 Can you just share a little bit about what committee you're on and What bills you've been championing in this legislative session? Sure. Hello Representative Kate Logan from the Chittenden 16 district that covers most of central old North End and downtown Burlington I'm I serve on the House Committee on environment and energy. It has a pretty broad Scope of policy that we work on anything that has to do with environmental contamination pollution Recycling solid waste Land use zoning Also kind of anything that would have to do with the climate as long as it's not related to transportation or agriculture So energy policy as well. So we've had we've covered a lot of that already this year We have passed bills out of committee most of them have come to the House floor and passed with over a hundred votes on things like Household hazardous waste making it easier to dispose of household hazardous waste Expanding what counts as household hazardous waste and putting resources into that program We have expanded the bottle deposit for recyclables. So more things will have a deposit on them and be recyclable in that way which will ensure a higher quality of Recycling materials are coming out of our recycling streams in Vermont That'll take that change will take effect in a few years Once that bill is passed. It's called the bottle bill We passed an amazing bill called 30 by 30 on conservation, which would conserve 30 percent of land in Vermont by 2030 and 50 percent of Vermont's land by 2050 and focus our residential development in areas that are Not essential to Vermont's biodiversity So that's an important study bill So there's going to be an extensive planning process to develop that plan for 30 by 30 and 50 by 50 Of course, if it passes out of the Senate and then the most recent bill we passed out a committee just yesterday is S5 the affordable heat act which establishes a clean heat standard for heating Homes and buildings in Vermont similar to the renewable energy standard. It just says like hey, here's How we want to reduce emissions from this sector right now the thermal sector Contributes almost 40 percent of carbon emissions in Vermont So we're trying to reduce that by about 80 percent by 2050 and trying to create the market conditions that we need in The thermal sector to make that possible as we have done with renewable energy and right now we're working on a housing bill to change zoning to make it possible to more densely develop in our historical settlement areas and Put resources into affordable housing development in those places and then we're going to be moving on to talking about the Renewable energy standard which was passed in 2015 and need some updates It's a lot to be working on and you mentioned a bit of climate related Legislation there you can tell from your sticker are aware of the youth climate Lobbies rally on the State House lawn today. What is the value of rallying on the State House lawn? And what's the importance of that work for the work that you're doing? Yeah, that's a great question. I think a lot of people wonder. What's the value of protest? What's the value of rally? I think there are two two primary things That are valuable about protest and rally first as a participant in the protest and rally You're with your people You don't feel alone if you're frustrated about something that's going on in the world if you're having an existential crisis about the climate For example, you're with people who share that concern and you're taking action together and it renews a sense of hope From the perspective of a legislator One of the reasons I'm here is for our youth I have children who are 20 and 18 years old and they're not particularly hopeful about our climate future and That's one of the reasons why I wanted to run for office and serve in state legislature Especially when our federal government isn't taking the action that we need to on the climate So this is your first term as a legislator Can you just tell us a bit about what you've learned about legislating and what it takes to get bills passed and enact change? Yeah, thanks. I have learned a lot. I had some experience as a community organizer and Lobbyist in the past helping to get legislation passed like the minimum wage increase in Vermont But on this side of things I think it's just the experience of being a legislator has Impressed upon me how difficult it is to get as much done as we would like to for a couple of reasons We only meet for five months roughly each year. We're all paid only about $13,000 a year plus some expenses Which makes it fairly inaccessible to a range of different perspectives in the legislature So so getting fully educated Considering every aspect of these really complex issues in a very short period of time And making sure that we're bringing in people into the state house to give perspectives that we ourselves don't hold It's a lot of work Especially if you've heard the list of things that we've worked on it means we're all working really long hours We're learning a lot in a very short period of time And we want to do it well. So we're pushing ourselves really hard. We're working really hard So it's hard work. That's one piece The other thing is again, like I mentioned with the the federal government Because they're not taking action on things like child care policy paid family and medical leave insurance Healthcare climate, you know a number of things that we're not seeing big national policy being passed That means every state in the United States has to do this work on our own. So it's putting it on States like Vermont to develop clean heat standard for example that we hope will be adopted in other states similar to Renewable energy standards and like the clean fuel standard that Oregon and California have passed We're hoping to bring that here into Vermont. So it's a lot of pressure to Do what seems like national policy at the state level but happy to do it really glad to be here and Just wish we all had more time or Needed less sleep So my name is representative Carol Odie. I'm on the House Ways and Means Committee Currently we're working on the child care bill this very week Well, how we're getting all the background so we know how we will attempt to finance that program we were Personally what I've championed is the Banning child marriage under the age of 18 and that passed the house went to the Senate passed there came back and made Just a small minor tweak in the house and now it is a Bill that has completely passed both chambers and it's on its way to the governor's desk Hi, I'm tiff blumly and I represent the south end of Burlington and I am on the Appropriations Committee and it's my first year there and you know our sole job is to pass the budget and legislation with appropriations in them and It is a fascinating Incredibly