Blog


12/31/2022

2023–2024 Legislative Biennium

The 2023–2024 legislative biennium begins on Wednesday, January 4 with a swearing-in ceremony at the Vermont statehouse. Speaker Jill Krowinski will announce committee assignments for all members that day.


11/25/2022

Preparing for 2022 Session

The legislative session starts on January 3rd and I’m attending meetings daily to get ready. The county delegation is meeting with community partners. I’m caucusing with fellow democrats to identify our priorities and share stories from the off-session.


11/9/2022

Election Results

The results are in! Thank you for the incredible community support and the opportunity to serve our corner of Brattleboro for another two years.


10/25/2022

Two Weeks Until Elections

Two weeks left until election day! You can still vote by mail, drop off your ballot in the drop-box at the town offices, or come join me at the polls on November 8th at the American Legion.


10/6/2022

The Ballots are Out!

Early voting has begun and ballots have been delivered to each registered Vermont voter. We have a whole month to sit with these bubbles and boxes and consider our decisions.


8/29/2022

Thank You for Voting!

Thank you for turning out to vote in record breaking numbers and thank you for electing me the Democratic nominee for Windham 7 (West Brattleboro.) This was an incredible primary election season with new candidates elected for the majority of statewide posts and new folks on the ballot for our Windham County senate seat!


7/24/2022

A Voting Guide

We have a lot of choices in this year’s primary (ending on August 9th.) But this isn’t just about voting or the single moment in the ballot box— I’m hoping that this election cycle is an opportunity to talk about policy, to hold ourselves accountable to dreaming, to tell each other stories about our lives.


6/12/2022

Election Season 2022

This election season, and particularly the primaries, is a really exciting one! We have competitive races and new faces up and down the ballot in Vermont! Primary season is the time to push the conversation and ask tough questions.


4/23/2022

Tax Day 2022

Tax Day is here and Adjournment is in sight.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. We made it through crossover and we can see the legislation that needs to be carried for the next month to become law. My last newsletter and town meeting report covered most of the bills that are in the mix and you can find it on my website if you missed the email. Since the flurry of cross over bills, the floor has been quiet and House committees have been hard at work tackling legislation that the Senate sent over.


3/20/2022

Town Meeting Report 2022

We’re halfway through the 2022 legislative session! Our work officially began on January 4, with legislators working remotely to protect public health as the Omicron surge peaked. On January 18, we returned to the statehouse in hybrid mode, a very welcome shift. We’ve passed some significant legislation in these first two months, and while I’ve been sending weekly updates to folks on my mailing lists, this midpoint reflection provides some summative highlights. Work on key priorities will continue, across the House and in collaboration with the Senate, as we debate bills and consider investments prior to our anticipated May adjournment. It is an honor to serve as your state representatives. Please reach out anytime with ideas, questions and concerns.


3/1/2022

Town Meeting Day!

Town Meeting Day and WSESD Annual Meeting

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, 7am – 7pm

American Legion, 32 Linden St.


2/22/2022

The Work Is Adding Up.

Every week when I return home from Montpelier a new flower is blooming on one of our houseplants. I’m sure this is a metaphor for something.


2/14/2022

A Little Bit Of Love

Happy Valentine’s Day— I hope you found some time to treasure and be treasured yesterday. As I said to my son recently— it might all feel awkward and commercialized and mandatory but we don’t spend enough time in this life appreciating each other or eating chocolate, so why not take advantage of the opportunity when you have it!


2/7/2022

A Great Day For Democracy

Yesterday was an incredible day to serve.

We passed Proposition 5– The Reproductive Liberty Amendment which will head to the voters for a state-wide vote of affirmation in November. This is likely the most important vote I’ll make in my service as a legislator. My life, my service, and the steady love I feel for those around me, wouldn’t be possible without the reproductive freedoms I’ve experienced in my lifetime and those opportunities are becoming increasingly scarce in this county. Reproductive liberty— the ability to parent, or not, is foundational to Vermonters’ ability to participate— in our communities, the economy, and to care and build our families.


1/30/2022

Strategies for Saving Lives

Over the last week I’ve had the opportunity to talk to many advocates who work with folks statewide. Everyone has the immediate problem of their constituency right in front of them— housing prices, childcare, hiring challenges. Summary— things are hard all around right now and it’s challenging to get out of our own way of seeing when we have so few opportunities to gather. Sometimes the walls feel like they’re closing in on each of us and our scope narrows further. What is our government’s role in all this? Policies both fiscal and programmatic can make some more space, or close in the walls further— the child tax credit or family medical leave make space for families, while mandates without infrastructure or carceral solutions can close the walls in.


1/24/2022

Go Big Or Go Home

We just completed the third week of the session and the first week of hybrid legislating. Committees met in person and the “floor” was on zoom, though many people sat in the chamber with their computers. It was a surreal combination of velvet and the squeal of audio feedback loops, but I’m glad we’re taking steps towards working in person again. It was also the first time that my committee has ever met together in person. I was appointed to Ways and Means at the start of the pandemic during my first biennium, and then appointed vice-chair at the start of my second biennium, a year ago. It will be interesting to see how dynamics shift now that we’re in three dimensions.


1/16/2022

No Celebration Without Legislation

We’re heading back to in-person (hybrid) legislating this morning. I’m looking forward to all that I can learn being face-to-face or mask-to-mask with my colleagues. I’m looking forward to the focus that a changing context brings me. I’m looking forward to wearing fancy shoes again. I’m even looking forward to leaving my house and feeling the trepidation of working amidst mediocre public health policies so I can legislate with open eyes. It’s going to be a wild ride, and we’ve set up hybrid options so that anyone who needs to quarantine or isolate can still dial in and represent their constituents but it will be the first time that many committees have ever met in person. Our work will change as a result, and I’m curious about all of it.


1/9/2022

First Week Done

It’s getting a little scarier out there and also, somehow, more normal and that is somehow even scarier. [This is a hard time to be a parent](https://www.romper.com/parenting/here-we-go-again-omicron-edition), or to know a parent, or to work with kids, or to be a kid. It’s a hard time to be a teacher. Vermont schools are facing unprecedented challenges. As the Omicron variant surges, our state is experiencing the highest caseloads of the pandemic and this has significant impacts for our schools. At least half a dozen schools across the state closed one or more days last week and the Secretary of Education ended the week by announcing all existing testing/quarantine guidance would be thrown out the window.


1/3/2022

A New Year Of Legislation

Y’all, these are wild times we are living in. Wild times to be governing in, parenting in, loving in, and working in. As our case rates rise, I’m grateful for vaccines and tests and masks and new therapies. I’m scared and angry that we can’t always rise to the challenge— make our supply chains work for the people, protect employees, care for children. I’m hyper aware that I’m living through history, and overwhelmed by how monotonous and sad it often feels. I’ve been thinking about how we bring more joy and grief and rest into our lives in the midst of all this capitalism and disease. I’m trying to remember all the promise that so many of us felt at the beginning of the pandemic when we collectively paused and prioritized for a time.