> It got killed very quickly. Our legislators work for wealthy people and tourists, not us.

Our legislative compensation makes sure of this.

In order to be a legislator in Vermont, you either need to be independently wealthy, or otherwise self-funded, which tends to result in a lot of business-owner legislators.

I'm not just referring to the money needed in order to run for office--once they're in office, they need to have a source of wealth, because they are paid ~$750/week (plus a per diem) but only for the 18 weeks that the legislature is in session. The result is not enough to live on for a year.

This means that unless you happen to work in a field where you can just disappear for four months in a row every spring, you have to be independently wealthy or retired. If you or I ran for office and won, we'd probably be financially ruined.

It's a controversial opinion, but I think we need to pay our state legislators more. The current system means that regular Vermonters literally could not afford to hold office even if they won it. You'd be elected to office, have to quit your job, and then survive on the $14k/yr legislative salary plus whatever seasonal minimum wage jobs you could find. (Except a good legislator has work to do year-round, making seasonal employment even more difficult.)