WOLCOTT – Senate Appropriations was wrapping up the budget when I left the statehouse around 5 p.m. last Friday, as indicated by the large group of people outside their committee room.  The Senate will vote on the budget later this week and it will come back to the House the[Read More…]

WORCESTER – With only a few more weeks remaining in this year’s session, activity is focused on resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of numerous bills, major and minor. And there will be legislation taken up in the House this week dealing with education property taxes. The House[Read More…]

CRAFTSBURY – As your representative, my job is to ensure that your values and your needs are not ignored and that our towns can thrive for generations to come. Like other rural regions of Vermont, the Northeast Kingdom’s priorities don’t align neatly with the agenda of a particular party–and neither do[Read More…]

WORCESTER – The House Ways and Means and Education Committees are working on a number of bills dealing with property tax and education funding issues that have been front and center this session, as they have been in the Senate as well. These include the annual “Yield Bill,” the chief[Read More…]

WORCESTER – The House and Senate have been busy acting on bills that must make the several different crossover deadlines for different types of bills, in order to get them to the other body. Much of the rest of the session will be spent on back and forth activity, either[Read More…]

Entering the Make-or-Break Session WORCESTER – The Legislature is back in session after the Town Meeting. Around the state and in some towns in our district, there have been changes in how voters make their decisions. Some towns do not have a live town meeting anymore and make their decisions[Read More…]

CRAFTSBURY – Revenues are back to their pre-pandemic levels and federal financial support is no longer there to boost the budget. As legislators, we won’t be able to do everything we want this year. We’re being realistic and focusing our efforts on the issues that matter most.  My legislative priorities include[Read More…]

WORCESTER – The pace continues to pick up as we head for the Legislature’s Town Meeting week break. As has happened across the state, there have been changes in how and when towns and school districts vote and meet, including in our House district. School Property Taxes. H.850, the bill[Read More…]

by Rep. Melanie CarpenterHYDE PARK –This year the legislative session started with a flurry of bills and testimony from community members and experts from around the state. I serve on the Health Care Committee where our work has been focusing on equity, access, and affordability. H. 721 Medicaid Expansion, H.[Read More…]

MONTPELIER – Returning to the State House for the 2024 Legislative Session, the biggest priority on everyone’s mind was flood recovery. We heard testimony about it in both Natural Resources and Energy and in Government Operations . Beyond the immediate needs of making those devastated by the floods whole, I’m[Read More…]

by Rep. Avram Patt, Lamoille-Washington District, Morristown, Elmore, Woodbury, Worcester and northern Stowe WOODBURY – The 2024 session of the Legislature began on July 3. It being the second half of a two-year biennium session, we will be dealing with a lot of new issues and bills, but we will[Read More…]