Tax the Rich
On February 19, 2026, Progressive leaders including Senator Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D (Chittenden Central), Representative Kate Logan, P/D (Chittenden-16), Senator Anne Watson, D/P (Washington), alongside Senator Larocque Gulick, D (Chittenden Central) and Representative Teddy Waszazak, D (Washington-3), held a Tax the Rich press conference in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House.
As Representative Logan highlighted, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill federal tax cuts disproportionally benefitted high-income individuals, who received a nearly $57,000 tax break and accelerated the worst income inequality since the 1920s. Logan said, “We all benefit from stability.”
“A stronger Vermont starts with shared prosperity. ”
Senator Anne Watson (Washington) referenced the $200 million in tax cuts for top income earners in Vermont. She went on to share that the top 1% of income earners in Vermont make $1.4 million, whereas the average income earned by the bottom 99% of Vermonters is $70,000.
Senator Tanya Vyhovsky (Chittenden-Central) highlighted that more than 60% of Vermonters live paycheck-to-paycheck, and spoke to the long-term impacts of the federal tax cuts on Vermonters. She calls on fellow lawmakers to make investments in real savings that are not done at the expense of everyday people.
“Take one small step toward equality, toward justice, toward fairness and toward a future where Vermonters can thrive.”
Progressive leaders Vyhovsky and Logan have introduced legislation — S.282 An act relating to increasing taxes on higher income earners and creating the School Construction Aid Special Fund and H.794 An act relating to increasing taxes on higher income earners and creating the School Construction Aid Special Fund — to protect essential services that would be underfunded due to the Big Beautiful Bill at the federal level.