Biography
Brian Minier, Democrat of South Burlington, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degrees in Russian, East European, and Central Asian Area Studies as well as Slavic Languages and Literatures.
In 2001 he married Kat Scollins of South Burlington in her parents’ backyard. In 2010 Kat had the good fortune of landing a job teaching Russian at the University of Vermont in the German and Russian department, and once the youngest of their two children was old enough for daycare, Brian took over as the secretary for that same department.
As the children became more self-sufficient and work more manageable, Brian began searching for ways to get more involved in his community. This progressed from coaching soccer to the South Burlington school board to the statehouse. He hopes to leave things a little better than he found them and maybe even to have some fun while doing it.
Member of the House of Representatives: 2023 – present.
Candidate occupation
Secretary
Why are you running for office?
As a form of voluntarism, generally. Specifically, because I hope to put Vermont on a sustainable path to education finance, including restarting the state-level school construction aid program.
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?
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?
Build. More. Housing.
What changes, if any, would you make to the way Vermont funds its schools?
Shift from property to income tax. Revisit weighting formulas. Take a *hard* look at public money going to private schools.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to address climate change? Please explain.
Vermont is doing its part. Our efforts must take into account short- and medium-term affordability for our citizens in addition to long-term goals.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to regulate gun ownership? Please explain.
Gun ownership is not an issue for me – gun violence is. Realistically, I think we are doing all we can at the state level to address gun violence.
What would you do to help ease Vermont’s housing crisis?
Fund it. We have passed reasonable Act 250 reforms. Cutting red tape only gets you so far. We need to incentivize the creation of low- and middle-income housing.
How would you address rising homelessness in Vermont?
Homelessness is part of our greater housing failure. We need to build more. We also need to properly fund and staff our mental health agencies – homelessness and mental illness are co-morbidities all too frequently.
What would you do to increase access to health care services for Vermonters?
Licensure compacts; loan forgiveness; but most of all (once again) increase the stock of affordable housing. People want to live here. Make it affordable for them to do so, and we begin to alleviate the labor crunch.
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 Minier’s financial disclosure here.
Disclaimer
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