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Biography
I was born in Burlington and have lived for the past 34 years in Northfield, where my great-great grandfather brought his young family from Ireland in 1848. I was graduated from Georgetown Law School, cum laude, in 1981 and worked for 10 years with homeless youth in New York City and Los Angles. Moving back to Vermont, I taught in junior high school and was a foster parent. I became an advocate for mental health parity and began lobbying in the legislature after my own serious illness in the 1990’s.
Since first being elected in 2002, I have prioritized work in health care and human services, including equity in access and protection of rights, and have received numerous awards for advocacy in mental health. I am a member of the Green Mountain Care Board Nominating Committee and the House Rules Committee, and a past member of the Joint Task Force on Affordable, Accessible Health Care and the Joint Mental Health Oversight Committee.
I retired in 2023 after 25 years as Editor, Counterpoint, Vermont Psychiatric Survivors. I am an inactive member of the bar; member, Northfield Rotary; lay minister at St. John the Evangelist parish; and active community volunteer.
Candidate occupation
Retired
Why are you running for office?
I have a passion for working to make Vermont a healthy and affordable place for individuals and families. I love our state and want to help influence positive strategies for workforce and economic growth that will build strong support for our schools, our infrastructure, our health systems and protection of our environment. I believe I strengthen our legislative processes by listening to both sides of an issue and ensuring that alternative perspectives are a part of building compromise. I think the best solutions are developed in the melting pot of different ideas and that I can help bring thoughtful consideration to complex problem-solving. We have many strengths, but also many challenges that we face as a state, and I want to continue to be a part of developing balanced, carefully considered, solutions.
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?
No
Do you support the establishment of overdose prevention centers?
No
Do you support a ban on flavored tobacco products?
Yes
Do you support increasing penalties for property crimes such as shoplifting?
No answer
Do you believe Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election?
Yes
Issues in depth
What would you do to help grow Vermont’s economy?
Stop raising taxes. We can’t attract families or commercial investments when our cost of living is disproportionate to the other states they can choose from. The resulting workforce shortage is a critical component of economic challenges. As a small state, we need to recognize the impact that our decisions have in relation to other states. As one example, Vermont is among the only states that still tax most military retiree pensions, and thus deter a valuable potential workforce resource. I would press for more careful considerations of any actions the legislature takes to evaluate its economic impact, particularly those that impose new tax burdens on Vermonters, because that is the underpinning that drives economic growth and health.
What changes, if any, would you make to the way Vermont funds its schools?
This year’s property tax increases were very foreseeable within the existing system, and are not acceptable. We must break the relationship between local school budget decisions and statewide tax impacts. Thrifty schools should not be penalized by having to contribute to high-spending districts, and high-spendings school should not be able to have budgets subsidized by the rest of the state – yet that is how our current system functions.
In the interest of attempting to be fair, that is, to reduce disparities between how schools in different part of the state are funded based on the wealth of their towns, we created a statewide funding mechanism that simply drives inequity in a different way. It also contributes to driving increased costs. We cannot wait for yet more studies, as the legislature did this year. I would press to initiate immediate steps for accountable cost-containment measures.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to address climate change? Please explain.
Vermont’s primary focus needs to be on climate resilience: what do we put into place to reduce impacts of the reality of climate change? Thinking that we can fundamentally impact climate change through our own actions, for better or worse, is a fallacy. We must do our part to incentivize reduction in fossil fuels, but also recognize that our ability to have a broad impact is limited by what others do.
Preparation for the future of a changing climate, however, is essential. There is no such thing as “too much,” it is only a question of how much we are able to balance investment in this essential need while also addressing others, under the available resources.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to regulate gun ownership? Please explain.
There is too much “reactive” legislation that is not actually related to realistic solutions to actual problems; they often seem focused on the sense of needing to “do something” rather than applying common sense. Increasing the ability to enforce existing laws regarding lawful gun possession would go a long way to prevent misuse of guns by the few without imperiling the rights of the many. I have supported regulations that have proven impact on safety without burdening constitutional rights, but they have been infrequent.
What would you do to help ease Vermont’s housing crisis?
The first step would be to restore some of the key components that were dropped from this year’s Act 250 legislation that would have reduced the obstacles to construction. We can prevent sprawl and environmental harm without trying to control every aspect of land use in the state: who can do what, and where, depending on someone’s view of the ideal state and town configuration. If our priorities are one-sided, the housing priority will be the losing one.
How would you address rising homelessness in Vermont?
I would press for a far better balance in how we invest our resources. There are two concepts that our current policies have established: that only the “most vulnerable” should be sheltered, regardless of weather conditions, and that those who are deemed entitled to shelter should be placed in hotels as the only means to reasonably house them. These are not only both bad premises, they are in conflict. A caring society would always have basic shelter capacity available for anyone who needs it, and our capacity is grossly insufficient. Shifting from shelters to hotel rooms, however, uses resources that could be invested in permanent housing and to create adequate core services. Ultimately, our ability to support expanded housing will determine our ability to ensure that people are able to find affordable housing.
What would you do to increase access to health care services for Vermonters?
On one concrete level, we must continue to build on backfilling the Medicare cliff, so that seniors do not lose access when they go onto Medicare. We initiated this increase this year on a phased-in basis, adopting a proposal I first introduced the year before.
On a broader level, we need to address what Vermonter’s priorities are, because there are many competing and pressing needs that all relate to access: health equity; mental health parity; primary care availability; healthcare workforce; hospital sustainability; costs of insurance; just to identify a few. The legislature will have the opportunity this coming year to hear direct input on determining those needs and desires, based upon the community hearings taking place this summer. My committee passed the legislation two years ago to create that process to re-envision how we could make best use of our resources to enhance access. We will need the courage to act on the results.
However, many people are unaware that a majority of health care in Vermont, either directly or indirectly, is funded by the federal government. We must maximize the opportunities in a way that fits with federal dictates, and that will be a part of the balancing equation.
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 Donahue’s financial disclosure here.
Disclaimer
We emailed a questionnaire to every candidate with a valid email address. The responses provided by candidates are in their own words. VTDigger has not edited or fact-checked information provided.
If this is your candidacy and you’d like to fill out the questionnaire or report an error, please contact us at voterguide@vtdigger.org.
