The turmoil in Washington casts a big shadow on state

When we in Vermont are confronted by the unraveling of federal environmental regulations, energy efficiency standards, food safety enforcement and more, and when we face cutbacks in federal food and health care benefits that so many Vermonters depend on, when we read of the administration’s serious intent to cut back Social Security and Medicare, we have to consider whether we in Vermont can do anything about that, or not.

For me, that’s the ever-present backdrop to our work in Montpelier.

Climate change

The House Energy and Technology Committee, the committee I serve on, along with other relevant committees, will be working hard on climate change issues, both some significant “banner” bills as well as continuing to include measures in a variety of other bills that keep us moving toward cleaner and more efficient energy use, and away from fossil fuels.

I have spent most of my career working on energy issues, at the state’s most rural electric utility that pioneered in both energy efficiency and conversion to renewable energy sources, in state government overseeing the weatherization program, and before that, developing public transportation and rideshare services in Central Vermont.

I am glad to offer my experience and expertise in the legislative process, but climate change is an issue that requires not just government action and experts, but an understanding by each of us as individuals about changes we ourselves can and must make in our day-to-day activities that will help address this critical issue.

Much of the debate in 2019 — and, I expect, going forward — is focused not on what we should do, not on whether climate change is real and caused to a great extent by human activity, not on the effect it is already having in our own state as well as catastrophic events elsewhere, but rather on how we raise money to pay for things most of us agree we need to do, like encouraging conversion to electric vehicles, or expanding weatherization and other thermal energy efficiency efforts.

I strongly support making our tax structure fairer, based more on ability to pay, and assuring that the wealthiest among us contribute their share as one source for this as well as non-energy uses.

We should also recognize that we have a long history of using energy-based revenue to pay for energy-based public functions. We of course pay taxes on transportation fuels to pay for roads and bridges. The existing home weatherization program has been supported since 1990 by a combination of taxes on regulated utilities, and on non-transportation fuels. Taxes and fees on utilities and on energy project developers also pay for the utility regulatory process, and those costs are absorbed by us as ratepayers.

In the end, my concern is first and foremost that we act in real ways and that we do our part in addressing the climate crisis.

A new proposal is before Vermont and a number of other states to join together in a Transportation Climate Initiative, which would assess the large national and regional fossil fuel suppliers that import fuel to these states, and then allocate the funds to participating states to use in reducing carbon emissions from transportation, which is by far the largest source in Vermont.

It’s not a new concept. This type of “cap and invest” initiative has been in place for a number of years in the electric utility sector, and Vermont joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative along with other states in 2009 during the administration of Gov. Douglas. The initiative is working and has helped reduce carbon emissions from electric generation in our region.

It makes sense to look at whether such a multi-state compact can work in the transportation sector as well, where we have actually been losing ground.

We must realize that we are already all paying for the impact of climate change, in taxes and in other ways. The severity of storms and weather incidents is now well known to us in Vermont. The cost to each of us is measurable, not just in the almost constant need to repair damage from the increased frequency and severity of weather events, but in making our infrastructure more resistant and resilient going forward. We see it and we pay for it in town budgets, in the state transportation budget, and in electric rates.

In addition to restoring power after massive storms, utilities have been spending money for a number of years to “harden” their systems to better withstand the changing climate. It makes sense to also put resources into reducing Vermont’s biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions by far: transportation.

Priorities in 2020

Since state representatives serve on just one House committee, we do spend a lot of time and effort digging into the issues before that one committee, but we must also stay well-informed about bills, large and small, making their way to the House floor from other committees.

• In the 2019 session, the House and Senate each passed different versions of a minimum wage bill and a paid family leave bill, but differences were not resolved before adjournment. Those two bills remain alive, and I expect that differences will be resolved, and the bills passed in 2020.

• In early December, the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office staff and administration officials held a briefing for legislators covering both spending and revenue issues generally, as well as key initiatives such as clean water, transportation, the Transportation Climate Initiative and other topics. As the session progresses, I hope to be supporting legislation that addresses workforce development and the difficulties many employers are facing in filling positions.

• Another way we can encourage younger people to stay in Vermont or to come to Vermont is to increase funding for our state colleges, which we used to support far more than we do now.

• I am sure we will have proposals to consider for changes in our correctional system, both in specific response to recent troubling revelations, as well as concerning our incarceration policies more broadly.

I’ve covered just a few of the issues before the Legislature. There are many more.

Staying in touch

I will be publishing and circulating Statehouse reports twice a month during the session, and they will be posted on my website as well (avrampatt.com). As we discuss, debate and act on legislation before us in the 2020 session, please feel free to contact me with comments, concerns and questions, at apatt@leg.state.vt.us. Additional contact information is also on my website.

Rep. Avram Patt, a Democrat from Worcester, also represents Morristown, Elmore and Woodbury in the Vermont House of Representatives.