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Malannan t1_jeakfmb wrote

Reply to comment by polarbearrape in Vermont House considers increasing DMV fees by FearandLoathinginBTV

My kids have already said they have no interest in living here because of how expensive it is. They re truly worried about cost of living and they are teenagers. Scott has to get his head in the game here. Tax second home owners. Tax vacation properties. Tax Air BnB. Stop making this one of the hardest states to live in. The soul of our state will shrivel up and blow away in the slipstream of a thousand luxury SUVs if we don't.

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chohls t1_jeap21d wrote

The policy makers and businesses are so short-sighted that they'll cater endlessly to the people plundering and hollowing out all the state has to offer because they're wealthy, but they never stop to think what'll happen once all these boomer landowners get old and start dying off, who will keep the businesses running, who will do the mundane, day-to-day stuff that keeps a society running. Why would any young person want to grow a career, business or a family here if they're just going to be fined into oblivion while the wealthy get off scot-free?

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Malannan t1_jearvrp wrote

Exactly right. I am so upset that none of our politicians care about this issue. Bernie should focus on brokering policy change in Vermont. I love the guy, but he hasn't done shit for us in a good long while and now our state is in real trouble. I remember attending his farmer breakfasts in Addison County and it really felt like he was engaged. Hell, he came to my Eagle Scout ceremony because there so many of us earning our Eagle. Hey Welch? What are you going to do to help Vermonters. How will you engage with us? To be clear, I voted for both Welch and Bernie, as well as Scott.

Edit: I rushed my comment and got some great feedback below. I updated my comment to reflect what I meant to say, which was that influence and engagement can raise and move forward local policy issues. You would think, with the issues we're facing, our power brokers would be more actively engaged in the discussions.

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HillRatch t1_jeat7qh wrote

US Senators' jobs are to represent Vermont's interests in federal law. For most day-to-day issues affecting you, you should be worried about your local and state government.

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chohls t1_jeb0nxm wrote

Bernie won't save you, even if he decided to run for governor or something (which he'd probably win in a landslide if he wanted to) a senator is moreso focused in ensuring state's interests are reflected in federal policy, which has much less effect on you than you'd expect day to day. Plus the man is just so old, he needs to retire, probably couldn't handle the workload of a state job at his age.

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_jeeot8k wrote

We should also do what we can to stop people moving here to work form home. We need a workforce, not an army of "digital nomads" making $150k and making it impossible for people working in VT to live here.

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