In another sign of return-to-normalcy, State Curator David Schutz is again rearranging and refreshing the art hung on the walls of the Statehouse. It’s a ritual at the start of each new biennium, but something Schutz hasn’t done, on this scale at least, since before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Committee chairs have jurisdiction over the works hung on their committee room walls, so this year’s historic turnover means Schutz has a roster of new clients. It means a bit more work, Schutz joked Wednesday, but he’s glad for fresh attention to the Statehouse art collection.
“Newly empowered people are always the people that I actually enjoy in this building,” Schutz said. “Because over time, the empowered can get a little jaded.”
Sens. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor; Ruth Hardy, D-Addison; and Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D/P-Chittenden Southeast, have all reached out to him about exhibiting contemporary works by artists in their districts, Schutz said. Hardy is a longtime advocate for diversifying the building’s art collection.
Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, the new chair of the House Judiciary Committee, is a watercolor artist and president of the Vermont Watercolor Society. He’s chosen to cover the walls of Judiciary with works on loan from other members of the society. (One of LaLonde’s own paintings, depicting the Statehouse at night, is on display in the Card Room, after LaLonde turned down several hopeful buyers and donated it to the Statehouse collection last year.)
The pandemic also decreased the amount of blank wall space Schutz has to work with, since each committee room was outfitted with a large flat-screen TV for remote proceedings.
“Notice I’m not frowning,” Schutz said with a laugh.
The Senate president pro tempore and lieutenant governor also get to choose new art when those offices change hands. First-term Pro Tem Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, asked for portraits.
“That was a surprise,” Schutz said. “When I meet with people, they almost never say, ‘Can I have some portraits?’” Portraits make up the bulk of the Statehouse art collection — largely depictions of former governors — though Baruth’s office ended up with more unusual pieces, including a self-portrait by William Beard that shows the artist holding a bear cub.
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, like the last time he held the office, requested pieces created under the Works Progress Administration, the Depression-era federal program that not only funded art, but also paid workers to build infrastructure projects across the county, such as airfields, hospitals and bridges. The paintings in Zuckerman’s office are on loan from the T. W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier, which has a sizable collection of WPA art from across the United States, Schutz said.
Zuckerman’s choice of art for his office is “absolutely” a political statement, the lieutenant governor said, because he sees WPA art as emblematic of government investing in the economy “from the bottom up.”
A lot of the pieces coming down from committee walls this year will find a home somewhere else in the building, Schutz said. For the time being, he’s commandeered a former House committee room to store art during the shuffle. In one corner, there’s a contemporary linocut print likely headed for the House Ways and Means committee room. In another, a heavy wood carving of a sheep by St. Johnsbury artist Stephen Huneck, the founder of Dog Mountain, awaits a new home in the governor’s working office in the Statehouse. The administration “wanted something a little jazzier,” Schutz notes. “This is jazzy.”
— Riley Robinson
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IN THE KNOW
Lawmakers in the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday discussed two different reports on switching to an income-based education tax.
In the first, the state tax department urged caution at overhauling the state’s already complex education financing system.
“Any time a state tries to do something with respect to taxation that’s very different, there’s a lot of risk involved. This would be quite a bit different,” Jake Feldman, a senior fiscal analyst in the tax department, told legislators. No state has a state income tax and a separate income tax for education, he said.
The wariness didn’t stop there. No other state helps low-income homeowners with their property taxes as much as Vermont, Feldman said, “and it’s not even close.” Plus, other taxes, such as those on gasoline and estates — are more regressive than the current property tax system, according to Feldman.
The second report, compiled by the legislative Income-based Education Tax Study Committee — with the help of state officials — deliberately ignored whether or not a change in tax policy was a good idea, instead addressing how such a switch could be implemented.
Both reports addressed how switching to an income-based education tax might affect renters, who indirectly pay education property tax in the form of rent, officials said. In each instance, the reports suggested a credit system to reimburse renters, though those systems differed between the two proposals.
But unlike the tax department’s report, the study committee’s findings highlighted some current wonkiness in the state’s income-based property tax credit. The discrepancies cause Vermonters at different income levels to pay different percentages of their income in taxes, according to the report. A new income-based education tax could fix the current system’s unequal burden.
— Ethan Weinstein
The Vermont Agency of Education and the Vermont Holocaust Memorial are launching the state’s first Holocaust Education Week, the groups announced at a Statehouse press conference Wednesday. The online program, which runs Jan. 23 through Jan. 27, is meant to teach seventh through 12th grade students about the history of the Holocaust, and includes presentations by Holocaust survivors, as well as children and grandchildren of survivors.
“It’s timelier than ever, considering increasing displays of antisemitism in Vermont and across the country,” said Debora Steinerman, president and founder of the Vermont Holocaust Memorial, before nodding to Kanye West’s recent antisemitic comments. “The signal is sent that attacking Jews is fine.”
So far, at least 250 Vermont students are signed up for the week’s programming, Steinerman said.
Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, also plans to introduce a resolution dedicating January 23 through January 27, 2023, as the first Vermont Holocaust Education Week. Every lawmaker across the House and Senate has signed on, she said.
“As a Jew in Vermont, as a leader in the community, I see a lot of not-knowing,” said Rabbi David Fainsilber of Stowe, who attended Wednesday’s event in support. “Just lack of education around the Jewish experience.”
A Senate bill introduced last session sought to create state-level requirements for teaching the Holocaust, but it didn’t garner enough support to make it out of committee.
— Riley Robinson
A group of key state senators introduced legislation Tuesday that they say would bring needed changes to Vermont sheriffs’ departments. S.17 includes several notable proposals, the most significant being its goal of ending the decades-old policy that allows sheriffs to take administration fees for their department’s contract work with private and public entities.
The bill also proposes adding entries to a list of unprofessional conduct definitions for law enforcement officers. The list guides the Vermont Criminal Justice Council in evaluating police certifications.
— Tiffany Tan
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Nearly three months after failed congressional candidate Liam Madden described live on the radio a self-funded scheme to inflate his campaign fundraising numbers, a nonprofit campaign finance watchdog group has filed a complaint against the Republican nominee with the Federal Election Commission.
Madden in late October told WVMT’s “Morning Drive” that he “drained” his wife’s business’s bank account, distributed roughly $25,000 among family members, then directed his family members to donate the money to his campaign — a move campaign finance experts called a clear example of a straw donor scheme.
In the 30-page complaint filed on Tuesday, attorneys from the Campaign Legal Center ask that the FEC investigate Madden and “seek appropriate sanctions for any and all violations,” including civil penalties and injunctive relief “to remedy these violations and prohibit any and all future violations.”
— Sarah Mearhoff
ON THE HILL
U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., visited Zephyr Place, a new affordable housing complex in Williston on Wednesday, in her first public appearance in Vermont since being sworn into office.
Back from Washington, D.C., Balint reiterated a pledge to make housing a priority. “I will be completely focused on doing everything I can around this,” she said.
With U.S. House committee assignments still about a week out, Balint said she is hoping to be on either the Financial Services Committee — which she said would provide opportunities to address the housing issue — or the Committee on Agriculture, which would be important for rural Vermont.
— Auditi Guha
WHAT WE’RE READING
An extraordinary Vermont custody battle highlights an ‘untenable’ system of care (VTDigger)
To expand its schools, South Burlington wants to charge developers a fee (Seven Days)
Inflation, supply-chain issues are driving up egg prices around Vermont (VTDigger)