VTDigger file photo by Glenn Russell
Biography
I have been a public servant for 24 years and own/operate an organic vegetable, pork, CBD, egg and chicken farm. As a small business owner and father, I have faced the challenges of entrepreneurship and parenting in these chaotic times. As a policy maker I have learned the patience to work on difficult issues to achieve positive results for people. I have led and worked collaboratively on the following issues; marriage equality, raising the minimum wage, renewable energy and climate change as well as laws to increase affordable housing and build more efficiently.
I was the lead sponsor on Medical Aid in Dying as well as a lead sponsor on legislation to help people afflicted with Lyme disease. I chaired the House Agriculture Committee and helped bolster the rebirth and tremendous growth of diversified farming over the last 20 years. This included farm to school legislation, removing hurdles to obtaining raw milk, and allowing for more on-farm meat processing to help small farms become more profitable.
I have been recognized as a leader in public education by the VTNEA, a champion for children by the Vermont Children’s Forum, A climate leader on environmental and energy policy by VNRC and REV. I also received the legislator of the year award from Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. In my rare free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball as well as going to the Moth. I am endorsed by the VTNEA, Professional Firefighters of Vermont, and Vermont Conservation Voters.
Candidate occupation
No answer
Why are you running for office?
As a farmer and father, I think about the challenges facing us day to day as well as the issues that impact our future. As my daughter joins thousands of high school graduates this summer, I worry about her ability to find affordable housing. I worry about how the climate is changing and what that means for her and all people her age. With so much uncertainty, there is so much to do to bring more people into the conversation about what we want Vermont to be like in the future. We must make sure Vermont is a place where you can give all kids the opportunities they need to be successful. We must build a Vermont where we continue to have one of the best education systems in the country without bankrupting working people; where young people can find decent paying jobs; where folks can envision buying a home and not just exist in the playground for the wealthy.
I am also running for re-election because I firmly believe that our system of governance is in jeopardy. We need to reform campaign finance and election voting systems to allow for more people to run for office with more perspectives and reduce the hurdles for working class people to serve. I am ready to lead at this time to make sure we rebuild trust and faith in the system by running the Senate in a dignified manner with my many years of experience. I will continue to encourage respectful dialogue with varying points of view without vilification of those with competing perspectives.
Issues in brief
Do you believe Vermonters are better off now than they were 10 years ago?
No
Do you believe Vermont needs a new education funding formula?
Yes
Do you support imposing new taxes on the wealthiest Vermonters?
Yes
Do you support the establishment of overdose prevention centers?
Yes
Do you support a ban on flavored tobacco products?
Yes
Do you support increasing penalties for property crimes such as shoplifting?
Yes
Do you believe Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election?
Yes
Issues in depth
What would you do to help grow Vermont’s economy?
I would invest tens of millions of dollars each year to build permanently affordable housing. With that we can house the many Vermonters who want to stay, and others who want to move here. This will rebuild our workforce from the bottom up and will expand our economy in so many ways. We need more tradespeople. Therefore, I will advocate to adjust the education formula so that our public schools will not be discouraged from encouraging youth to go into the trades. Not only that, but the good middle-class jobs that we create by building affordable housing will also support our many working families in Vermont.
I will also continue to work to fully fund our efforts to weatherize more homes. This will both create jobs AND save Vermonters money which can then be spent in the local economy. I will continue to work towards a universal healthcare system to help small
businesses grow and retain their workforce so that they don’t keep losing employees that need healthcare as part of their pay package. As a small business owner I know how hard it is to retain strong workers if we don’t have the resources to support them fully.
We also must work to strengthen and support Vermont State University to make sure we continue expanding the opportunities for young Vermonters and those who are non-traditional students working to better their economic future.
What changes, if any, would you make to the way Vermont funds its schools?
There are a couple of issues here.
First is the huge tax break that the wealthiest in Vermont receive by paying a lower income rate for their education taxes than working class people.
Second, I will look at the huge tax shift (about $60,000,000 under the Scott Administration) that has occurred. In Vermont, the social service costs are shouldered by our regressive education funding system. In other states, they do not make the school system pay for those societal needs. It is covered by human services funds.
Third, I will continue to push for a real government restructuring of the overlap in our Ed Fund expenses and Agency of Human Services expenses. The two both work with the same families, but often require separate paperwork and case-workers and sometimes
computer systems as well. By working to find both efficiencies and earlier points of positive intervention, we can both save money and improve outcomes. Imagine a single car family with two parents working different shifts. When would there be a car available to take a family to a human services office 35 miles away to access support? What if each local school had a satellite office open one or two days a week? Then a parent could come in and meet with their human services contact in order to facilitate more rapid, healthy intervention to make sure they have the healthcare or mental counseling that they need in a more timely manner.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to address climate change? Please explain.
