Wed, 06/02/2021 - 12:16pm -- tim by House Minority Leader Pattie McCoy (R-Poultney) Being first sometimes means coming in last. Vermont has sure had a lot of "firsts" over the years--the first state to abolish slavery; the first state to allow civil unions for same-sex couples; the first state to allow the importation of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada; and so on. These are good firsts. But not all "firsts" are created equally. A bill before the Vermont Legislature, S.79, would make Vermont the first state in the nation to have a statewide, government-run, centralized registry of all privately owned homes being rented out. This unnecessary expansion of government into your lives would cost the state over a million dollars each year--but don't worry, because proponents want to pay for that by levying a new fee on as many as 80,000 Vermont homeowners, in the midst of our economic recovery. Brilliant, right?