In 11 weeks the people of Franklin County and Alburgh will be heading to the polls to select who their next two State Senators will be.  After last week’s primary election the slate is set and the differences could not be clearer. 

My top priority if elected to the State Senate will be to continue the work I started during my four years in the House; to make Vermont more affordable.  That is still the number one issue I hear from people as I talk to them during this campaign.  My record on addressing unaffordable taxes is clear; during my time in the House I have opposed over $316 million in new or higher taxes and fees on the House floor and countless others in committee.  I have only supported budgets that grew within our means and didn’t raise taxes.  I was one of only 14 legislators this year that opposed the final passage of the budget this year, which raised property taxes that made Vermont less affordable for renters and small businesses.  Now, I get that you can’t just say no, you have to offer solutions to make State Government more efficient and my record also shows that. Through my work as Ranking Member of the House Energy and Technology Committee I helped the Scott Administration lead the charge to create the Agency of Digital Services which created one agency to oversee all of IT within State Government instead of having multiple IT departments spread out across State Government.  This change alone created millions of dollars in efficiency savings in its first 18 months. 

I will continue to address our affordability crisis by eliminating waste and modernizing State Government, which will allow us to reduce budget growth and in doing so not increase the taxes and fees that make Vermont unaffordable.  I will be Franklin County and Alburgh’s voice for affordability and push back against those who forced a tax increase on Vermonters this year.  Others in this race will join them and make it harder than ever to lower the cost of living in Vermont – we cannot allow that to become our reality.  I ask that you please join me with your vote on or before November 6^th to help us keep moving forward towards a more affordable future, the future we all deserve.     

Rep. Corey Parent

Candidate for State Senate

Published in the St. Albans Messenger on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018.