BRATTLEBORO — “Our laws should reflect our reality,” said Sen. David Zuckerman, P/D-Chittenden.
The law vs. reality, in this case, is the use of marijuana in Vermont.
The current laws force “responsible adults to live secretly,” said Zuckerman, a Hinesburg resident and lieutenant governor hopeful.
Meanwhile, kids, whom the law should protect, tell Zuckerman they can buy pot easier than they can buy alcohol.
Zuckerman is running as a Democrat for the August primary, and as a write-in on the Progressive ticket. By running as a Democrat/Progressive, he believes it will relieve the conundrum of splitting the vote.
If he wins, the position will be one in a long line of state offices.
Zuckerman served 14 years in the House of Representatives, four of those years he spent as chair of the House Committee on Agriculture. In 2012, he won a Senate seat for Chittenden County. His current committee seats include vice-chair of the Agriculture Committee, the Education Committee, and the Senate Sexual Harassment Panel.
Like all Vermont legislators, Zuckerman has a day job. He co-founded and co-owns Full Moon Farm with business partner and spouse Rachel Nevitt.
“This is not the season to pass the law,” he said of the marijuana legalization bill S.241, making it’s way through the Statehouse.
Zuckerman supports legalization and regulation, and not because he’s a farmer looking to cash in on the new crop of cannabis.
He wants to avoid the perception that he’s only supporting the legislation because he wants to benefit from it.
Politicians give up some opportunities when they choose to serve, Zuckerman said.
Zuckerman supports funneling marijuana through a legal, taxable, and sunlit system. The effort must focus on prevention, blocking underaged access, and freeing up law enforcement to focus on harder drugs such as opiates.
Legalization can draw tourism dollars, he said.
Zuckerman would like the state to put the new money to use for economic development, rather than funding more government. Zuckerman adds that the investment can change each year.
Revenue raised through cannabis could fund initiatives like stretching high speed Internet to the final mile, he said. This would allow more people — hopefully, parents with young children — to telecommute.
Or capital projects like roads, bridges, and weatherization (which Zuckerman said might save the state on Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program - LIHEAP - costs). One year the state could use the revenue to help low-income Vermonters dig themselves out of an economic hole and find safe housing. If the investing is through a company like Shelburne-based Vermont Modular Homes, Inc., then the revenue does double-duty by investing in the local economy.
“I see a real opportunity with capital to build our future,” he said.
The key, according to Zuckerman, is that the capital investments would happen with cash rather than through borrowing.
“I think we have to stop borrowing from our future,” he said.
A jog, not a sprint
Zuckerman stopped in Brattleboro on March17 as part of an early campaign visit. He’s been here before. About 15 years ago, he estimates, he was one of the community organizers involved with labeling of genetically engineered foods.
He said he’s late to the campaign, having launched his bid for office in December.
“The last four months I’ve been jogging for office,” he jokes.
As an organizer and policy maker, Zuckerman feels he’s kept a foot in each camp.
Bernie Sanders has recognized that things happen because people organize, Zuckerman said. As a legislator, he has crafted policy around community actions.
Zuckerman has endorsed Sanders for president. According to him, the two have worked closely and supported each other for 20 years.
Along with his legislative committee work, Zuckerman’s campaign website lists his service in organizations like he Burlington Electric Commission (1995-1998), The American Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer and Rancher Committee (2002-2004), and the Burlington Ward 1 Neighborhood Planning Assembly (NPA).
In his opinion, Zuckerman’s life, business, legislative, and family experience have prepared him for the state’s second-highest office.
Why campaign for lieutenant governor now?
Beyond the office’s daily duties, like presiding over the Senate, the lieutenant governor “gets to be a liaison.”
A liaison that can interpret between what the people want and what Montpelier does. Or a liaison who can bring the various camps of lawmakers, citizens, and issues to the same table.
His campaign literature speaks of building opportunities and support. Four key areas for Zuckerman are supporting the rural economy, protecting the environment, boosting wages and working conditions, and easing property taxes.
According to Zuckerman, he takes strong stances on social issues and proudly supported legislation that supports social justice like marriage equality.
