Blog

In the last couple weeks we’ve started to see bills coming to the floor! For every bill I tell you about, there are at least two others that I’m not going into detail on. If you want to track everything passing the house you can head here https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/passed/2024, but here are some of my favorites that are now headed to the Senate:

In the last couple weeks we’ve started to see bills coming to the floor! For every bill I tell you about, there are at least two others that I’m not going into detail on. If you want to track everything passing the house you can head here [Click Herehttps://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/passed/2024], but here are some of my favorites that are now headed to the Senate:

H.190, 2/17/2023: An act relating to removing the residency requirement from Vermont’s patient choice at end of life laws. It’s essential that all aspects of Vermont health care is available to anyone, regardless of their residency. I’m also encouraged that we’ve continued to build on this legislation year after year. I’ve heard from many of you with a desire to extend to those with dementia, who are aware of their own worsening condition, and while that isn’t included at this time, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on if it would be.

H.89, 2/10/2023: An act relating to civil and criminal procedures concerning legally protected health care activity. This is the shield law protecting anyone who assists with reproductive or gender affirming care. You can learn more about it on my latest podcast interview with the Chair of the Judiciary committee.

H.45, 2/2/2023: An act relating to abusive litigation filed against survivors of domestic abuse, stalking, or sexual assault. This bill protects people from court filings being used as a form of harassment.

H.42, 1/17/2023: An act relating to temporary alternative procedures for annual municipal meetings and electronic meetings of public bodies. We included a specific provision with the option for Brattleboro to hold Representative Town Meeting virtually but left it up to each locality to make that decision. I hope to see you at town meeting on March 25th and at the polls on Town Meeting Day.

We also have some interesting work ahead of us in committee this week! You can find these bills (and all the others) on our legislative website https://legislature.vermont.gov/.

Sports Wagering is a long debated topic in Vermont. I don’t gamble and don’t want to gamble and don’t really understand why other people gamble. On a more judgemental day I think that gambling is a huge waste of money and time. But outlawing a vice has never made it go away, and frankly, I have my vices too. And so I’m going to work to legalize and regulate sports betting, because it is happening anyway and better that it happen in the daylight where we can put some protections in place.

Family Medical Leave Insurance, H66 was voted out of House General and Housing on Friday on a 9-3 partisan vote. House General is the committee responsible for labor law and they focused most of their energy on that side of the legislation. In Ways and Means we will look at the structure to fund the program and the benefits that working Vermonters can expect.

H67, An act relating to household products containing hazardous substances, if passed would join a handful of laws focused on producer responsibility for waste. Similar (but slightly different programs) exist for tires, e-waste, and paint. Under current law our solid waste management districts are required to host special collection days and to try to keep hazardous substances out of the waste stream. This bill would put more responsibility on the producers of the waste to support the management districts with this work. Less poison in the waste stream, and less municipal taxes for Vermonters: win.win.

Get involved: public hearing on budget: 530 Tuesday

Have you ever wondered how I keep track of it all? Some of it is good old fashioned hall way gossip, planned meetings with my colleagues and caucuses, reading the legislative website calendar each week, and (best of all) I have the assistance of two incredible UVM interns each semester who track bills that I care about but haven’t made it to my committee yet– bills to expand access to childcare, reduce overdose deaths, or expand housing. I’m happy to introduce them to you:

Grace Sherwood is a junior at the University of Vermont. She is a political science major and an American Sign Language minor. Grace is a native Vermonter who attended Burr and Burton Academy. Her favorite part of interning for Rep. Kornheiser is learning about how things really work in Vermont.

Michael Gutterman is a senior at the University of Vermont. He is a political science major and a history and Spanish minor. Michael is from Montclair, New Jersey. His favorite part about interning for Rep.Kornheiser is being able to see a state legislature in action through committee hearings and floor debates.

Stay Connected

Did you know that you can watch me work? Creepy but true! You can watch any of the committees in real time or after the fact as well as floor action. Click here for my committee [Click Here}https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1akzzVH35AlFalPl5LmYfQ/featured or head to the legislative webpage https://legislature.vermont.gov/ to find other streams.

I hold weekly office hours via zoom on Sundays at 4pm, you can join here https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82536080142?pwd=UGxDTU93Zk5mZWFadWpCM0IxUGJBUT09, and if you prefer to meet in person, we’re hosting monthly meetings at the library on the second Saturday of the month at 10:30am with my fellow Brattleboro representatives, Tristan Toleno and Mollie Burke and State Senators, Nader Hashim and Wendy Harrison. These meetings are a great way to ask questions, raise concerns and stay informed about legislation.

Beyond these scheduled constituent meetings, it’s easy to connect. I work hard to represent all of you with transparency, integrity and accountability. Please stay in touch and reach out anytime with questions or concerns: I respond to all constituent email ekornheiser@leg.state.vt.us as promptly as possible. You can also follow my work via Facebook, twitter, or Instagram, and by subscribing to our podcast, The Montpelier Happy Hour https://open.spotify.com/show/5v2Nihkv9tuLhvPu5zgZ53.

I’m also hoping for specific focused advice and support from you as issues come up and I need to learn more about our community’s experience. In order to do this work as well as our community deserves, I need to hear from you. Please click here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXyzUG-WR0QLxndLaOXdGnrh3xr0nLVSdCW590MUWCkTuGvQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0 to fill out a survey about your interests.

In the News

My obsession with good, effective, accountable government has taken me to so many fun corners of the law and reforming the Vermont Economic Growth Incentive is a favorite one: Vermont Lawmakers Question Job-Creating Subsidies at a Time of Low Unemployment | Politics | Seven Days https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/vermont-lawmakers-question-job-creating-subsidies-at-a-time-of-low-unemployment/Content?oid=37539203&utmsource=Seven+Days+Email+Newsletters&utmcampaign=51ead2f600-EMAILCAMPAIGN202302060321&utmmedium=email&utmterm=0-51ead2f600-%5BLISTEMAIL_ID%5D

Pete Hirchfeld stopped me in the hallway and asked me about my theories on the Vermont constitution and our responsibilities for revenue raising! How did I get so lucky? Capitol Recap: The constitutional arguments for — and against — tax increases in Vermont https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2023-02-10/capitol-recap-the-constitutional-arguments-for-and-against-tax-increases-in-vermont

Sometimes the deep details are where the best work is. The Committee on Ways and Means has continued our work on modernizing Vermont’s system of assessing property and levying property taxes to ensure we have a more predictable, understandable system for taxpayers. Recently, we’ve heard from town listers, professional appraisers, the Department of Property Valuation and Review, and many others including testimony this past week from Xusana Davis, Vermont’s Executive Director of Racial Equity. She gave a data-driven testimony on how Vermonters of color are disadvantaged by bias in the assessment of property values across the United States, and in Vermont specifically.

Nationally (and in Vermont) assessors overvalue the homes of people of color and low income households for tax purposes, and undervalue the homes of people of color and low income households for resale purposes. You can imagine the long-ranging effects: families of color paying more property taxes over years and decades (and white families paying less), while those same families of color not realizing the full financial benefit of selling their home, arguably a family’s largest, most long-ranging investment. And then imagine if the extra money paid in property taxes could be invested- the compounding effect is really dramatic.

As we continue to hone in on modernizations and improvements to the property tax system in Vermont, We are working hard to ensure that consistent standards and practices across the state will help us realize the goal of an equitable tax system.

Facing a crisis, House panel considers transforming the property value reappraisal system - The Mountain Times https://mountaintimes.info/facing-a-crisis-house-panel-considers-transforming-the-property-value-reappraisal-system/