Building Vermont's Economy

We can’t depend only on Washington and the federal stimulus package to see our way through this recession. Vermont is going to see its way through this storm. We will do that by working together creating jobs in the short-term, and building our infrastructure for long-term growth.

I've also been working on an economic development omnibus bill with my committee that creates new ways to strengthen our economy, along with investments in low-income entrepreneurs, renewed investment in the green economy, and strategies on how Vermont can get the most out of President Obama's Federal Stimulus Program.

Today, we passed a tentative bill out of our committee, knowing that much more work is needed before final passage.

Don't Blagojevich Me

I haven't been sleeping well. I'm worried about this guy: Blagojevich. And it's not just his hairdo.

We all know the adage: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Well in Illinois, the governor has the absolute power to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. And we all know how that one turned out, now don't we.

In Vermont, the governor has the absolute power to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. And I believe we need to change that.

I authored a bill to do just that -- give the power back to the voters.

See the Burlington Free Press article on the subject:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090227/NEWS03/902270309

Farm-to-Plate

Vermonters import over $2 billion worth of food every year. We should be buying much more locally. If we could grab just 10% of that imported food source, we'd create thousands of Vermont jobs.

This isn't just about supporting agriculture in Vermont. It's about jobs, and commerce.

So it's only fitting that as a member of the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee, I teamed up with Representative Christopher Bray from the House Agriculture comittee. We co-authored a bill that will create more local businesses for Vermont farmers, food processors, distributors, storage suppliers, and much more.

Called the Farm-to-Plate bill, it has the full support of two great non-profit organizations: Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and Rural Vermont.

See the news articles here:

Fox TV News: http://www.fox44.net/Global/story.asp?S=9852326


WCAX, Channel 3: http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=9852218&nav=menu183_2


WPTZ, Channel 5: http://www.wptz.com/money/18727322/detail.html

Marriage Equality for All

Marriage Equality will be a hot topic in March.

I fully expect that it will pass in the Senate and the House, too.

As a co-sponsor of the bill (and as someone who will happily upgrade my civil union certificate to a marriage certificate with the wonderful man I've shared 10 years with), the vote will not come soon enough.

PS. Happy Valentine's Day