In my first term I worked to invest in affordable housing, early childhood education, livable wages, small businesses, the environment, recovery homes, mitigating homelessness, and improving conditions for inmates at our women’s prison, while striving toward a pragmatic economic bottom line.
Committee highlights included:
· Increasing the minimum wage
· Protecting victims of domestic and sexual violence from housing discrimination
· Providing for the honorable disposition of any unclaimed Veterans’ remains
· Renaming Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day
· Implementing the COVID-19 housing plan of $85M for homeless and low-income Vermonters.
I supported testing for lead in schools, developing ethnic and social equity curriculum standards, eliminating the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims, and increasing the legal age for purchasing cigarettes/e-cigarettes. We in the legislature addressed racial bias and excessive force by law enforcement, protected women’s reproductive rights, and I advocated for the Global Warming Solutions and Older Vermonters Acts as well as taxation and regulation of cannabis.
And in these turbulent times, proud to say we passed a steady-state balanced budget of $7.15B preserving programs and services, retirement obligations, and reserves. As we rebuild our social, economic, and civic lives post-pandemic, I will continue to work on your behalf.