Not enough. This is the greatest existential threat to our future. The costs of slow action or inaction will only mount and cost us more and more. We only need to look at the floods of last year. With aggregated costs of over $1,000,000,000, it is clear the costs of inaction and inadequate investment will cost us more and more over time. We
need to keep focusing on building compact density to rebuild our town and village centers while making our communities more walkable and bikeable, as well as make future public micro-transit more efficient. We need to look for ways to continue supporting agriculture that sequesters carbon and enhances farm viability. We need to build out transportation infrastructure that has more public transit options as work from home or in-community possibilities. We value our maple forests for the colors, the sugar and the ways that the community sugaring season is such a part of our state identity. We value the winter for its snowy gift of an outdoor season that supports our economy and encourages all of us to slow down a bit to “hibernate,” read a book or get together with friends in the dark cold evenings. So many of the weather driven cultural norms of our state will be greatly changed as the climate rapidly warms. We need to both plan for more resilient infrastructure as well as work to reduce the impact of a changing climate.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to regulate gun ownership? Please explain.
We have made significant progress on increasing gun safety in Vermont.
Vermont closed the “Charleston loophole. This prohibited the purchase of guns by those who would fail background checks, but for the background check taking too long. This inhibits the sale of guns to those who have lost their gun rights.
Gun owners are now held accountable if their gun was used for a crime by a minor who had access to the gun because it was not safely stored. We have lost kids in Vermont because of easy access to guns.
Vermont implemented an Emergency Risk Protection Order (ERPO) to allow law enforcement, with a court order, to remove a gun from an individual if there is reason/evidence to think that the person was a risk to themselves or another person. There is ample evidence that this type of law greatly reduces the harm suffered in situations where domestic violence is a threat.
Vermont also implemented a 72-hour waiting period on the transfer of a firearm after purchase. By creating time for individuals to rethink their moment of despair, this law has been shown to greatly reduce the incidents of self-inflicted, successful gunshot wounds and suicides.
It is important to reflect that these consider the level of impediment to gun ownership with the protection that such an impediment creates. Vermont has moved forward with
gun laws that both preserve the traditional views of what guns are for, while placing some parameters on access to guns in dangerous circumstances.
What would you do to help ease Vermont’s housing crisis?
Our housing crisis was years in the making, but has been turbo boosted by COVID-19. The accelerating climate crisis, our love for community, and the expansion of fiber-optic broadband across all of Vermont have put Vermont on the map as a place to live, work,
and raise a family. That demographic shift has helped cause the crisis, but it goes further than that. The cost of materials and labor make it virtually impossible to build a house at an affordable price. No one is going to build housing and sell it at less than it costs to build. And most builders will understandably get what they can from the market.
Therefore we must invest state resources in buying down the cost of housing to make it permanently affordable. To do this we have to revisit a marginal income tax to annually invest over $50,000,000 per year to jumpstart the non-profit investment in affordable housing. We also need to look at our high rate of second-home properties. Those of us that can afford a vacation home can afford to help others afford a first home. The wealth disparity in Vermont is growing and we need to work to make sure that all who are a part of our society can afford to live here.
How would you address rising homelessness in Vermont?
This question is very related to the question above. Our housing supply shortage and our growing population are driving prices up to where everyday working people cannot afford to live in their communities. This is a moral failure of our society. We must consider innovative ideas for both unhoused and working class people. We could consider tiny house complexes where each individual home is compact and efficient, and the emphasis is on building stronger local communities where people can live, work and play in their town. We also need to look to build multi-use buildings in town and village centers with retail and restaurants on the first floor, business/office space on the second floor and housing on the next floor or three. When we rebuild our town and village centers, it is imperative that we work to centralize resources and services in areas where all folks can access them.
By building more smaller unit housing, for those without homes, young couples, and seniors, we will then open up more of the mid size housing for families. We must continue to put emphasis on building new, permanently-affordable housing and converting units, rather than continuing to rely on shelters alone. We also must
continue to expand wrap-around services options for those who are homeless. This includes trauma-informed mental health access as well as substance use disorder recovery options that work to help people start their life anew.
What would you do to increase access to health care services for Vermonters?
I have been a long time supporter of universal healthcare. We know the current increases in healthcare costs are unsustainable. Too much money is diverted to insurance profits as well as the heavy costs of paperwork and red tape. Our healthcare dollars should have a greater investment in preventative healthcare rather than “sick care.” That means ensuring folks have access to healthy food; we must provide people the resources to not just purchase that healthy food, but also support small businesses, general stores, and local grocers and farmers who work to keep our communities healthy and fed.
We also need to incentivize more primary care physicians to relocate to Vermont. We know when people have regular health check ups, healthy food and water, and financial security, they are physically and mentally healthier. Everyone will get sick. Life is a game of roulette as to when we will each have an accident, or develop a genetic ailment, or simply go through the process of aging. This is inevitable for all of us. We all collectively pay for law enforcement and first responders regardless of whether we will ever use these services. Healthcare is a human right and it is our responsibility to each other to support a collective effort to improve our healthcare system.
Financial disclosure
Candidates for state and legislative offices are required to submit a financial disclosure when filing to run. These disclosures include each source, but not the amount, of personal income of each candidate, and of their spouse or domestic partner, that singly or jointly totals more than $5,000 for the previous 12 months. The information provided is an opportunity for voters to learn about candidates’ potential conflicts of interest.
You can find Zuckerman’s financial disclosure here.
Campaign finance
Candidates for state office in Vermont are required to report to the Secretary of State’s Office how much they raise and spend on their campaigns — as well as where the money is coming from and where it’s going. VTDigger has analyzed that data and presented it here in a way we hope will best inform readers.
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Disclaimer
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