This month, our nation celebrates 250 years since the founding of the United States in 1776. It is a momentous anniversary; the kind of milestone that inspires us to reflect on our history — and on the thirst for liberty and self-determination that caused America’s founders to fight for a new form of government.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident…” Our founders fought for equality, and the notion that a government must bend to the will of the people and the consent of the governed. Democracy, in a word. And what precipitated this revolutionary movement? Taxation without representation; abuses of power; the violation of the rights of the populace; the unequal dispensation of the rule of law; the capture of judges. The list goes on, and at this historic time of commemoration, it is worth re-reading.
As we think back to those days of upheaval, conflict and fierce hope, our current challenges here in Vermont might seem ordinary, mundane or small. But they are ours, and it is our responsibility to rise to them while honoring this country’s most bedrock values.
We may not be beleaguered with soldiers commandeering our homes and eating all our food, but housing and groceries are beyond the reach of too many people in Vermont. Our state is facing a huge affordability crisis and deep structural economic problems, stagnating wages, and a lack of jobs. The cost of providing education and other services is rising sharply, creating ever higher tax burdens on people that are already struggling. It is not sustainable.
Most candidates for public office will share their usual party-line, bullet point lists of focus-grouped talking points, position statements, and campaign promises about how important it is to address affordability, to increase services, or how we need to magically balance budgets while cutting taxes. This “razzle-dazzle” does not interest me, nor have I agreed completely with any political party platform. All I can do is share what I would work on if I had the honor of being selected to serve the Orange-Caledonia district at the State House as an Independent. And I think it is important to be specific.
This piece is the first in a series I plan to submit to discuss what my priorities would be. My platform is focused on fiscal responsibility, ensuring that taxpayers get good value for what they contribute to government; local control, in the belief that government functions best when it is closest to the people it governs; judicial reform, because the rule of law matters and our communities deserve to be safe; and increasing transparency and openness to state level government, because the voices of everyday Vermonters deserve to be heard in Montpelier.
First and foremost, fiscal responsibility. Fiscal responsibility does not mean cutting taxes solely for the sake of cutting taxes, or throwing money at problems without regard for how much revenue we will need to pay for it this year, next year, and the year after. Government should be structured to provide needed services to people and communities within the bounds of the means available from those people and communities to support it. The most powerful lever a legislator has is the power of the purse. My most immediate priority if elected would be to seriously dig into the state budget.
Number one, too many agencies have outsourced their responsibilities to private corporations at costs that are unreasonably high. For example, Vermont paid a multinational corporation $2.5 million for 7 temporary case managers to help Vermonters navigate the FEMA grant process after the 2024 floods. Why not use those funds to create local jobs for the people who know our state best, and thus build Vermont’s own capacity for managing FEMA grants?
In another example, the Department of Children and Families inked a $21.5 million contract with an out-of-state company (with a documented history of abuse) for a three-bed facility for crisis stabilization for youth. And this was somehow more financially feasible than simply correcting the problems plaguing the state-run Woodside facility? Instead, they bulldozed Woodside without a plan B, and shopped for costly, privately run solutions.
Or consider the state’s expensive experiment in all-payer healthcare with OneCare, leading to cost overruns and questionable public health outcomes. There is evidence that OneCare’s administrative and operational costs are greater than any Medicare cost savings, and that just five top administrators are earning a combined $1.5 million. We also know that the Vermont Department of Corrections, which has outsourced inmate health services, pays about 63% more per inmate than other small states do. And we know that the cost-plus management contracts that the DOC uses place the entire risk of cost overruns on taxpayers, while guaranteeing fixed profits for private investors.
These examples of the high cost of privatization and experimentation caught headlines, but how many more are there?
Education funding in the state is, itself, a black-box affair with little transparency for the average Vermonter – and after the recent shift to centralization and disconnection from local decision-making, much of it exists in a zone of unaccountability to voters. The top-down push for the merger of districts has not led to cost containment or better education outcomes – instead, we see significant property tax increases for rural Vermont, and an increased financial burden on smaller communities that were previously managed efficiently. Time and again, we hear from our local school districts how little of the budget they exert any control over.
These things must change.
I have no illusions about my ability, if elected, to swoop in and right all of the wrongs. I will be one person among 150 representatives. But I am not afraid of numbers. I know my way around a spreadsheet, and I have reviewed many budgets over the years – at state, town, and private sector levels alike. I will not be beholden to any party apparatus, but I can and will work with representatives from both parties to find solutions I will remain connected with local communities and bring their concerns to Montpelier. I have a big mouth and will make noise when I see expenditures that do not make sense. And I have the belief that even after 250 years of progress, sunlight is still the best disinfectant.
Susan Culp is an Independent candidate for the Orange-Caledonia District.