 Hi, I'm David Zuckerman, your Lieutenant Governor and candidate for governor. I'm running under the Progressive and the Democratic Party labels, having earned those from the voters of Vermont in the primaries. I've been endorsed by Senators Leahy and Sanders and Congressman Peter Welsh, as well as former governors Howard Dean, Madeleine Cunin and Peter Schumlin. I'm running for governor because of the economic strain on Vermonters right now, as well as the climate crisis and the need to support our rural economy. When I got into this race, I got in to bring my skills and experience of over 20 years in public service and as a farmer for over 20 years, both addressing today's challenges and working to build a better future for tomorrow. I would like to have your vote and support in this race. I would be happy to answer questions. You can always reach out at zuckermanforvt.com. And I want to mention that I'll be voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in this race for president because there is no other option in this race but to give them our votes, they support what we stand for, and we have to defeat this current president who has been destroying the institution of our democracy. Thank you. So with the Zuckerman administration, you will see some significant differences from the current administration. For one, my office will be looking towards bringing people into the process, including the wide range of experience and voices from across Vermont, much as I've done as lieutenant governor and as a legislator before that, traveling the state to hear from people and bring in your perspectives and knowledge. Also, I have vision for the future of Vermont. It's not enough just to be managing in the present. We have to be thinking about how we manage for the present and build for our future, whether that's education and making sure we support our state colleges and training, technical training schools. Also, it's about our future with respect to our rural economy and tackling the climate crisis. For instance, we could be investing in fixed income seniors and working class from honors homes to weatherize them and reduce from honors bills while tackling the climate crisis. We could be expanding our broadband installation to make sure kids have good access to education as well as the opportunity to expand economic opportunity in our rural areas. And I'll be looking in the agriculture sector for carbon sequestration and think about proactive farming techniques that can both get farmers better money for their work and tackle the climate crisis. There are many areas where we need more proactivity in our government. We need to be looking at systemic racism throughout our system from education to criminal justice to economic development. And there's many other areas of inequities that I would work to tackle. We all know that next year is going to be extremely difficult with respect to the budget. This year's incomes around the state are hurting and we are going to have limited resources. However, the state is very well prepared, one of the best in the country with our rainy day fund. And it is time to use rainy day funds if ever there was a time. That way we will not be cutting services to Vermonters who will desperately need them. And those resources that go out to those folks are going to be the resources that also churn in our economy. People will be buying from local stores helping support our local businesses. I will also work very much with the hospitality industry to find ways to reopen and expand in safe ways for Vermonters, for our workers in those industries and for the guests that come to Vermont. Finally, I will be investing in our infrastructure. I will look to the folks earning over $250,000 a year to ask them to put some of their Trump tax cuts back into the Vermont economy. To invest in affordable housing, to invest in rural broadband, to invest in weatherization and renewable energy on folks' buildings in order to save Vermonters money immediately and tackle the climate crisis and put people to work. In order to rebuild the economy, we have to invest from the bottom up, including in our education system, our state colleges, and our training schools. With respect to immigration policy, my ideas and thoughts, like most Vermonters, could not be farther from the president of this United States. Trump has closed the borders. He has vilified immigrants. He has vilified people within our own country. Division is not what we need either in Vermont or in this country. We need to make sure we have a welcoming policy the way that this country was originally founded on. When I first became Lieutenant Governor and this president was making his statements, I put out strong statements and supports for the immigrants in our community, not just first generation, but second and third generation who have helped build this country over the last centuries. We need to make sure we are a welcoming state, that our businesses are welcoming and our communities are welcoming. These are the things that we can do as a state level with supports as folks move into our communities and help with job training and opportunity. We have the opportunity as a state to lead in vocalizing support for immigrants and Vermonters for a thriving and strong future. With respect to the topic of healthcare, I firmly believe that healthcare is a human right for all of our citizens and all members in our community that live here in Vermont and should be all across the country. We know that healthcare costs are going up. In fact, in Vermont, they're going up at rates almost 30 or 40% greater than the whole United States since 2000. The average Vermonter is paying over $2,000 more per year than US citizens each year over that timeline. That is unacceptable and it's putting a strain on our families and our economy. I firmly believe that we need to implement a universal primary care system. That would start to reduce our costs and improve our outcomes immediately. I've met with local businesses who are doing this on their own with their private insurance and they are saving money and their workers are healthier. They are at work more days of the week and so it's good for the economy, for healthcare and the overall well-being of our state. So we need to replicate that statewide to expand and have universal primary care for all Vermonters to improve our health and save money. There is a lot that we need to do with respect to racial equity, reparations and apologies for slavery as well as still removing some aspects of slavery in our society. With respect to racial equity, we know that our schools, black and brown children are detained and suspended at rates of four to one compared to white children in our school systems here in Vermont. We know that in our prison systems, we have far more people in jail that are black and brown relative to our population. So we need to be reviewing our criminal justice system. We need to be reviewing our policies across state government for our systemic racism that still exists here in Vermont. We need to recognize it in ourselves as well and make sure we work to improve our own biases and reflect on what they are and work to dispel them. With respect to reparations and an apology, there was a piece of legislation H-478 that needs to be reviewed and passed so that we can make sure we do reparations and apologies in the most appropriate way. And to make sure we make up for as many challenges of the past that were created. With respect to slavery, with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, we still have a system that people in prison can be paid lower wages as we have in Vermont right now. And so people have to work in prison, which essentially means you are enslaved while you are incarcerated. That has to change. My priorities for the next biennium are all encompassing. We know that historically we think in silos, but we need to bring them together. We need to think about our health situation and healthcare. We need to look at economic rebuilding and how economic rebuilding is also related to health. We need to look at our education system with respect to making sure people have opportunities to better themselves and get better jobs, which around their economics improves their health as well. So I will be focused on rebuilding our economy in a way that makes sure working class people get jobs and get better paying jobs to make sure that we tackle our climate crisis by doing renewable energy projects and weatherization on working class people's homes and fixed income seniors' homes. In order to again immediately put people to work and immediately save struggling Vermonters money. We need to invest in broadband so we have an education system that while we're dealing with the COVID crisis can make sure all kids have an access to education. We need to break down the silos between how we think and how we operate government so that we can tackle more than one thing at once. I'm David Zuckerman, a farmer, small business owner, and your lieutenant governor. And I'm asking for your vote to be the next governor of Vermont. You have a clear choice before you. Two sets of stable, capable hands to guide us through the COVID crisis. But only one of us has demonstrated leadership and experience for over 20 years in building for Vermont's future. We need to be both efficient and effective with the resources that we have here in Vermont. And I have that experience both working as a farmer for 20 years and as a piece as a part of Vermont government in the legislature and as your lieutenant governor. We need to make sure that we work to put more pay into workers' hands and build more affordable housing. We need to invest in our education system and make sure we have good pre-K through K through 12 and that we have our state colleges and technical schools funded to make sure there's opportunities for Vermonters. And we need to invest in renewable energy and weatherization and other areas of climate change in order to both create jobs and save Vermonters money. You have a choice this fall and one of those choices is also in the presidential race. And I fully support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president. There really is no other choice. We know that we have to elect them with a wide margin in order to make sure that this president, who has demonized the system, who has delegitimized the system and is questioning the validity of the system, has no opportunity to make those challenges after election day. I will vote for them. I will work with them as your governor to improve Vermonters lives. I'm asking for your vote. Please visit zuckermanforvt.com for more information. Thank you.