Legislative

Senator Patrick Leahy announces he will not seek re-election, after 5 decades of service, from the Vermont State House where he announced his first run for U.S. Senate in 1974.

Courtesy of VTDigger

The Vermont Apportionment Board has developed new Legislative District Maps which are now being considered by local cities and towns. You are encouraged to review these maps and let your local Board's of Civil Authorities (Selectboards/ City Councils) know if you think they've got it right. What is more important: making sure the populations in each district are as close to equal as possible, or allowing larger (within constitutional guidelines) differences in populations to maintain district lines closer to the status quo?

- Should your legislative district lines conform to town and/ or county boundary lines?

- Do you prefer single member house districts (one representative per a House district of around 4,300) or two member districts (two representatives in a single house district of around 8,600 people)?

- Do you prefer single member senate districts (one senator per senate district of around 21,500 people), or multi-member senate districts (two or three senators in a single district of around 43,000 or 64,500 people)?

Let your BCA and Legislative Apportionment Board know your views on these questions and on other factors you wish them to consider as they draw up proposed legislative district lines by emailing Board members at their addresses posted on the Board’s website (sos.vermont.gov/apportionment-board/contact-the-board), participating in monthly online meetings (sos.vermont.gov/apportionment-board), or mailing a letter c/o the Secretary of State’s office (Legislative Apportionment Board, 128 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05633-1101).

This is a critical exercise in our representative democracy. It happens only every 10 years – don’t miss out on it!

Rep. Emma Mulvaney-Stanak (Burlington) and other State Representatives Taylor Small (Winooski), Tanya Vyhovsky (Essex) and Brian Cina (Burlington), alongside Rights & Democracy discuss Vermont's current education funding policy and how it impacts our communities. The first 30 minutes include an overview on Vermont's education funding system and the enabling legislation (Act 173) to examine the weighted per pupil formula as part of how funding is calculated. Afterwords, the shift into a conversation about the status of the legislative taskforce charged with examining the education spending/funding system and how their recommendations frame the policy debate when the legislature reconvenes in January 2022.

From Emma Mulvaney-Stanak - "Burlington and Winooski have student populations with a variety of needs and higher costs to deliver education so all of our students can thrive - language access is one example. Our current funding formula depends on metrics that do not adequately account for today's student population and schools - in particular diverse student populated schools and small, rural schools who have unique needs. I believe we need a funding system that does not pass inequitable burdens onto local taxpayers due to the unique needs of local students/schools. We need to modernize our funding formula and truly embraces the concept that Vermonters fund an education system for all students, not just their local students. One very tangible policy change is to examine the weighted per pupil spending formula to match today's needs."

For more information, contact Emma Mulvaney-Stanak at emulvaneystanak@leg.state.vt.us.

Recorded on September 20, 2021.