complex process I basically spent two months in one room With all of my colleagues Hearing testimony from a variety of people about the budget and what should be in it and working with committees To understand what they think should be in the budget and a priority and we got the budget passed through the house just a couple weeks ago and it's in the Senate and they probably are having their way with it and We'll get it back and we will have a conference over any differences. So Yeah Thank you both so much. So there's a lot of big investments You know sort of proposed by Democrats in the budget this year child care paid family medical leave Can you talk a little bit about how we're gonna pay for that as a state? well, we we would both have kind of complementary answers because it you know some of it is On Carol's end, which is ways and means and raising revenues in different ways and some of it is through Income we know that it's already been forecast. We are going to have Through the various taxes that we levy plus carry forward money from the prior year plus some remaining ARPA recovery money and You know the the big investments. I mean we're talking about passing child care legislation paid family leave insurance and Major housing legislation and that you know that will cost money and we happen to have surpluses That Carol can talk about on the tax side, but surpluses and ARPA Money that can fund some of the infrastructure stuff related to building housing Plus we're you know It Well, no, I think that's I think I think that's really I've covered the ground, but you Carol Well, well one thing that we are all committed to is spending one time money on one time Obligations so that we don't obligate ourselves going into the future with money that wouldn't be replicated For paid family medical leave insurance We are looking at one half of a percent on The payroll where the employer would choose whether the employer would pay the full half a percent or would share that with the employee and then on and As long as you're an employer who offers Benefits that are equal to what we're asking to be provided then you would not have to be part of that program So you can opt out if you want by providing those benefits on the childcare That is a bigger bill a big bill What I mean is that it's a huge amount of money that we have to come up with and We're we're just now just briefly looking at the old tax blue ribbon tax commission report and of 2011 I think and then another one that was more recent maybe 2020 and We're taking into account what they have said about how taxation in Vermont might look going forward We we've got a tax system that doesn't necessarily reflect how people are Are paying our spending money today for example We have sales tax, but we don't have tax on very many services So both of those commission reports said maybe you should expand to cover some services that aren't currently covered not all but some and then Lower the tax on sales a little combination, but we have that that's one of the things that we looked at last week and Nothing is been decided at all. We're just trying to get a lay of the land But we're very much committed to helping with childcare and What was the other thing that you Just wanted to add one thing of it is an investment that we are making that is not one time That I think is really critical that was a key priority of the both the health care and the human services committees And that is investing in Service providers in our communities who are doing the work that we desperately need them to do the social workers doctors nurses etc We have We have maintained Medicaid reimbursement rates at a certain level that has made it almost untenable for the Organizations that run these services and this year we've made a big commitment to them Recognizing that we cannot continue to afford to do this and of course. This is this issue is really Pushed forward by the fact that Getting getting people to fill those jobs is really hard. Why because they don't pay enough to live on So I just it's something that people don't think about. It's not doesn't capture a lot of attention. It's not shiny But it's critical Something else I would say is what we are doing is we are bringing the priorities of our monitors to the state house These are not our individual priorities. These are when we go door-to-door and when we have listening sessions, you know by zoom And or at our NPA meetings for Burlington We are listening to what people are saying and they are saying that they want jobs to pay enough so that their families Their children and grandchildren can decide to live in Vermont and stay in Vermont and they need access to child care These are the people who are coming to the doors to talk to us. They need their children need access to child care healthcare affordable housing and Time off when they're they have a child and That they are able to care for their for their parents if their parents are ill so these are things that we have heard from from our Are the people who live we're in the places we represent There was another thing oh and a mental health system of care that works and of course public safety and The situation in downtown Burlington. It can be very difficult right now. So we are really trying hard to find wrap-round services and housing for people who are currently on the street and That can mean mental health care substance abuse Care and things like that Mentioned uplifting the voices of the Vermonters that you represent today There was a big rally on the State House lawn some youth Advocates that are advocating for climate legislation and climate action. Can you talk a little bit about the impact of a like What is the value of rallying on the State House lawn? What does it mean to you as legislators when a group comes together to advocate for an issue on and comes to the State House to amplify their voices here So This is really the first year since I've been here because like I was elected during the pandemic So I was in my home office the first year. We came back in February But it to a very diminished outside presence within the State House and there just wasn't that kind of activity so I've just been so Excited because like this is why I'm doing this is and it's especially exciting when there are young people Who are here who are asserting things? about What they care about or their fears What they want us to do about those things? I just It makes me feel like okay. This is why I'm here. Just a good reminder and I so I'm very energized by it and and And it doesn't it doesn't have to be young people, but I mean we had a We had a trans visibility day here and It I mean I will remember forever some of the speeches that that some of these kids made some of them 11 years old And so I am anyway for me It is a great reminder