Latest News
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Another pretty crazy week at the Statehouse has come to an end. We spent very little time on the floor debating bills this week. Although, there was plenty of activity elsewhere in the building. Several committees were discussing the rebuilding of the State Hospital and reapportionment finally took center stage this week.... More >>
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
The legislature debated the budget adjustment act (BAA) bill this week. This bill is done annually to ensure that the state ends its fiscal year with a balanced budget. The state's fiscal year runs from July 1st through June 30th of the following calendar year.... More >>
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
There has been a lot of activity in Montpelier this week culminating with the Governor's speech outlining his budget proposal for FY13. This is usually when things really start to get interesting in the session.... More >>
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
The legislative session came to an end at 5:38 PM on Friday night. It was a very busy week at the Statehouse since the leadership had planned to adjourn by May 7, 2011.
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Thursday, May 5th, 2011
As we move closer to adjournment the pace and stress level of the legislative process intensifies. Leaderships tolerance for questioning or opposition to their proposals adds to this anxiety. As the minority leader, I am definitely feeling much more pressure right now than I have ever felt in any previous session.... More >>
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
As we move closer to adjournment it seems as though we have hit the calm before the storm. The Senate is now taking up the many important bills that have already passed the House. This is always an interesting time because many members become personally attached to the bills that pass out of their committees. Therefore, when the Senate makes a change to a bill, for better or worse, some members consider it a personal attack on their work and that of the committee of jurisdiction.... More >>
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
The Vermont Energy Act of 2011 H.56 came to the floor with its many sections and controversy. The bill increased the amount of power individuals can generate on their premises, exempts IBM from paying an energy efficiency charge permanently, requires increased use of biodiesel over the next few years in home heating oil and included a new monthly fee of $.55 on every electricity meter in the state.... More >>
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Another week has passed. This week the House passed the last of the required session bills.... More >>
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
This was a very challenging week at the Statehouse. We were on the House floor most of the week debating each of the major bills miscellaneous tax, healthcare reform and the budget. The debate on the healthcare bill was a total of fifteen hours over two days ending at 12:45 AM on Thursday morning. The miscellaneous tax and budget bill debates were each at least eight hours long. Long debates generally lead to elevated tension and agitation amongst the members. We did see some of this occur this week but, for the most part all of the members remained calm and did their job.... More >>
You Can Quote Me
Don was a guest on You Can Quote Me on WCAX on March 20th, 2011. The archived video on the WCAX site is linked to below.... More >>
WCAX story-March 21, 2011:
"Vermont Yankee is scheduled to be shut down in exactly one year, but what will come next?"... More >>
WCAX story-February 28, 2011:
Don appeared on WCAX TV on February 28, 2011 as part of a story on the mid-term progress of the state legislature.... More >>
Thursday, March 24th, 2010
The health care reform and miscellaneous tax bills emerged from committee this week as expected. The health care bill with its far sweeping changes to our current healthcare system is very concerning to me. It is intended to lead us in the direction of a single payer health care system.... More >>
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
The atmosphere at the Statehouse is beginning to change as another week has passed and we move closer to the end of the session. This was an important week because Friday was the last day a committee could pass out a bill that does not require an appropriation. This day is referred to as crossover day.... More >>
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
This past week the legislature was on town meeting break. I look forward to this break each year as it gives me an opportunity to see and talk to many of you about what is going on in Montpelier.... More >>
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
The healthcare reform proposal, jobs bill and budget deficit continue to dominate the discussion around the Statehouse. However, on Thursday we received the physician assisted suicide/death with dignity bill. It was assigned to the Human Services committee to be vetted. This emotionally charged issue had created much interest before it was introduced and is surely going to create an adversarial atmosphere at the Statehouse. I believe that this issue will begin to dominate the discussion after the Town Meeting break, creating a distraction that may provide the necessary cover for raising taxes or taking away your rights to healthcare choice.... More >>
Thursday, February 17th, 2011
It was another very busy week at the Statehouse for me. Arriving late on Tuesday and Wednesday due to fire calls here in Milton contributed to the hectic week.... More >>
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Another week of traveling on snow covered roads to Montpelier and responding to the interstate for car accidents in the night led me to call a press conference calling upon the Agency of Transportation to revisit their "safe roads-safe speed" policy.... More >>
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
Tuesday Governor Shumlin gave his budget address. The Governor addressed a joint assembly of the House and Senate. He outlined the financial crisis the state is currently facing and offered some possible solutions to these shortfalls. The budget deficit is the biggest issue facing our state at this time. It has been reported to be anywhere from $111 million to $176 million. It appears that the number depends on who is reporting it and in what context they want the listener to be informed.... More >>
More Endorsements
These are endorsements for Don and his fellow candidate Ron Hubert that appeared in the Milton Independent on Thursday, October 28th, 2010... More >>
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