You have to vote.

2023-03-29

Dear friend,

What is work?

In most jobs you're told what to do, either by a boss or by circumstances. The snowstorm tells the road boss when to call the crew out. Order are given. The speed of the truck, the weight of the plow, the physics of how salt spreads dictate the moves of the operator.

As Bob Dylan sang, you're gonna have to serve somebody.

If that's work, can you play at work?

Play happens when you turn the tables. When you find joy in telling the elements who's boss. When you can laugh and poke fun at the whole situation.

You see that in the pride our town road crews take in their work. They took all those orders all down the chain, they took 38" of snow, and they took our roads back from Mother Nature. Thank you.

I know it's been a stressful winter and everyone I know has been working hard. I hope everyone out there is finding joy and laughter as well. (And if not -- please write back and let me know. If you're feeling hopeless, there are resources.)

To me, dealing with an equipment breakdown feels like work. It makes me grumpy. But getting a head of snow in front of my bucket and watching the snow ripple out ahead of me? Joy.

What's work for you and what's play?

Part of the State Representative job that life in the private sector didn't prepare me for was that you have to vote on every bill, every motion.

You can't "pass" or say "maybe."

House Rule 10 says "A member shall not be absent without leave of the House from meetings of the House unless sick or otherwise necessarily detained. A member shall not be absent, without leave of the Chair, from committee meetings unless sick or otherwise necessarily detained."

Once you're in your seat, Rule 14 says that you have to vote. "It shall be the duty of a member to vote upon all questions decided by a roll call vote, voice vote, division of the House, or ballot."

You can't vote "Yes" on a bill that's popular back home and then hide out in the coatroom to miss a vote on something sticky. (In practice, few votes so far have been taken with everyone in attendance -- folks may be out of the room for one reason for another. But they need a reason to pass muster with leadership.)

When the vote comes, and they come fast and furious at times, you can't ask your server to come back in five minutes while you finish reading the menu. You have to vote Yes or No.

House Rules 10 through 14

There were chuckles across the House floor yesterday afternoon during a roll-call vote on H.31.

On a roll-call vote, Clerk BetsyAnn Wrask reads the names of Representatives and listens for their vote.

"Andrews of Westford?"

"Yes/No."

And on down the line, ending with "Wood of Waterbury."

Well, during the H.31 vote, the Clerk got to "Goldman of Rockingham."

"No."

"Goslant of Northfield."

If someone is absent, Clerk Wrask simply moves on, returning to the persons's name at the end of the roll-call. Committees are now meeting concurrent with House sessions for periods of time, to get essential work done. It's easy to be late for a vote coming back from committee.

But the Clerk could see Rep. Ken Goslant of Northfield in his seat. It looked like he hadn't decided whether to get that appetizer. To further complicate things, with amendments on bills you have to keep track of what a "Yes" or a "No" vote means. You might often vote "No" on an amendment to protect a bill you want. Or the opposite.

"Goslant of Northfield."

Silence.

She only waited a beat before repeating, "Goslant of Northfield."

Now anyone who wasn't watching Rep. Goslant is watching Rep. Goslant.

"No," Rep. Goslant finally replied, with a smile. There were chuckles -- probably nothing more than the break in monotony.

***
Today, your State Representatives will be voting on ten bills, whether they chose the bill or not, whether it was on their personal priority list or not.

A resident wrote to me with a critique of my vote "Yes" on H.230, the suicide prevention bill. They submitted a numbered list of 10 questions. The questions started out with a couple of statistical points that appeared selected to minimize the gun-suicide issue. Around question 5, we had taken a right turn into the opioid epidemic. "Do you consider the use of illegal drugs in Vermont to be at epidemic levels?" he wrote.

I could see this resident's letter to the editor writing itself. "Rep Roberts votes 'Yes' on gun-suicide prevention that affects only a few hundred distraught families while thousands die from opioid overdoses. What's wrong with this guy's priorities?"

You don't choose the bills you vote on.

Perhaps over time one learns to shape what happens here, to influence the content of what you have to vote on, here and there. There can be a lot of effort and a lot of satisfaction in that work. But that's the grind that takes place off the House floor.

On the House floor, when your name is called, you have two choices -- Yes or No.

Today your Windham-6 State Rep is voting on "H. 483 - The accountability and oversight of approved independent schools that are eligible to receive public tuition."

I have received lengthy emails from residents asking me to vote for or vote against this bill. Their stories are detailed, heartfelt, and often speak to broader principles.

"Evening the playing field so that independent schools are held to the same standards as public schools will go a long way to help EVERY student, whether they are part of the LGBTQ community, facing trauma that is causing behavioral issues, on an IEP, or facing physical disabilities. As it is now, these children can just be excluded from private schools. It creates a system of haves and have-nots – and is discriminatory." - A Resident

"Pascal said that most of humanity's problems come from the inability of a person to sit quietly in his or her room. Legislators have an almost irresistible urge to legislate. This urge should be resisted except when dealing with an issue that urgently needs resolution. To do otherwise is to disrupt the system unnecessarily and to produce unintended consequences. The current system, although imperfect, works well enough." - A Resident

"School choice in Vermont is based upon the premise of parents and students, not the independent schools, making the decision of whether a particular school is a good fit for a potential student. I would urge you to vote in favor of H. 483 in its strongest possible form." - A Resident

"In no way do I want to tell someone what they can and cannot believe, but to place my child in an atmosphere in where they are shamed for their Christian beliefs is outright wrong and that is what is happening within the public schools. The current policies over school choice / independent schools allow our family with access to an independent school that upholds beliefs, values and morals that are consistent with what our family holds dear. And further allows our children to express their beliefs without harsh judgement against them. Further, it does not remove the platform for the public schools to encourage evolution and atheistic viewpoints." - A Resident

"Please vote YES on H483. On behalf of the values of equity, transparency, and accountability in our education delivery system, please support this reasonable legislation." - A Resident

I am a "No" on H.258, a bill with more limits on school choice that has not moved forward.

As I've been saying, I like the approach of H.483 because it is about asking private institutions for some accountability with public tuition dollars. I have been and remain undecided on the bill because the specifics matter, and they have been changing every day. My vote today will sugar off as whether the provisions of H.483 appear to strike the right balance.

"Roberts of Halifax."

"Can you repeat the specials?"

Just kidding. I'll be ready. Listen in! You can see our real-time voting records here, and tune into the livestream from the legislative homepage anytime.