Blog


11/9/2020

The Results Are In!

Thank you, I am so honored to have the opportunity to keep working with this community and in this nation, so we can someday say that government is truly for us, and by us.


11/2/2020

Countdown to Election Day, Thank You

Have you voted? Have you talked to someone else about voting? The election is just two days away. You probably don’t need me to tell you that.


9/24/2020

The Final Week of the Biennium: An Invitation

This week is the last one of the biennium and when the dust settles next week I’ll draft a comprehensive summary and reflection for you. Right now, I’m still deep in the thick of final negotiations and getting the November campaign into high gear. We’re set to wrap up with a completed budget this Friday.


8/22/2020

The Peak of Summer: election season, state budgets, and a pandemic.

Last week I was proud to receive the Democratic and Progressive nominations for State Representative. This week I found out that I have a Republican challenger in my bid for State Representative. Next week the legislature reconvenes to finish out the biennium. Biden/Harris seems to be our hope for the future. There is still a pandemic: we’re struggling with what safe school looks like for teachers and for families, so many of us are out of work, and even the smallest decisions are fraught with consequence. All to say-- there is much going on for each of us these days.


7/7/2020

And then we rest?

The Legislature recessed on Friday after six months of work.


3/29/2020

Getting Ready for a New Normal

Has it really only been a week since I last wrote? In that time we’ve admitted that children aren’t returning to their school facilities, we’ve closed down non-essential travel and most of us are staying home. Simultaneously, many of us are working harder: as front-line workers, caring for family, and adapting to new systems.


3/26/2020

Emilie Appointed to House Committee on Ways and Means

Today the Speaker of the House appointed me to the House Committee on Ways and Means.


3/21/2020

Resources from Across the Distance

Hello,

The legislature recessed last Friday to work remotely and I can't believe the speed of change since then. While working to develop responsive policy, I’m continuing to gather and share information regarding the impact COVID-19 has on our community. I’m posting daily on facebook and available via email (ekornheiser@leg.state.vt.us) anytime. There are many many links at the bottom of this message for you to do your own fact finding. This post is extensive with sections on economic challenges, housing, small business, utilities, seniors, access to healthcare, schools and childcare, community response, reliable links, and some poetry. Please feel free to read top to bottom or scroll until you find what meets your needs.


3/2/2020

Infrastructure

At other periods in American history infrastructure was considered a public good but in the last fifty years or so we've seen a slow turn from these values and towards market solutions.


2/27/2020

Regulation of Cannabis

The Vermont House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in support of S54, an act relating to the regulation of cannabis.


1/24/2020

We passed Family Medical Leave

Family Medical Leave Insurance— one of the banner bills for the democrats this biennium— is a hard fought series of compromises.


1/13/2020

A Geeky Conversation on Climate Change

After breakfast with the kid, and before heading off to work today, I visited a middle school class to talk about climate change.


1/6/2020

A New Year and a New Session

Happy New Year!

The news was dark this morning, and in the first week of the new year, I must think of it as the darkness before birth. I must look for the light within. This holiday season I revelled in my Hannukah candles, I lit candles at solstice, and Christmas, and New Years Eve, and then last night, I lit candles again. We must light the flames we want to see, right?

The session starts on Tuesday January 7th and we’re all getting ready. Packing bags, organizing calendars, and lining up final details of legislation. There is much anticipation and uncertainty about what will take flight and what bills will be ground down by the wheels of deliberation.

It’s been an incredible “off season”— so many powerful conversations about how to make Vermont work better— to be for us and by us. I’m proud to be returning, with the fire of the season in my belly and each of your stories in my heart to fight for our community.