By Rob Roper When I was in second grade, my parents moved our family from Virginia to Connecticut because Dad took a job in New York City. They chose the town of Riverside to live in based largely on the […]
Tag: Rob Roper
First steps toward 700,000 Vermonters
By Rob Roper During the gubernatorial campaign Phil Scott set a goal to expand Vermont’s population from 625,000 to 700,000 over the next 10 years or so. This is a pretty tall order (maybe unattainable), but the governor-elect’s call does […]
Phil Scott’s challenge
By Rob Roper What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Vermonters will find out in January when the new Republican governor officially takes office along with a Legislature that has, if anything, moved a little to the […]
Potential tax increases coming after the election
By Rob Roper Before Peter Shumlin became governor, he famously said that there was no more tax capacity left in Vermont. We were “tapped out.” Since then, Shumlin and majorities in the legislature have passed hundreds of millions of dollars […]
House Education Committee unanimously votes to raise spending caps
Submitted Vermont’s per-pupil expenditure continues to rise despite a decrease in student population, due to no corresponding cuts in teachers and staff. By Art McGrath and Bruce Parker, Vermont Watchdog If Tuesday night’s committee vote is any indication, then it […]
“Blind-sided” legislators should fix Act 46
By Rob Roper A recent article about the new school district consolidation law, Act 46, quoted a state legislator whose reaction seems to be representative of many parents, local school board members, students, and law makers who value and hope […]
“Right to Work” cause is misleading, benefits employers, not workers
Dear editor, In this past week’s edition Rob Roper, president of the Ethan Allen Institute, wrote an opinion telling us that in order to improve the job market in Vermont we need to become a “right-to-work” state and that all […]
In age of Uber, “Right to Work” makes more sense than ever
By Rob Roper Vermont is a tougher than average place to make a living. No secret there. One of the first questions you get from folks you meet is, “You live here full time? How do you make it work?” […]
Repeal Vermont’s Certificate of Need laws
By Rob Roper We need to lower the cost of health care in Vermont, and the state, dealing with a structural budget deficit, doesn’t have the capacity to raise more taxes. So, what can we do? One simple, cost-free solution […]
Study will provide cover for higher property taxes
By Rob Roper Tucked away in the education bill just passed in Montpelier – the one that has everybody talking about consolidation – is $300,000 earmarked for a study. A Legislator familiar with the back-room horse-trading that goes into moving […]