FIGHTING FOR EVERY VERMONTER

Healthcare costs are bankrupting Vermont families, crushing employers, and driving up education costs. Vermonters are paying more and getting less — especially in rural communities where access to primary care is disappearing. Vermont health insurance premiums are among the highest in the nation: employers saw premium increases 35% over the last three years. These skyrocketing premiums are responsible for recent spikes in property taxes, as health insurance is the largest driver of education spending, which is funded by property taxes. But closing schools and consolidating districts does little to address healthcare costs or to truly stabilize property taxes— especially when hospitals are the main driver of health insurance premiums. Vermont needs urgent healthcare reform now.

Molly will:

• Advance meaningful healthcare reforms that treat healthcare as a human right by prioritizing community-based preventative primary and mental health care for every Vermonter and incentivizing wellness and prevention over profit from illness.

• Support publicly-funded universal primary care for all Vermonters – regardless of age, income, or zip code. This will reduce or eliminate insurance premiums while increasing Vermonters’ access to preventative care – the cheapest and most effective way to keep Vermonters healthy, and decrease costly visits to hospital emergency rooms. Read Molly’s full proposal for Universal Primary Care here.

• Grow a primary care workforce. Incentivizing  physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals to practice primary care, especially in rural areas, by expanding loan forgiveness and scholarship opportunities.

• Address inflated hospital administrative costsby aligning salaries for administration and management with regional peers, in turn finding savings in hospital budgets and decreasing insurance premiums without compromising patient care.

• Support the full, timely implementation of Act 68, Reference-Based Pricing, by the Green Mountain Care Board, an effort to prevent price-gouging and price variations across hospitals and improve affordability for Vermonters. 

Housing in Vermont is too expensive and too scarce. Since 2020, home prices in Vermont have risen by an average of 31%. The average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is over $2,000 per month. A 2025 Vermont Housing Needs Assessmentestimates that Vermont needs to build 24,000 and 36,000 additional year-round homes between 2025 and 2029 to meet demand, normalize vacancy rates and grow Vermont’s workforce. Vermont’s housing shortage affects everyone: families who want to grow, seniors who want to downsize, renters who want to buy their first home, workers who want to relocate, and the businesses that want to hire them. 

Molly will:

• Advance Act 250 reforms that remove regulations for housing development in cities, towns and village centers, and areas with the jobs and infrastructure to support growth. Molly has advocated for reforms to Act 181 that would remove the “Tier 3” and “Road Rule” provisions, while keeping existing provisions aimed at removing red tape and urgently deploying housing.

• Remove costly and drawn-out delays to housing development by advancing simplified and standardized local zoning laws. Work with the legislature to develop a set of model zoning codes that level the playing field and clear the way for the kinds of homes Vermonters need.

• Fast-track pre-approved housing plans statewide by advancing Vermont’s 802 Homes housing proposal. The state has already begun developing easy-to-use housing blueprints that allow small-scale developers to build faster, cheaper, and with fewer permitting delays. Once finalized, projects that use these standardized plans should receive automatic statewide zoning approval — cutting red tape and helping Vermont build more housing, faster.

• Support the start of a Vermont Housing Corps: the next generation of  carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other housing professionals to meet Vermont’s housing goals. This includes partnering with Vermont’s career and technical education centers, universities, and apprenticeship programs to incentivize careers in home building through grants, loan forgiveness and scholarships and more.

Molly has spent her career fighting for human rights — as a lawyer, advocate, former Lt. Governor, and nonprofit leader. As a Vermont Assistant Attorney General, she investigated the Catholic Church over alleged child abuse. More recently, she helped defend Afghan allies in Vermont facing unlawful ICE detention after risking everything for the United States. As Trump’s extreme and unconstitutional policies threaten Vermonters’ rights and freedoms, Molly will stand up, fight back, and never back down.

Molly’s priorities are to: 

• Ensure anyone detained by ICE and placed in Vermont Department of Corrections custody has access to immigration legal counsel, interpretation services, medical assistance and other basic needs to respect due process, and humane treatment.

• Prohibit immigration enforcement in Vermont schools, hospitals, courthouses, polling places and other sensitive locations.

• Protect and expand Vermonter's voting rights, by supporting the full implementation of a Vermont Voting Rights Act, the availability of universal vote by mail in Vermont’s primary elections, and making election day a paid state holiday in Vermont.

• Advocate for the ratification of Proposal 3 by Vermont voters, which would add workers rights to Vermont’s Constitution– specifically the right to join a union and collectively bargain.

• Advocate for the ratification of Proposal 4, Vermont’s equal rights amendment, by voters which would explicitly prevent the State from denying equal treatment under the law based on characteristics including race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, or national origin.

One of the biggest threats to our democracy isn't hard to find: it's the growing influence of corporate money in our elections. Right now, corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money in elections, including right here in Vermont. These rules allow big businesses and their owners to have a bigger voice in elections and politics than the people who actually vote.

Molly will :

• Champion the Corporate Power Reset, amending state law to say plainly that corporations doing business in Vermont cannot spend money in our elections. It's a commonsense fix — and it's one we can actually control here in our state. Hawaii became the first state in the country to do this in May of this year. California has introduced similar legislation. And Montana has a measure on the ballot this November to limit corporate spending in elections.

• Refuse to take money from corporate donors or corporate PACs. Molly will only ever be accountable to you — to Vermonters.

