News round up from Montpelier

2023-03-18

Dear friend,

Let's wrap up this week in "news roundup" style.

VT Digger has a pretty comprehensive list of bills that are on the move. Take a gander and let me know if anything in this article raises questions for your State Representative:

• Final Reading: Many bills made it across the crossover threshold. Some did not.​

One bill I would like to hear from residents on is H.230: An act relating to implementing mechanisms to reduce suicide. Because this relates to guns, I am studying it for compliance with the Second Amendment. These two articles dig into H.230, with different perspectives:

• Vermont Daily Chronicle: Gun control bill, citing suicide concerns, goes to House Judiciary​

• VT Digger: Suicide prevention gun bill heads to House floor​

Following up on one of the hottest items from Town Meeting, the current version of the "school choice" legislation in the House would not mean significant changes for Halifax or Twin Valley. I will continue to monitor it.

Speaking of Twin Valley, we showed up in VT Digger this week:

• Twin Valley School District failed to address harassment and ‘hostile educational environment,’ federal investigation finds​

​Twin Valley School Board members have kept me well-informed of how they have addressed this issue, and have informed me that they would like to speak to any residents with questions or concerns. As I said at Town Meeting in Wilmington, I encourage residents with questions to contact the board and attend meetings.

Residents have asked me about the status of the complaint to the Human Rights Commission referenced in this article.

I did also ask the Commission about the status of the complaint.

Vermont Human Rights Commission HQ, down the street from the State House

I told the Commission that because concerned citizens are aware that a complaint was filed, it was my impression that residents might be waiting for a response from the Commission. I asked if residents would see a report from the Commission on this incident.

Here is their response:

Thank you for reaching out. Complaints at the Human Rights Commission are confidential. The only time members of the public would know that a case was ever opened for an investigation is if and when there is a final determination that reasonable grounds exist to find discrimination occurred. Even then, it is only the report that becomes a public document.

Intakes that never become an investigation, complaints that resolve before a final determination and/or when there is a final determination that no reasonable grounds exist to believe discrimination occurred, will remain confidential pursuant to our statutes and rules. Only the parties and their representatives are privy to the information.

For some lighter reading (sarcasm), I recommend:

• Suspect in prison assault case showed concerning behavior days earlier​

Though I always keep the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect in mind, this article seems like a fair and accurate portrait of a disturbing homicide. This incident reflects both procedures in the Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) that worked, and those that didn't. Limited space in our prisons is one of the issues. We are working on that in the FY24-FY25 Capital Bill that will be reported out of House Corrections & Institutions very soon.

For the last article of the night, I send you the Brattleboro Commons for a commentary that I wrote:

• Unspooling underage tobacco use​

Did you make it this far? Thanks for reading! I hope your power is back on and you're dug out. Stay safe!