Hi Friends,

This is Rep. Taylor Small from Winooski with your weekly legislative update. This week in the (virtual) statehouse, we received the budget address from the Governor and discussed the budget adjustment bill in our weekly house caucus meeting. I want to tell you a bit more about our caucus’s response to the budget address and a few of the other bills that I’m sponsoring this session. Reminder: transparency under the golden dome has never been better -- you can watch all of the caucus, committee, and floor meetings for the Vermont House and Senate on YouTube live or later on.

But first-- please consider sending in a donation to the Progressive party. I and the rest of the Progressive caucus cannot do this work without your support! Your contribution can help us in our continued fight for social, economic, and environmental justice in Vermont.

Governor’s Budget Address for 2022

This past Tuesday, Gov. Scott gave his annual budget address, where he rolled out his state spending plan for 2022 to the legislature. In his speech, the Governor outlined some priorities that we agree are important, such as investing in processing facilities to support and uplift our rural communities and prioritizing weatherization for Vermont’s homes. However, he neglected to acknowledge the widening income inequities, particularly for BIPOC and women, in our state prior to and during this pandemic. Instead he’s looking to gamble with Vermont’s future. You can read our caucus’s full response to the speech here.

Gay/ Trans Panic Defense Bill

This session I am the lead sponsor on two bills, the first is H.128, an act relating to limiting criminal defenses based on victim identity. This bill seeks to outlaw the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense, which allows a defendant to blame their criminal actions on the perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim. This defense has been used to downplay the severity of or justify violent crimes committed against LGBTQ+ people by claiming that the victim’s identity provoked the crime. I feel it is important to recognize that for the fourth year in a row we have seen a continued rise in the murder of transgender people in our nation. During the last year alone we saw this epidemic take the lives of 44 transgender or gender non-conforming people, the majority of which were Black and Latinx transgender women. It’s long past due to recognize that this archaic defense does not belong in our courtrooms.

Education Weighting Study

The second bill that I am sponsoring is H.54, a bill that will help create a more equitable education funding model in Vermont. As I first entered the legislature, I learned that our education funding is the most equitable in the nation, and yet it still does not meet the needs of our students. In 2019, the University of Vermont conducted a study that found that the weighting formula used in determining school funding, which is meant to help allocate resources around the state to ensure all students have equal access to a quality basic education, does not reflect the current needs of our schools. Because of this, for more than 20 years, many of Vermont’s school districts have been overtaxed and underfunded, especially our smaller and poorer school districts, resulting in inequities for some of our State’s most vulnerable children. The goal of H.54 is to adjust the weighting formula to reflect the needs of our schools and students to ensure that all Vermont children have access to quality education.

Thank you as always for your support! I promise to continue to push for a better future for all Vermonters, and I’m grateful to have your support alongside me!

In solidarity,

Rep. Taylor Small, Chittenden 6-7

P.S. In case you missed it-- I was featured in InStyle Magazine’s list of 50 Badass Women. Check it out!