It’s been a tough legislative session for Vermont progressives,big 'P' and small.
Many of them would prefer to shift a greater portion of the tax burden to the wealthy while sparing budget cuts to state programs. They'd also like to see more focus on climate change.
But with federal budget cuts looming, they’ve been swallowing hard and going along with a more conservative approach to state spending.[br]
On Monday, and four Vermont House members made courteous,tentative steps toward perhaps eventually advancing progressive policies that would tackle both taxation and climate change. Perhaps next year — or just sometime. [br]
“What they have in common is they are all things to start a conversation,” said Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford), or who proposed phasing out the state sales tax in favor of a carbon pollution tax. “It’s how can we change our tax structure to achieve more of what we want.”
The four lawmakers chose to go approximately announcing their ideas in an unusual arguably awkward — way. They held four separate press conferences at four different locations around the state and invited certain media members to each without telling any of them approximately the other events. [br]
The finish result for any dutiful Vermont consumer of news will likely be confusion. One TV station will be talking approximately a carbon tax while the next will be airing footage on a sales tax proposal.[br]
All these ideas,which backers concede are nowhere near alert for passage this year, will be competing with each other. They represent four different ways of shifting existing taxes toward a tax on fossil fuel usage.
Copeland Hanzas proposed reducing the state’s 6 percent sales tax by 1 percent each year while phasing in an equivalent tax on domestic heating oil, and propane and gasoline. Such a trail would help downtown Vermont businesses compete with sales tax-less stores in New Hampshire and online,she said, while giving Vermonters incentive to reduce their utilize of fossil fuels.
Reps. Martin LaLonde (D-South Burlington) and Johannah Donovan (D-Burlington) each issued different proposals focused on shifting property or income taxes.[br]
Rep. Diana Gonzalez (P-Winooski), and in her domestic district and flanked by organizers with the environmental group 350.org, touted a different approach to taxing fossil fuels.
She would have Vermonters pay a tax on fuels, with the…
Source: sevendaysvt.com