Representing our rural community in Montpelier.
Welcome
Greetings! I can feel that spring arrived here today at the end of Ireland Road - some warmth and sun, bird feeders put away so as not to tempt my friendly neighborhood bears, and spring flowers poking up. I wish I had better digital skills so I could swap out my summer photos of grandkids with photos of buds getting fat, snow covered mountains (still!), and a late winter flock of turkeys looking for free food. Silly birds! I'll get Carl and Neil to help me with seasonally appropriate photos come Easter.
I'm now two and one-half months into representing our community in the House of Representatives. Quite the journey. I've learned a lot:
It's a very top-down work environment, especially for a new legislator. Unless the politics are aligned it's a tough place to talk about good policy.
Community and statewide citizen advocacy is the key to creating a positive political environment in which one can advocate for good public policy. Keep your emails coming!
Good relationships are essential for developing good solutions to our problems. The more I get to know the other 150 Representatives and 30 Senators (Democrats, Republicans, Progressives, and Independents alike) the more effective I can be for you. Plus it's just been enjoyable to meet and talk with so many interesting people from across the state.
Your emails and phone calls are essential to my work. Of course, not everyone in the community agrees on every thorny topic, but it's not possible to represent you at the Statehouse without understanding your concerns and aspirations.
We've passed a significant milestone in the Legislative Session. All of the bills that were introduced in the House in January that have a chance to be enacted have passed the House and are now in the Senate, waiting for the Senators' consideration and the Governor's perspective. That includes the Appropriations Bill, the Transportation Bill, and the Capital Bill. This year that also includes the Education Bill. More on that in my description of "What's Happening in Montpelier". The Legislative Session usually ends around the middle of May; however, the adjournment date may be later because of the Education Bill.
Take care, everyone. We're all in this together.
PS Don’t click on the button below. Nothing there!
The issues I felt at the beginning of the session were most important to our community remain the same: education property taxes, housing too expensive for most of us, and rampant health care inflation.
Click on the button below for updates on these issues.
Note: issues update under construction!
