Vermont is in a healthcare cost crisis. We need to think creatively to stabilize our system, assuring that all Vermonters can afford health insurance and receive the care they need. Heather will fight for universal access to quality primary care and cost reductions throughout our system. Heather’s experience as a nurse in schools, AIDS clinics, and the OBGYN field, coupled with her 30 years of corporate health advocacy and leadership, make her uniquely qualified to work to address these issues and improve healthcare outcomes for Vermonters.

Climate change is among the most significant issues of our time, and our communities are already experiencing its impacts. Heather is committed to making Vermont more resilient to our changing climate and extreme weather events while combatting the progression of climate change to ensure a viable future for our children, our grandchildren, and our environment.

Improving home efficiency is a valuable opportunity to save money for Vermonters while doing our part to reduce contributions to climate change. Heather will prioritize investment in private and public entities working together to insulate and retrofit our aging housing stock as well as new green housing construction.

Heather supports innovative businesses developing sustainable technologies as we work to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. Responsible investment in clean energy, including investment in electric vehicles and the siting of charging stations, and in solar, water and wind will strengthen Vermont’s energy independence, however, Heather is committed to being mindful of the impact huge wind and solar projects have on our landscape and communities.

Investing in quality education is essential for a thriving community. Beyond a strong and stable K-12 system, we need universal pre-K, robust opportunities for career and technical education, and accessible paths to postsecondary schooling. As the mother of four successful products of Vermont’s education system, Heather is committed to ensuring that all young Vermonters have access to excellent educational opportunities.

Local control is critically important to our rural towns, and Heather is concerned that the forced consolidation efforts of Act 73 will reduce our communities’ ability to maintain thriving local schools and hurt local students by reducing opportunities and access. Heather will approach Vermont’s education challenges with a focus on the future and commitment to doing no harm to the systems that effectively serve our students.

Property tax growth is unsustainable, but this should be mitigated by addressing real cost drivers–healthcare in particular–and not through forcing consolidation without evidence that it will yield savings. These challenges are inextricably linked to our demographic and housingchallenges as well, one more reason why it’s so important to prioritize economic development, grow our tax base, and ensure that families can thrive throughout our state and our region. Education Service Agencies, like the successful BOCES that now includes some Southern Windsor County school districts, are also an effective tool for improving efficiencies without disrupting student experiences that could be expanded throughout Vermont.

So many of Vermont’s challenges– education funding, housing, affordability and more– stem from our sluggish population growth and lack of young Vermonters. Economic development is critical to address these growing crises. As a senator, Heather will draw on lessons learned through her service on the Vermont Economic Progress Council to prioritize investment in housing and sustainable business and plant the seeds for thriving communities and future generations.

Prioritizing affordable housing will ensure that working families in vital fields like nursing and education can afford to live and thrive here while older Vermonters looking to downsize will have viable opportunities to do so. Business development will stabilize and grow our tax base by creating dynamic opportunities to keep young Vermonters in the state as they begin their careers and attract new talent to contribute to our communities and economy. Windsor County already boasts some economic development successes, such as Springfield’s Black River Innovation Campus, and Heather is excited to highlight these initiatives in advocating for our region.

It is all too clear that Vermont is particularly vulnerable to the chaos of the Trump administration. Economic instability is driving up prices, slashes to healthcare funding are forcing many Vermonters to go without insurance, local communities are being denied funding to recover from flooding disasters, and ICE enforcement is terrorizing immigrant communities and threatening free speech.

As a candidate and as a senator, Heather won’t shy away from discussing these impacts, and she’ll work tirelessly to ensure that Vermont can capitalize on the strengths of our communities to persevere and overcome the turbulence of these times. We must prioritize protecting the most vulnerable within our state as we build towards a brighter future.