The Valley Reporter reached out to state representatives Kari Dolan, D-Waitsfield, and Dara Torre, D-Moretown, to get a sense of what legislative issues caused people in this district to reach out to their representatives and what concerns they voiced. This is part one of a two-part report. Part two will run in next week’s issue of The Valley Reporter.
VR: Which piece of legislation garnered the most response from your constituents?
Dolan: This year, there were over 500 bills introduced in the House and another 150 bills introduced in the Senate. Over 80 bills were passed out of both chambers. While constituents expressed interests in a range of topics, I probably received more feedback on the housing bill (S.100), the Affordable Heat Act (S.5) and child care (H.217).
Torre - The Affordable Heat Act (S.5) has generated the most outreach, with the governor's proposed changes to retired state employees' Medicare plan (to switch to a Cigna Advantage plan) as a close second. The latter wasn't regarding existing legislation but was a request for assistance and possible legislation.
VR: Was feedback/outreach on that bill in favor of or opposed to that bill? (Just the number as opposed to people's reasons for being in favor or opposed?)
Dolan: With respect to the Housing Bill, people were generally in support of housing that is affordable to everyone and available for long-term rental or homeownership. With respect to the Affordable Heat Act, S.5, I heard from people on both sides of the issue, but more constituents were in support of the bill if the bill would help people save on heating costs. Regarding child care, constituents were supportive of a bill to improve the current challenges around access, affordability, and workforce as it relates to early childhood educators and how the bill could help bring more working-age people into our communities’ general workforce.
Torre: On the Affordable Heat Act, feedback was pretty even -- constituents opposed to S.5 (close to three dozen reached out to me to vote no or with a concern or question), versus about the same from those in favor of it. I expected to hear from a lot of Vermonters given that I was on the policy committee that worked on the bill, and I did hear from every corner of the district on this. In many cases, we exchanged emails about experiences and challenges, and it was clear that many people have been struggling with rising costs overall. There were also two climate rallies during the session, which brought younger constituents into the State House. With the Medicare Advantage issue, feedback was universally in opposition (about two dozen constituents reached out from all towns in the district).
Regarding unhousing, I received surprisingly, very little on this so far, but more on housing generally. I think just one email on the unhousing topic. As more press coverage happens and the emergency housing ends over the next couple of months, I expect there will be more constituents reaching out.
You might also like
