(Promoted per our policy to front page major statewide office seekers – promoted by GMD)

I have some very exciting news to share with you.  Our campaign has received the official endorsement of the Professional Firefighters of Vermont!  After a thorough review of all of the candidates running for Lt. Governor, the firefighters have unanimously endorsed my candidacy.  

Matt Vinci, the President of the Professional Firefighters of Vermont said, “My members across the state have a great working relationship with Steve, he has been there to support the issues that impact how we deliver emergency services across Vermont, he shares our values and he has a history of fighting for us”.

I am happy to share the news of the Professional Firefighters endorsement with you today.  I am deeply honored to have their endorsement; they are a great organization and I wholeheartedly support their heroic work in our state.  As Shay Totten noted in his Seven Days column today, the Professional Firefighters have never backed a losing campaign in Vermont.

The Firefighters join the Vermont State Employees Association and the Vermont AFL-CIO in supporting my bid for Lt. Governor.  I greatly appreciate the support of these groups and I would like your support as well.

 

(Continuing GMD policy of promoting diaries by officeholders and officeseekers. – promoted by GMD)

Yesterday, I officially launched my campaign for Lt.Governor announcing the endorsement of 34 current and former members of the Vermont Generally Assembly and Chittenden County States Attorney TJ Donovan.  Our campaign is catching on !  Vermonters want a Lt.Governor who is on their side, a Lt. Governor who is committed to building an economy in Vermont that serves all Vermonters, not just the wealthy and the powerful at the top.

After 8 years of failed economic policies by the current administration and George W. Bush,decades of greed and corruption on Wall Street, Vermonters are ready to support our campaign because as the Lt Governor they know I will stand up to the powerful interests in Montpelier who are blocking change and I will fight for reforms that will get our economy back on track and create well paying jobs.  

For nearly 20 years I have worked as a grassroots organizer, working with clients who have hired me throughout the country including; the Global AIDS Alliance, Housing Vermont,NARAL Pro-choice Vermont and The Coalition Against Bigger Trucks. I will use this experience to transform the sleepy Lt.Governor’s office into a center for grassroots action in the State House, mobilizing to support Medicare for All Vermonters, a plan that will reduce health care costs and as a result reduce the costs of doing business, reduce property taxes and close the gap in our state budgets.  I want to end our dependance on fossil fuels and nuclear power putting Vermonters back to work weatherizing, conserving and also building new sources of locally produced renewable energy. I pledge to partner with our education and business leaders to close the poverty gap in our schools that causes too many poor children to be left behind and our employers without the skilled workforce they seek.

For 12 years, as a progressive Democrat, I have represented 2 conservative Rutland County districts.  I have worked hard for working families. I was the lead sponsor of the expansion of Vermont’s family leave law, passed legislation to help the clean up of abandoned brownfields, worked with our police officers to combat crime and supported our public employees in Rutland.  

I have served for 8 years on the House Ways and Means Committee, providing me with a grasp of of Vermont’s most pressing financial challenges. I have been the Vice-Chair of the House Transportation Committee, served on the House Committees on Commerce and Institutions. I have served under 4 different Speakers of the House and I have been in a leadership capacity under 2 of those speakers.  I am the former chair of the Vermont Democratic Party where I retired a massive debt and rebuilt a crumbling party so future chairs could build upon a solid foundation.   I’m not a single issue candidate, these experiences have prepared me with a broad vision of our government and many complex public policy challenges.

The fight for a Lt.Governor who is on the side of hard working Vermonters has begun.  Join us, let’s get started.  www.stevehoward2010.com