My head has been somewhere else
2023-01-16
Dear friend,
"I have to tell you guys, my head has been somewhere else a lot this weekend."
This came out of my mouth halfway through family dinner last night.
I realized I'd been cogitating about Montpelier all weekend and hadn't shared much. I didn't mean to hold back. I just didn't know where to start.
Having said that to them, and feeling the same way with this update, I'll start here.
Last week your House representatives like me spent most of their time "in committee," as they say. Being "in committee" in Montpelier is a bit different from what you see in Washington. In our State House, it looks like this:
Commissioner Nick Deml, Dept. of Corrections, presents to the House Corrections & Institutions Committee
Last week, we had between four and eight hours of committee meetings every day.
These committees are where a lot of the real work gets done. Experts including everyone from administration officials to citizens come in to testify. They make presentations and answer questions on topics relevant to pending legislation. The committee can discuss what they've heard and develop a consensus on policy.
If you're like me, though, when you think of Congress you think of the big events under the U.S. Capitol's dome. And when you think of the Vermont House, you're picturing work being done in this room:
Rep. Roberts stands at main door of the Vermont House of Representatives chamber.
That is where a new bill is introduced. That's where, as a whole body, we will debate a bill and vote on it.
All the work in between is done by committees, especially a bill's relevant committee(s) of jurisdiction.
The names of those committees, the number of members, and their areas of jurisdiction are set by this document:
The Rules and Orders of the House of Representatives govern how we do our business. This is a living document and can be amended by a vote of the House. As you can see, it was amended Jan. 12, 2023—that's last week.
To balance the workload among committees in light of agenda priorities for this biennium (such as housing), House Leadership wanted to make a number of changes to the names, numbers, and domains of House committees.
With the Speaker of the House having say over what members go to what committee, with what Chair and Vice Chair, this is an area of our work that could be, and is, looked at under a microscope for political factors.
There has been some of that, as there doubtless is each biennium. But with all the work we have to do, it's hard to focus much on politics.
House Corrections & Institutions has been taking hours of testimony from Buildings & General Services (BGS) on topics such as whether the State should building a 24/7 restroom in the City of Montpelier. Which yielded this nifty data on welcome centers:
When it comes to facilities, though, the one that's been taking up a lot of brain space for me has been our State Corrections facilities. Here's a slide on various construction scenarios for getting us out of our current state. Out of our six State prisons, six are outdated.
Did you know we house about 120 incarcerated men in a private facility in Mississippi? (With contracted capacity for 350.)
The "Institutions" part of our committee means that we oversee the State's capital expenditures. That includes projects funded through State bonds (about $60 million/year), and "pay-as-you-go" expenditures on major and minor infrastructure.
An example overlapping on several things I work on is the line we have in the budget for replacing door systems in one of the prisons. Having electronic door systems with working cameras is a necessity for a safe and efficient prison, and cost millions every time they need to be upgraded. But you are lucky if one lasts 20 years.
One reason is that incarcerated people routinely vandalize doors. It's common for them to hold a thick book in the door jamb as a heavy door closes on it. Over time, the entire door frame becomes racked and it doesn't close properly. A whole unit might need to be closed to be renovated.
Shifting to another state agency, our committee is overseeing a facility now being built by the Department of Mental Health. That led me to staring last week at this slide, trying to get my head around how mental healthcare services are delivered in this state:
"Mental Health System of Care" diagram
I heard from a lot of voters last year about not being able to access healthcare. This system will occupy my thoughts for many more hours to come, I'm sure.
Questions or comments on any areas that I'm working on? Email me on official business at troberts@leg.state.vt.us.
You can follow along with my committee and all House and Senate committees in real time here: https://legislature.vermont.gov/
Each committee has a page including:
--meeting schedules & agendas
--link to livestream and to watch previous recordings
--bills we are considering
--members
--documents and presentations
--etc.
At times through the week I wished I had a friend from home alongside me. I'm getting to know at a system-wide level areas I have only encountered here and there as a citizen. Now as I get to know the system better, I want to hear stories from folks who interact with it, in order to deepen my understanding.
For example, with the benefit of last week's "Corrections 101" presentation, I want to talk to residents who have worked in corrections, or who have been incarcerated, or have had someone close to you incarcerated.
Vermont's sole State facility for women prisoners is in most urgent need of full replacement with a new facility. As of today, we have 107 females incarcerated in South Burlington. Among other things, we will be looking at the most successful models from neighboring states in re-entry facilities. I would like to see Vermont not only learn from but also improve on those models.
Do you have expertise or stories you want to share? Please fill out this form to share your interests.
Thanks!