After a busy election season, we reached out to the newly elected or reelected state representatives and senators for the towns we cover. We asked them to tell us their big-picture priorities and concrete goals for the upcoming legislative session — as well as something we might not know about them yet. Read on to find out who’s restoring a vintage truck in their free time, who coached ice hockey for OVU High School in the 1970s, and who hosts trivia nights (plus a few more serious things!)

What are your priorities for the upcoming legislative session?

It's been the buzzword of the entire campaign season, but we absolutely must be focused on bringing costs down. I am open to considering all options, including education funding reform, a thorough audit of state programs and spending to eliminate redundancy, and getting heating costs back on track this winter. 

What do you think will be realistic to achieve, in concrete terms, during this session?

Many freshman legislators aren't able to file bills thanks to the steep learning curve, but I'm hoping to shepherd at least one or two through the process. I have a few ideas for bills from my time in town government, largely focused on eliminating unnecessary requirements for towns that will ultimately save on property taxes. Some of this will depend on the committee I end up on — I've expressed interest in Ways & Means, Housing, and Education, but I think I could find interesting work to do no matter where I end up. I'd also be interested in working with Sen. Collamore in particular on legislation to help prevent the PAC mailer fiasco we ran into in October. 

What is something readers may not know about you?

Many people know I host trivia here in Brandon — I'm hoping to get some legislators to form a team and see how they stack up!

What are your priorities for the upcoming legislative session?

My priorities for the upcoming session include getting to work on locally specific issues surrounding affordability (housing, workforce shortages, and increasing property taxes), as well as increasing public safety.

What do you think will be realistic to achieve, in concrete terms, during this session?

I'm hoping to continue on my current committee assignments, including Judiciary and Judicial Retention. I already have relationships with fellow legislators and am looking forward to getting to know the many new legislators to see who will be willing to collaborate on bills. I also plan to be more involved with the Rural Caucus in order to be directly involved in the issues affecting our communities. 

What is something readers may not know about you?

My passion has always been with my community. I truly enjoy connecting with people, hearing their concerns, and finding ways to make things better. I love being able to find the answer or solution to an issue or problem for someone. There's nothing more rewarding to me than being able to help make a positive impact in the community I care so much about.

What are your priorities for the upcoming legislative session?

First priority is to build greater communication with my constituents so that they can get reconnected with state government.

I will be supporting legislation that brings property tax and education reform. Housing and health care both are critical issues that require supporting ongoing initiatives.

What do you think will be realistic to achieve, in concrete terms, during this session?

We will need to continue working on the requirements of the education Act 170. I think we will see some AI/data center legislation passed.

It's still up in the air what committee I will be on. Agriculture, Commerce and Economic Development, and Ways and Means are all committees I am interested in. I will certainly join the Rural Caucus and work with both Addison and Rutland County legislator groups. I would like to sponsor bills that include having childcare expenses be tax deductible, stronger warranty laws, and allocating more money for roads.

What is something readers may not know about you?

I spent several decades each winter in ice rinks, either as a parent watching each of our four kids play hockey or as a coach.

Tanya Byker (D, Leicester, Goshen, and three more towns) did not respond in time for publication.

What are your priorities for the upcoming legislative session?

I am entering my 13th year in the Vermont Senate. It is something that I had never considered growing up, but I have truly enjoyed being able to assist constituents as they try to negotiate our state government. I will work in this upcoming session to not impose any new taxes or fees on Vermonters and especially those in Rutland County. I will also work to find common-sense solutions to reforming our education system. I believe the solutions should come from the bottom up and not the top down. If the funding for our education continues to come from property taxes, we need to find a way to give taxpayers relief. At the same time, I support local decisions regarding our schools. I will be introducing a constitutional amendment regarding bail reform and a bill allowing judges to hold repeat offenders more accountable. We worked to exempt veterans from paying income tax to Vermont for retirement pay under $125,000. I will support moving that number up higher this session. The legislature also needs to address health care costs, and I would welcome being part of that discussion.

What do you think will be realistic to achieve, in concrete terms, during this session?

I have served on both the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Government Operations Committee for the last 10 years, and I hope to remain on both committees again. Decisions about who serves on which committees will be made by three folks: the lieutenant governor, the Senate president pro tempore, and a third member elected by the full Senate. Only two of those individuals are known right now. But I will request that I continue to serve on those two committees. I will either sponsor or co-sponsor legislation regarding the educational system reform, public safety, and the veterans’ income tax exemption. I think these issues will be able to become cross-party items. This will be a different session than the last one because of the shift in both chambers. One party, the Democrats/Progressives, now hold a supermajority. It will be important to work together to pass bills that serve all Vermonters well. I am looking forward to that.

What is something readers may not know about you?

Some people may remember this, but probably not everyone. Otter Valley Union High School actually had a varsity boys’ ice hockey team at one time. Started in 1974, it had players from OV only, and in the years 1978 and 1979 the team was part of the regular high school league. I was the coach. When there were not enough players from just OV, the team became the RAHA Otters and included players from all over Rutland County. The team does not exist any longer, but it is one of my favorite memories. I have also been fortunate to have been a youth, high school, and college official for over 40 years, and, at age 76, am planning on refereeing high school and youth level games this coming year.

What are your priorities for the upcoming legislative session?

In addition to the issues surrounding affordability, in which I believe all legislators have an interest, including taxes, school spending, housing, health care, and health insurance, among many, I also have an interest in public safety. Having served Rutland County as an Assistant Judge the past several years, and as a result of meeting with most of the select boards and other groups in the county over the past several months, it is clear that the current "catch and release" problem in our courts needs to be solved immediately. I have an accountability proposal to close the revolving door of repeat offenders. It is available on my website: wolkforsenate.com.