a very visceral one of like this is why I'm doing this So true whether it's what? Tiffany was just talking about or whether it's a small group of students coming to be honored for their accomplishments in the community or for winning a sports event or a group of students from another country or A group of students from the boys and girls club around Vermont and actually a Burlington young woman one That award this year for launching girls and boys club youth of the year and she's going to be advocating for Mental health her name is Kate and I don't know if I remember her last name But anyway, I think that you know those things are it's really important for us to see People organizing and caring and it's also really important for people who care a lot about issues to see how much we care about them Taylor, thank you for joining us Can you just share a little bit about what committee you serve on and what bills you've been championing this session? Absolutely, so I get the privilege to serve on the house human services committee which focuses on the full agency of human services and Really our work is directly impacts for mantras, especially some of our most vulnerable Vermonters And so this year speaking of vulnerable Vermonters we took up adult protective services and Rewriting that full statute and making sure that it was working in the favor of the people who are going to be Using that process especially using plain language in those discussions for folks with developmental disabilities Or who need additional support in knowing the process which most state processes are complicated to begin with other things that we're taking up is Overdose prevention knowing that again this year Vermont sent a record for the number of overdose deaths Due to opioids and so we passed age 222 Which took some smaller steps incremental change on access to treatment barriers in the field and Expanding harm reduction services for the state But I'm really excited that in the next week. We're going to be taking up overdose prevention sites something that we tried to do last year, but Was vetoed by the governor coming back to it again this year and really understanding that we need a bold change We need bold action to prevent overdose deaths in the state of Vermont Mention the importance of plain language. I think So CCTV Houses the Vermont language justice project and so we're really we try to stay tuned into the ways that Language justice is moving forward in the state and the ways that the state of Vermont is advancing language access and language justice Do you you know? Can you speak to the ways that the state of Vermont is? making You know is is it is considering language access or what's kind of being done to make sure that people who don't speak English as Their first language are able to benefit from you know the resources that our state has. Oh, absolutely Plain language which has become a common theme across bills that we've been considering this year Especially when it comes to notifications directly to Vermonters. We don't want it to be complicated We want folks to understand the information that's coming from the state But I do also have to acknowledge that we have a long way to go when it comes to language access here in Vermont And I'm really grateful that we have the office of racial equity in the governor's office That is focusing on these key pieces Susanna Davis and her office has now released two reports one in 2020 and the most recent one on Language access and policy changes as well as departmental changes that need to happen in order for Vermonters who either Are multi-lingual and don't speak English what I hear directly actually from my constituents in Manuski is that we take for granted this privilege of being able to read in our native tongue and What a majority of refugees and new Americans are coming in and saying is I know how to speak my language I don't fully know how to read my language and so when we're putting out all of these written materials We think that we're doing our best work. We've translated it into languages that are spoken here in the state and yet That spoken piece is the most important and that's where our growing edges is really leading into multimedia Just like town meeting TV and providing video descriptions Or providing opportunities for folks to meet with a navigator who can explain it all out for them So you also serve on the discrimination panel. Can you tell us a little bit about what that panel does and what you're up to there? Yes, so the discrimination prevention panel was established and recognizing that we are a self-regulating body Meaning that there are no Outside sources of kind of checks and balances when it comes to the membership of the General Assembly We are the ones who would put impose any actions such as censure or expulsion But also making sure that we're creating a safe and equitable work environment for everyone here both Folks in the General Assembly and the staff as well And so the discrimination prevention panel is majority response to discrimination or Reports of discrimination that are coming up in the State House as Well as putting through a very thorough policy as to what we want to see for the State House and the culture here And training for our members So so far this year we've gone through that policy and tried to parse out what discrimination looks like what it is what it isn't and then are continuing to work with the Office of Racial Equity to Continue discrimination prevention trainings, which I believe will happen in the next year And so as you're probably aware the youth climate rally happened on the State House lawn today Can you talk a little bit about just the importance or value of rallying on the State House lawn? What does it mean to you as a legislature as a legislator when? People especially youth come to the State House to share and amplify their voices and their concerns Oh, it is so heartwarming and it is the perfect visual reminder of the issues that are facing Vermont and facing our nation And that we need to take action So of course the best place to tell folks to tell this state that we need to take action is right on the State House lawn I'm actually I feel very privileged that our committee room is right on the front end of the building So we get to see Everything that is happening from the child care rally that happened the other day to today's rally on climate And even when the outright youth were here on trans day of visibility and speaking truth to power But specifically to the peace peace around youth It is so important when we talk about the climate crisis that youth are the ones who are really leading on this charge Though it is a majority of adults who hold the power to actually enact that change our youth understand that the climate crisis is directly