April 10, 2026: "Act 181 was the straw that broke the camel's back," explains Loralee Tester in this week's episode.

Tester, the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, shares her concerns about how revisions to land-use laws might hurt small communities. Her worries don't stop with Act 181. For Tester, the policy's potential impacts on small towns are broad and likely to do more harm than good.

Tester's op-ed in Vermont Digger: https://vtdigger.org/2026/03/10/loralee-tester-when-protection-becomes-exclusion/

Tester references the April 8, 2026, Vermont House Committee on the Environment, taking testimony related to Act 181 (specifically S.325, an act relating to planning and Act 250 Tier jurisdiction). The committee had several rounds of testimony. Here are the links:

9:00 AM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrd1m7pmbIk&t=2909s

10:00 AM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo25sEqpLa0

11:15 AM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-JKFPrbrgc

2:10 PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJjJ8OpqQbU&t=49s

Theme music by Red Heart the Ticker: http://www.rhtt.net