Furthermore, I am hoping that we can draw more attention to the needs of our area of the state, having been for the most part neglected for many years, with some notable exceptions, but nevertheless deserving of attention.

What do you think will be realistic to achieve, in concrete terms, during this session?

The Catch and Release proposal could and should become law in this session. I am also hopeful that school spending can be curbed by combining school district back office business functions at the regional and/or state level. It does not make sense for so many districts statewide to have their own business offices. School finance/budgeting, accounts payable and receivable, HR functions, and, most importantly, bulk buying should take place regionally or centrally to maximize the economy of scale. There is no reason why these small school districts should be buying computers, school buses, and other expensive commodities on their own. The savings would have a significant impact on local school budgets and property taxes. This can happen sooner than later.

What is something readers may not know about you?

I have close to 52 years of public service. I have served in all three branches of government, formerly as a state senator 38 years ago, recently as an Assistant Judge, and formerly as Vermont's Commissioner of Education, along with a number of leadership positions in education and service on over 40 boards and commissions. But the part that readers might not know about, or what brings me the most pride, is that we have 9 grandchildren, for which we are blessed. And I have officiated 43 weddings as well, with #44 already scheduled! It may be because I have never charged anyone anything at all for the privilege! I feel blessed to participate in these weddings, many of which have included former students over all these years . . .

What are your top priorities for the next legislative session?

My highest priority is Rutland County’s economy. We need to analyze and agree on what is keeping the region economically stagnant and begin the work to address it.

Our county has debilitating symptoms of stagnation: poverty, homelessness, departing youth, departing seniors, housing shortage, decaying infrastructure, etc. These are mostly symptoms of our economy’s stagnation over the past 70+ years. Fix the economic problem and many of our region’s symptoms will fade.

What concrete results do you realistically hope to achieve this session?

During my first session as a senator, in 2023–2024, Vermont had a supermajority in both legislative chambers. This severely limited the governor’s and super-minority legislators’ participation in the conversation. Without enough votes to sustain a governor veto, we lacked any check on fiscal and policy decisions. This scenario creates deep political hubris that drove sharp increases in taxing and spending, pushing Vermont to financial unsustainability with the nation’s highest taxes and second oldest population.

For the upcoming session, I have drafted legislation addressing the following goals:

What is something readers may not know about you?

For the past eight years, I have been restoring a 1943 Dodge Carryall ¾-ton four-wheel-drive truck that has been derelict for 60 years. During this restoration, I removed every nut, bolt, and system to evaluate, preserve, repair, or replace it. Reassembly is progressing nicely. Soon I’ll reinstall the overhauled engine and complete the wiring harness.

My goal is to finish the truck in about a year. This project reflects my patience, diligence, and attention to detail.

What are your priorities for the upcoming legislative session?

I ran with three main focus points: affordability, working lands and civil rights. Affordability is a broad topic with many factors. However, going door-to-door this summer and talking with voters throughout this campaign made it clear that we have a cost-of-living crisis for our working families and retired folks and we need to act immediately. What will this look like? This means laser-focusing on advancing programs like universal primary care in creative ways that will lower our use of expensive emergency care, achieving fair taxation, raising the income sensitivity level for property tax relief for working families and ensuring people know about existing programs like the Circuit Breaker program that ensures that those on a fixed income do not pay more than a set percentage of income on property tax. With a nearly 20% vacancy rate in our housing stock (the second highest in the country), we must examine who owns houses in our state and ensure that Vermonters are not getting permanently priced out by investors and second-home owners. The Legislature started this work last session, and I look forward to continuing. Working lands: Supporting farmers and small rural businesses is something I have direct experience with as a goat farmer and cheesemaker myself. We are at an exciting time where farmers are beginning to be recognized and compensated for practices that create a more resilient environment and sequester carbon. I want to encourage more of that and support programs that help young people get onto the land. If Vermont is to help meet the goal of growing 30% of the food consumed in New England by 2030, the state needs to commit to our food producers and local food infrastructure. Civil rights: I believe the Legislature sets the tone of respect and care for all Vermonters, and I will never turn away from my values of inclusivity and pluralism expressed in our state's lasting motto, "Freedom and Unity." 

What do you think will be realistic to achieve, in concrete terms, during this session?

One reason the Senate appealed to me is that Senators serve on two committees, a morning and an afternoon committee so partly your assignments have to line up with which committee meets when. I hope to be on the Senate Agriculture Committee because I am a farmer and my district (Addison) has the second most acres in agriculture in the state (Franklin County is first). I am committed to supporting a diverse array of agriculture in Addison County, from larger dairies and value-added processors to small-scale veggie CSAs and everything in between. My dream second committee would be Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs, as I am a small business owner and have served on boards focused on affordable housing. I think this pairs well with Agriculture in terms of rural economic development. However, I also have a decade of school board experience, so Education interests me as well. Again, committee assignments must align with scheduling. Service starts most importantly with relationship building; my sense is that all progress in Montpelier is accomplished through collaboration, so my first task is to make those connections.

What is something readers may not know about you?

Does anyone know what the Vermont state butterfly is? A fun fact I shared once during the campaign is that when I was in fifth grade at Cornwall Elementary School, our teacher had us learn about state government by having our representative introduce a bill making the monarch butterfly the official Vermont state butterfly. My class then did a project, traveled around the state, and presented to the legislature about why this should be so, and it passed! The Monarch butterfly was adopted in 1987 as the official state butterfly thanks to Mr. Paul Kaplan's fifth-grade class. It was an empowering learning experience and just one example of the amazing things happening in Vermont public schools.

Ruth Hardy (D, Addison County, including Leicester, Whiting, and Goshen) did not respond in time for publication.