Posts filed under: Legislative Report
I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July and successfully survived the record-setting heat wave that accompanied the holiday. My final Legislative Report usually occurs in May. Last year,...
The legislative process is both deliberate and deliberative. Bills do not get passed without a considerable amount of testimony from stakeholders on every side of an issue and discussion among...
We are now in the last weeks of the 2018 legislative session. Barring any surprise demands by the governor or legislators, like the call for passing a bill taxing and...
In 1957, three years before he was elected President, Senator John F. Kennedy wrote his best-selling book Profiles in Courage. In it he described events in the lives of eight...
The Doyle Poll, created and still conducted by former Senator Bill Doyle, has been a Town Meeting tradition in Vermont for decades. This year 113 Charlotte voters shared their opinions,...
Very few issues have generated as much emotion on both sides as the issue of gun regulation. After 10 hours of debate last Friday, the House amended Senate Bill S.55...
At the Champlain Valley School District (CVSD) budget presentation the evening before Town Meeting, board member Lynne Jaunich was describing the district’s intent to help students connect with employers through...
Energy & Technology - The Energy & Technology Committee (E&T) on which I serve has three areas of responsibility over Vermont’s infrastructure: energy, telecommunications and information technology (IT). In the...
The president’s State of the Union address is a tradition of our democracy that allows the head of the executive branch of the government to express his vision for America....
Most people recognize that climate change is happening, that it is caused by burning fossil fuels and that it has serious environmental and health consequences. The challenge to our generation...
Patience and persistence: these are two qualities that I learned are essential to working in the Legislature. The issues that the Legislature has to address are often very complex and...
The Legislature met last week in a veto session to address the statewide budget and education property tax bills. Although these bills are essential to fund state government and our...
As I write this late Friday afternoon on May 12, I should be home in Charlotte. Instead, I am in a holding pattern in Montpelier. A number of bills are...
By the time you read this, the Vermont Legislature will be within days of adjournment. You’ve probably heard the saying that legislating is a lot like making sausage. This is...
Our new president’s use of executive orders to try to fulfill some of his campaign promises, particularly regarding immigration, quickly ran into trouble. Executive orders are a way to bypass...
Any controversial issue under consideration by the Legislature will generate a lot of emails and phone calls, both pro and con, from constituents and advocates. Marijuana legalization is the controversial...
The Doyle Poll, created and still conducted by former Senator Bill Doyle, has been a tradition of Town Meetings in Vermont for decades. Only 109 Charlotte voters shared their opinions...
Our three branches of government, Executive, Legislative and Judicial, form an effective system of checks and balances. The executive branch administers and enforces laws passed by the legislative branch, and...
Although it is still early in the session, the Vermont House has already done some noteworthy work. Faced with a revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year of $51 million,...
The Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier is nicknamed “The People’s House.” For one thing, it is where legislators do “the people’s business.” Furthermore, unlike many other statehouses around the country, the...