Molly grew up on a vegetable and small dairy farm in South Newbury still operated by her family today. Molly was raised on the principle that you “take care of the land that has taken care of us,” and recognizes the incredible role dairy farmers, fruit and vegetable growers, sugar makers, loggers, outdoor recreation leaders, and others take to care for Vermont’s land and environment. Simply put, Vermont’s working landscape and forest are essential to our identity, and economy. 

Molly will:

• Support policies that ensure our Vermont rural communities don’t just survive, but thrive — with equitable access to quality schools, hospitals, primary care, affordable housing, broadband, and other essential services.

• Ensure rural communities and those who work our lands have a voice in land use policymaking. As needed, advocate for updates to Act 181 (in addition to the repeal of the “Tier 3” and “Road Rule” provisions) that support Vermont’s working lands and all its stewards.

• Support Vermont farmers in modernizing, diversifying and remaining viable, by eliminating the need for Act 250 permits for certain accessory on-farm business activities, such as agritourism (the “Burtt Amendment”).

• Support a moratorium on massive AI data centers in Vermont until grid reliability, electric rates, costs to consumers, environmental and health impacts, are studied and understood by regulators, communities and residents.

Molly attended Newbury Elementary School and is a proud product of Vermont’s public education system. She understands the incredible importance of public schools to our rural communities and believes every Vermont student deserves access to an equitable, high-quality education.

Molly also recognizes that Vermont’s shrinking school-age population requires thoughtful reforms that support cooperation and, where appropriate, consolidation between communities. But she believes closing schools and consolidating districts alone will not truly stabilize property taxes or address the underlying financial pressures facing public education.

One of the biggest drivers of rising education costs is healthcare. Health insurance premiums for public school employees have increased by double digits in recent years, significantly raising school budgets and Vermonters’ property tax bills. Molly believes Vermont must confront these rising healthcare costs while protecting strong local schools and educational opportunities for students across the state.

Molly will:

• Support the Legislature’s voluntary merger proposal that gives communities a voice in transforming Vermont’s education system and supports creative, local solutions including the sharing of services and administrative costs.

• Restart the School Construction Trust Fund to rebuild Vermont’s schools with safe, modern materials. Until 2007,Vermont had a fund that would help local school districts pay for new or upgraded facilities. Now, only the wealthiest cities and towns can afford school construction, a reality that hits rural communities hardest.

• Advocate for the full implementation of the Vermont Kids Code adopted in 2025 and the 2024 ban on cell phones in schools to advance policies that keep Vermont children and teens safe online, protect their privacy, and prevent the harmful impacts of social media.

No Vermonter should have to choose between caring for a loved one and paying the bills. In an aging state like Vermont, working families are often caring for parents and children at the same time. Despite having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, Vermont employers struggle to recruit and retain employees and to fill the estimated 19,000 open jobs in the state. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world without a guaranteed paid leave policy, and fourteen states have already passed universal paid  leave policies. Paid leave supports businesses, protects workers and provides economic security for working families. 

• As Lt. Governor, Molly will continue to fight for a publicly-funded universal paid family and medical leave policy that guarantees up to 12 weeks of coverage. Molly supports the cost- effective and fair proposal of the Vermont Paid Leave Coalition.

As Lt. Governor, Molly hosted a first-ever legislative summit on child care and paid leave, advocating for the passage of Act 76, Vermont’s landmark 2023 child care law. Act 76 has made child care more affordable and accessible for Vermont families by adding 1700 new child care spots, increasing subsidies for low-income families, boosting provider reimbursement, and investing in a growing child care workforce. 

• As Lt. Governor, Molly will continue to advocate for the full realization of Act 76, particularly the expansion of Vermont’s early child care workforce. 

Molly has been a relentless advocate for energy policies that reduce risks for Vermonters, strengthen the state's energy resilience and independence, and address skyrocketing costs. Vermonters continue to feel the effects of President Trump's conflict with Iran, which has driven up energy prices across the globe and cost Vermonters at the gas pump, grocery store, and across many aspects of daily life.

Meanwhile, advances in renewable energy technology have made clean energy more affordable and accessible than ever before. That's why Molly believes now is the time to double down, not back down, on investments in renewable energy produced right here in Vermont. By accelerating the transition to clean, locally generated energy, Vermont can reduce costs for families, strengthen energy independence, and build a more resilient future for generations to come.

Molly will:

• Continue to advocate for the rapid deployment of community solar projects (AKA group net metering) across Vermont. This includes reforms to cut unnecessary red tape and permitting delays, as well as to remove obstacles to community participation.

• Support the expansion, and use of, Vermont’s battery storage system.

• Support individuals and businesses in making a clean energy transition towards electric vehicles and heat pumps, and away from reliance on costly foreign oil and fossil fuels, by retaining Vermont-based tax credits and incentives despite federal cutbacks.

• Support renters and residents of mobile homes and condos in accessing plug-in balcony solar units, expanding opportunities for all Vermonters to participate in our clean energy transition, and alleviating high energy costs. Balcony solar kits are estimated to save Vermonters up to 10% to 25% on a monthly household electricity bill!

• Hold polluters to account and stand with Vermonters, advocates and attorneys in making fossil fuel companies and other polluters pay their fair share for the clean up costs and other harms to homes, businesses and communities caused by severe storms.