Rep. Rob Hunter announces re-election bid for Bennington-4
MANCHESTER - The hat is back in the ring for Rep. Rob Hunter of the Bennington-4 legislative district.
On Monday, April 27, Rep. Hunter announced he was going to run for re-election to one of the seats in the two-member district, which includes the towns of Manchester, Arlington, Sandgate and part of Sunderland. His seat-mate, Rep. Kathleen James, announced last month that she would not be running for re-election again after four terms in office. Both are Democrats.
Following Seth Bongartz’s decision to run for the State Senate in 2024, one of the two seats opened up and Hunter won election that November. He had only recently retired from a teaching career at Burr & Burton Academy, and hadn’t planned on jumping into the political arena. But his plans changed, he said.
“I retired as early as I could so that I could just be a full-time writer,” he said. But running for the House of Representatives seemed like a way to both help out and be engaged, so he decided to give politics a try.
Having one term under his belt, Hunter said his experience will be useful in continuing the work not only on education, but also housing, healthcare, affordability and other issues that will be central to the state’s path forward.
“I don't feel like this is a good opportunity just to say, well, good, you know, I showed up. I pulled a shift. I can go,” he said. “With Act 73 really still very much in play, I just feel it's important for me to be there.”
Act 73 is the education reform bill passed last year and designed to find ways to lower educational cost pressures so state property taxes can also be reduced. It has been one of the major pieces of legislation lawmakers have grappled with this year, and Hunter, as a member of the House Education Committee, has been deeply involved with it. A different version of the legislation on following up Act 73 - after divisions emerged over how many and by what way would the state’s school districts be merged or consolidated - is under discussion in the State Senate, and whether the two can be reconciled and compromised over will be a major question in the remaining weeks of the current legislative session.
In the House version, schools districts would be allowed to pursue voluntary mergers to achieve consolidations and cost savings. Gov. Phil Scott would like to see more immediate consolidation and a chance for lower tax rates sooner, and the Senate version leans more in that direction.
Hunter said it was clear to him which path the voters wanted, and it wasn’t mandatory school district consolidation.
“When push came to shove, the people truly did speak and say, we don't want forced mergers,” he said. “I mean, thousands of people and all of us on the committee every day were dealing with full inboxes in our e-mail. And in particular, it wasn't just sort of the 91 towns that enjoy choice. It was everybody. And for a myriad of reasons that they just, they were opposed to any kind of mandate, any kind of forced mergers.”
Land use issues around Act 181, legislation passed in 2024 designed to revise and update some of the provisions of Act 250, Vermont’s more than 50 year-old land use statute, are another issue Hunter is watching. Recently, Act 181 regulations that would have impacted rural areas, such as the “road rule” and Tier 3, a land classification designed to protect sensitive ecosystems, have come under fire from rural residents, who are concerned they could hinder their ability to develop their own property.
The road rule and Tier 3 can go, but the rest of Act 181 is worth preserving, Hunter said.
“What I have witnessed this year is that on education and Act 181, Vermonters have spoken, and the Democrats have listened and responded,” Hunter stated in his announcement of his campaign for re-election.
Another area of interest, reflecting his career in education, are whether it’s time to re-think how technology is used in schools. He supported a bill which passed last year calling for schools to restrict smartphone use by students during the school day. He also co-sponsored another piece of legislation, H.830, that would allow for an “opt-out” for students, parents, and teachers who simply do not want a Chromebook or other 1-to-1 device.
“I'm very concerned that we've we've kind of gone hook, line and sinker with with technology,” Hunter said. “But beside all that, what I'm most interested in is student outcomes. And kids aren't getting smarter because they have a Chromebook in their backpack or in front of them on the desk.”
So far, Thomas West, of Manchester, has also announced plans to run for the State House from the Bennington-4 district as a Democrat, and Alford “Al” Clayton, of Sandgate has also announced he will be a candidate for district as well.
Primary elections, which will determine which candidate go on to compete in the general elections in November, will be held Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Andrew McKeever - Vermont News & Media
