MORRISTOWN – In 2022 regional legislators voted on behalf of their constituents to find ways to reduce health care costs. As a result, Act 167 was passed and the state hired the Oliver Wyman team to determine how to streamline healthcare in Vermont. The final Wyman report recommended Copley consider several[Read More…]
Another Opinion
Smart Growth is Trojan Horse for Developers
WALDEN – Economist Kenneth Boulding famously said, “Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist”. Boulding’s words came to mind recently during Vermont Natural Resources Council’s (VNRC) Smart Growth Conference in Montpelier, which I attended. Don’t get[Read More…]
Will They Round up the “Homegrowns”?
CRAFTSBURY – The Bill of Rights in our Constitution explicitly provides freedoms of speech and assembly via Amendment l. Amendment lV provides protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Amendment XlV states those residing here cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. The Constitution was written[Read More…]
Inspiring Others to Stay Engaged
HARDWICK – As people in our community and around the world call for change (many with groups like Indivisible and 50501, and some coming out in peaceful demonstrations in the streets/public places/town hall meetings, as well as the huge rallies being held by Bernie Sanders and AOC all around the[Read More…]
Local Librarian Speaks Out
GREENSBORO — President Trump’s federal executive order titled Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy was issued on March 14, 2025. This executive order poses a serious threat to Vermont’s libraries and the communities we serve, by eliminating funding “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” The order guts[Read More…]
H.479 Important Step to Address the Housing Crisis
The House of Representatives just passed a sweeping housing bill to address Vermont’s housing crisis. We are members of the General and Housing Committee, the committee charged with addressing many issues, including improving access to housing that Vermonters can afford. We’ve heard from builders, landlords and tenants, businesses, the chambers[Read More…]
Keeping the Copley Birthing Center Going
MONTPELIER — Health care policy and services for births have long been at issue in our smaller Vermont communities. When I was on the Board at Copley Hospital, now more than a decade ago, I supported Copley taking over births from Lamoille Health Partners (LHP). At the time, LHP gave[Read More…]
Making Phil Scott’s Fondest Wish Come True
EAST MONTPELIER — Every time there’s an inflection point in the General Assistance Emergency Housing program (d.b.a. the motel voucher program), it’s always the same thing. Scott takes a hard line against spending a dime more on vouchers . . . we get close to a mass unsheltering . .[Read More…]
Act 181 Inappropriately Brings Act 250 Review
WOLCOTT — Ah, rural Vermont. Not just the picture postcard but the everyday place where people live their lives. It may never be quite the same once Act 181 provisions cause the Act 250 hammer to fall. And we do not have long to wait. If your property appears on the[Read More…]
PFAS, H.238, What Next?
BURLINGTON — A concerned legislator asked recently, “What can we do to prevent the invasion of toxins before they harm us?” Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, were developed by Dupont and 3M, beginning in the 1940s. EPA did not exist until December 1970. PFAS were still under the radar[Read More…]
Mask-Free School Attendance
VERMONT — Since 2020, those wishing to attend schools in-person have had to confront a range of face mask requirements. A group of dedicated Vermonters who are concerned about the negative effects of masks in schools has crafted a bill to prohibit educational institutions from requiring any student, staff or[Read More…]
Access to Government Records, Information More Important Than Ever
MONTPELIER — As the days are getting longer and snow is melting it is fitting that this is Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of government records and information as the cornerstone of government accountability and transparency. A government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” as President[Read More…]