He shakes his head, “[Donald] Trump’s horrific comments.” They “exploit people’s anger.”
“It is not acceptable in this country, in this year, at this time,” Zuckerman said.
As part of his campaigning, Zuckerman said he’s speaking with voters about what works and what doesn’t work for them as they muddle through the daily life of Vermont.
A fundamental economy
In conversations with voters, Zuckerman has heard what many candidates hear, and probably more people live: the economy doesn’t serve all Vermonters.
There’s no “magic wand fix,” he said. The state faces challenges similar to many rural states. The population is aging, wages are low, and the manufacturing base has crumbled.
What’s needed now is that Vermonters put their heads together and find “creative ways to turn the dial,” Zuckerman continued.
He acknowledges the wages most people earn are less than the cost of living. It’s why Zuckerman has supported legislation like the earned paid sick leave bill and raising the minimum wage. When someone needs state assistance to get by, we all pay for that.
“People deserve to get paid for their work,” he said.
Zuckerman stresses that everyday decisions also effect the local economy.
Similar to choosing to turn down one’s thermostat to help slow climate change, choosing to purchase goods locally helps everyone.
Driving an hour into New Hampshire to save three cents on gas undercuts the Vermont economy and wastes individuals’ precious commodity, their time.
The Vermont brand and diversified agriculture hold promise for the state’s economy too, he said.
So many young people want to go into agriculture, he said. “They’re a very promising pool for our future.”
In Zuckerman’s opinion, the better Vermont’s agriculture the more other segments of the economy thrive, like tourism, or a culinary scene that sources local ingredients.
“And we can do more with that,” he said.
Zuckerman wants to see Vermont dairy farmers moved out of the national commodity milk pricing system.
“We must be creative with our milk marketing to get a better price for our farmers,” Zuckerman writes on his campaign site. “So long as we stay attached to the commodity milk pricing system we will continue to see our dairies consolidate and will not see the environmental improvements that we want.”
Restructuring the property tax is one of Zuckerman’s priorities.
“The current property tax structure is regressive and gives the wealthy a tax break,” he writes on his campaign literature. “We need to level the playing field in order to lower property taxes on ordinary Vermonters.”
Referencing a study by the Montpelier-based Public Assets Institute, 70 percent of Vermonters pay 2.8 to 3 percent of their income into the education fund through property taxes, he said. As incomes increase toward the $130,000 mark, this percentage starts to drop. Those with income of over $1 million pay approximately less than 1 percent.
If, however, the tax structure collected based on income, said Zuckerman, it would generate approximately $80 million and create some tax relief for the 70 percent.
In the same vein as relieving property tax, Zuckerman wants to incorporate the Agency of Human Services into the education system.
On paper, Vermont’s 10-to-1 student to teacher ratio (according to a 2015 report from the National Education Association) looks high, he said. In reality, the ratio represents students to staff.
Teachers double as social workers, Zuckerman said. They spend more time managing students’ social needs triggered by circumstances outside the classroom.
The Agency of Education and Agency of Human Services (AHS) are duplicating services, he said.
Instead, Zuckerman would like to see a system that pairs students in need with councilors that follow the students from grade school through high school. These social workers could catch and transform struggles when they’re tiny.
Integrating human services into the schools would achieve two things, he said. First, it would lower taxes by bringing more pots of money to the education system. Next, it would support better educational and social outcomes. Teachers would teach and social workers would support.
Zuckerman touts, and thanks, his long list of supporters. Amongst the names of well-known political figures like former Governor Phil Hoff, state Sen. Anthony Pollina, Middlesex), former Rep. Suzi Wizowaty, and former Rep. Daryl Pillsbury of Brattleboro.
According to a March 15, press release from his campaign office, since December Zuckerman received $61,485 from 951 donors, of which over 95 percent are Vermonters.
“I am humbled by the deep support for my campaign,” said Zuckerman. “We are working hard to follow Sen. Bernie Sanders’ model of engaging many donors, bringing people together, and creating a people-powered campaign. It’s been an exciting few months,” said Zuckerman.