractor driving to job sites, and the small business trying to keep the lights on.

I will support energy policy that:

• Prioritizes affordability, reliability, and consumer choice.

• Opposes costly mandates that punish working families and rural communities.

• Protects small fuel dealers and local businesses from excessive reporting burdens.

• Encourages practical solutions instead of one-size-fits-all mandates.

• Respects working lands when considering large energy projects.

Good intentions do not pay the fuel bill.

 

Improve Healthcare Access

Healthcare costs are part of Vermont’s affordability crisis.

I will work to:

• Increase access to providers.

• Reduce red tape that limits care.

• Support competition and transparency.

• Make it easier for qualified healthcare professionals to practice in Vermont.

• Put patients before bureaucracy.

Vermonters need care they can access and afford.

 

Strengthen Emergency Services and Public Safety

I know what emergency response looks like from the inside.

I have served in emergency response, and I understand what happens when systems are stretched too thin.

I will work to:

• Support EMS as an essential public service.

• Strengthen volunteer fire, rescue, and emergency management systems.

• Improve coordination among local, regional, and state responders.

• Support practical recruitment and retention for first responders.

• Make sure rural communities are not forgotten when public safety decisions are made.

When someone calls for help, the system has to work.

 

Demand Accountability in Montpelier

Government should work for the people paying for it.

I will work to bring more accountability to state government by demanding:

• Clear timelines.

• Real budgets.

• Measurable results.

• Honest reporting.

• Public transparency.

• A willingness to stop funding programs that do not work.

Too often, Montpelier responds to problems with another study, another committee, another report, or another delay.

That is not leadership.

Leadership means making decisions, measuring results, and being honest with the people you serve.

 

Stay Connected to Bennington County

I will not disappear into Montpelier.

I will stay connected to the towns, families, businesses, farms, service organizations, and local officials across Bennington County.

I will:

• Hold regular community conversations throughout the district.

• Attend local meetings and events whenever possible.

• Keep constituents updated on major votes and issues.

• Listen before deciding.

• Explain where I stand and why.

• Be accessible, direct, and honest.

You may not always agree with me.

But you will know where I stand.

 

My Promise

I will fight for affordability.

I will defend property rights.

I will demand accountability.

I will put Bennington County first.

And I will focus on real results — not more bureaucracy.