Jessica Van Oort

Jessica Van Oort's career experience includes working as a small business owner.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I’m a small business owner who is on the Pawlet Selectboard and involved with the community garden and the food pantry. I raise chickens, can a lot of my own produce, and buy too many books at the library book sale. I love hiking, and two of my favorite trails are Haystack Mountain and Merck Forest.

I'm running for state rep because I’m tired of living in unprecedented times, and I bet you are, too. Costs are too high and our freedoms are slipping away. I’ve heard from my neighbors that they’re worried about affording groceries, about the skyrocketing costs of healthcare. They’re worried that they won’t be able to send their kids to the same school they’ve always gone to, that our votes might not matter in the next election, that masked federal agents might show up in our communities.

I want to help. I know that there are some things we can solve at the state level and some we can’t. But during the pandemic, when times started to get unprecedented, I got involved in local government. I did some practical good in Pawlet, like helping bring high speed internet to every part of our town, streamlining our zoning to make it easier for people to build on their own land, and getting a grant to put in geothermal heating and cooling in town buildings, which will save taxpayer dollars. At the state house, I’ll look for similar practical ways to improve people’s lives. I truly believe we can do better.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Taxes should be fair! Everyday Vermonters pay too much in taxes while the ultra wealthy get federal tax breaks. They should pay back those tax breaks to the state so we can fund important needs like roads and education. And if big corporations are using AI to take away people’s jobs, we should tax the AI agents. Human workers pay taxes. Robots should pay them too.We should pass a state law revoking the right of corporations in Vermont to make political donations, to get around Citizens United. Montana is doing this, this year. Look up “The Montana Plan” to read about the details. If Montana can do it, we sure can do it and make big money stop twisting our politics and turning us against each other.We need to regulate data centers so they don’t drive up electricity costs and pollute our environment. There was a good bill about this with tripartisan support that died this year after the governor vetoed it. Now there is news about a possible data center that might be built on the old Vermont Yankee site. We should bring that bill back next year and actually get it passed.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

My first work as a public servant was on the Pawlet Planning Commission, so I know a bit about zoning and land use. I'm proud that Act 250 keeps billboards and strip malls out of Vermont and preserves so much natural beauty, but I also understand how hard it can be for people to build on their own land, so I support sensible, balanced updates to Act 250.

I care deeply about the environment and about leaving a better world for those who come after us. My mom taught me organic gardening and my family picked up cans by the side of the road and took them in to recycle, and those values stick with me.

I taught for some years in a performing arts department at a small college, so I also have a passion for education and the arts.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Listening to the people in my district, delivering results for them, and keeping in touch with them about what's happening in the legislature, through a regular newsletter, through Front Porch Forum, and through in-person office hours

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked in a library re-shelving books and helping library patrons. I got this job when I was 14, as it was one of the few you could get if you weren't 16 yet. I kept it until I went to college, if I recall correctly.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

First, the demographic challenge of an aging population and the difficulty keeping young people or encouraging new young people to move here. This drives up our costs and make services hard to find. Second, the increasingly devastating floods that are now happening regularly and the need to build climate resiliency into our planning for the future.