impacting them their future and the sustainability of this earth and It's amazing seeing them come through the hallways both with their very creative signs We need creativity when we're coming up with these bold solutions But also that confidence to be able to talk directly to legislators It is such an an honor and a privilege to be able to have those conversations as well as opening up Possibilities for the average remanter to come into the people's house and understand that it truly is for the people I think that's what comes up most often as folks that are like. Oh, it's really intimidating It's a big building the Golden Dome It kind of feels like a museum and then they show up and they're like wait There wasn't security right out the door I could literally walk into any committee room and listen. I can meet directly with my representative It shows the ways that we can directly engage with democracy Thank you so much Taylor. I appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you for having awesome And so can you just start by talking a little bit about what committee you serve on and what bills you've worked on this session? I have to so my name is Angela Arsena. I don't know if I need to say that but I'm on the judiciary committee the house judiciary committee and We have been working on so many bills this session. We are a proudly prolific committee. I would say One of the first big bills that we took on was H 89 which is the shield bill on the house side It has a companion bill in the Senate, but That was kind of the one of the First big bills that that I've been a part of since this is my first year in the legislature and that felt really really good Right at helping, you know Work on something that was aiming at protecting providers of legally protected health care We've also worked on in the first part of the session. We worked on a group of bills dealing with domestic and sexual violence Really working to help and protect survivors and victims as much as possible giving them different avenues Opening up the avenue to community justice instead of just criminal the criminal justice system We have worked on Well, I just presented my first floor report yesterday That was for a bill we got from the Senate, which is s3 a bill that will prohibit paramilitary training facilities and That passed the house today on third reading so that'll go back to the Senate And probably well, I shouldn't say but possibly be approved there. We only made a few minor changes. So Those are just a few of the bills and groups of bills that that I can think of but We have worked on quite a range and it's all fascinating So you mentioned that this is your first term as a legislator. What have you learned about legislating in these first few months? It's funny. I've learned I can talk about like what I've learned about the mechanics of bill drafting and and Committee work and there's that side of things and then there's like just what it means to to me I you know can only speak from my perspective what it means to be in this position and to have the opportunity and the privilege to be in this position So I would say What I've learned about on those more mechanical side of things, you know There's a really robust Collaborative Working environment in my committee in the judiciary on the judiciary committee and so it's great to see to know for sure now that Multiple voices are invited into the room listened to We I have a really wonderful chair Representative alone from South Burlington And he's helped create an environment where everyone can ask their questions And I think that's so important in this work So I'm really grateful for that and then on the more kind of personal side of doing this job I've been extremely lucky to come in with a large group of first-year legislators first-year representatives especially and they're just Amazing like really smart really curious really open really focused on equity and inclusion and Really interested in learning which is such an important part of this no one comes into this work knowing everything we know I Would say relatively very little about what we're eventually going to be doing some of us have a professional background in you know in our like some folks who worked in health care on the health care committee and but many of us just Come in and and for whatever reason whatever got us here. There's so much to learn and it's been so supportive and exciting and and Really kind of really lovely. I mean it's intense and it's hard but to do it with a group of people who are extremely dedicated And so supportive of one another is really it feels really special And you made a you may have noticed that there was a rally on the State House steps today led by youth activists looking for climate action What's the value of that work specifically to you know youth-led climate activism, but also just in general You know rallying on the State House steps. How does that work impact what you do and your colleagues do here in the State House? Yeah, it's I will say again from a logistical Point of view it's great to have groups right here because our days don't have a lot of room for like There are hundreds of people I would love to meet with and talk to and I just don't always have time And so as silly as it may sound like having folks right here Sharing what they're asking for what they're worried about what they want to have happen And we can just walk outside and listen to them. It sounds It's significant. I'll just say it may not sound significant, but it is I was really lucky today to meet with a group of students from CVU, which is the high school in my district I also happened to be school board chair for our school district. So it was so great to on my lunch hour stepped outside along with a bunch of other representatives from Within our school district and we got to hear from the kids about why they were here and what they were worried about certainly youth Coming here sharing their concerns about the climate. I mean it has it's been said a million times But we're talking about their future The things that need to be done and need to be changed are in order to give them a future essentially and their Children and children's children like it's all about The future and so it's just too easy for folks who are like My age and older maybe to say like I don't know we're doing aren't we doing okay like no We're not and they know it because they younger people feel a different kind a different level of anxiety I think then then we may so it's really really important to have them Speaking up and they bring questions that we don't know the answers to and that's so important too so having them speak up a is Is super important and having them do it right here on the state house lawn. There's a real utility to that Thank you so much Angela