Friday, October 27, 2006

Highlights of Accomplishments

It’s been an honor serving as a Citizen Legislator. I’ve voted on more than 200 bills, but rather than bore you with details, I’ll highlight four accomplishments:

1. Raising the Minimum Wage: when legislative leaders told me that we were six votes shy of raising the minimum wage by 25 cents an hour, I went to work. I met one-on-one with several dozen legislators, arguing the merits of the raise, until I could find those six extra votes. The net result: success. Now if the U.S. Congress could just do the same.

2. Banning Discrimination: everyone should live without discrimination, including transgendered Vermonters. I spoke individually with 100 of my House peers (across all party lines) about a bill that would have banned such discrimination. Bottom line: the bill passed overwhelmingly, including 18% of Republicans. But, the Governor vetoed it. I’ll continue to work on this cause if re-elected.

3. Securing More Funds for Battered Women: I serve on the House Institutions & Corrections Committee. That's where we create budgets for who gets which money for spending on government buildings and other long-term capital expenditures. One of the items up for debate was how much money we should spend on battered women's shelters. The Governor recommended $25,000, which was much less than the domestic violence agencies asked for. While I was shot down by my committee when I advocated for $100,000, my second recommendation for $50,000 was accepted, which is what the battered women's shelters received.

4. Addressing Prison Reform: I went to prison – willingly. Why? To find out the real problems in our Corrections System. Then I successfully championed legislation that sets a new direction for Corrections. Now, some women offenders will be released to a half-way house and be given the care and nurturing from nonprofit agencies to help them find a job, stay off drugs, care for their kids, and return to society productively. This may turn into a model for more successes.

VDB on JPL


Know what the best political blog is in Vermont? No, it's not this one. Not by a long shot. According to the Daisy's -- which is a contest sponsored by Seven Days -- the 2006 Best Vermont Blog is Philip Baruth's Vermont Daily Briefing.

And according to VDB, I'm watchable. Check out "Ones to Watch, 2006 Edition: Jason Lorber" here.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Keep Vermont Green


It’s a fact: Vermont is gorgeous. But it’s not by accident.

Yes, we have wonderful rolling hills and impressive mountains. Lake Champlain blesses our state, along with the many beautiful stands of maple trees. But we also take care of our land. The fact that we don’t have billboards adds to our pristine quality.

So I was naturally disappointed to learn that the Governor opposed federal legislation that would have expanded the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont and extended stronger environmental protections to areas within the forest.

We need to safeguard Vermont’s natural gifts. That happens with proper environmental regulation, as well as controlling pollution through energy efficiency and alternative, sustainable, clean energy sources like wind, solar, and biomass.

If our country continues to depend on energy sources that damage our environment, we all suffer. Here in Vermont, we have an opportunity to lead the way to a better world. We can enact an aggressive energy policy that promotes energy independence and produces good paying jobs. We must invest in wind power and help break our addiction to dangerous and unclean forms of energy.

I believe that most Vermonters believe in clean, renewable energy and in protecting our environment. That’s why I support not only a forward-looking energy policy, but also legislation that helps our farmers be good stewards of their land while minimizing pollution, and safeguards our landscape from uncontrolled sprawl and unneeded commercial development.

Vermont is not a blue or red state, we’re a green state. Let’s keep it that way.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Grassroots Democracy



I love the fact that I know most of my neighbors. One neighbor and her adorable 3-year-old daughter often come over to our house to look at our baby Max (who’s now four months old), or I go over there for soup, or she lends me her lawn mower, or sometimes we just bump into each other on the street and talk about the neighborhood, or the weather, or the cutest things our kids just did.

Another neighbor two houses down just had a birthday party for their little girl that my family attended, along with dozens of other neighbors.

And I’ll never forget that when we moved into our house, our next-door neighbors to our left greeted us with a loaf of bread, hearty handshakes and warm smiles.

The neighborly atmosphere makes it welcoming for me as I walk through the neighborhood, passing out fliers about what we accomplished in the last two years in the Legislature. I enjoy meeting people on their front porches and hearing their concerns.

Sometimes, I’ll bring Max along. That’s also great because then I get tips from my neighbors about childcare resources, or information about activities for newborns, or stories about when their kids were small.

Meeting my neighbors isn’t just fun, it’s part of my job as a State Representative. I can’t represent the needs of the Old North End without knowing what’s on folks’ minds. I admit it’s a lot of work to knock on thousands of doors throughout Burlington, but it’s important to get out there and meet my neighbors.

When Max is with me, I know that he can’t possibly understand what’s going on. But still it gives me a kick that I’ll be able to tell him, when he’s older, that he was a part of grassroots democracy, Vermont-style.