The Vermont Legislature will reconvene next week for the second session of the 2017-18 biennium. Responding to the impacts of recent changes in tax and health care policy enacted by the Republican Congress or announced by the Trump Administration will be a major item on the Legislature’s agenda for 2018.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced last week that when the $10 bill is redesigned in the next few years, Alexander Hamilton’s portrait will be taken off the front of the bill, to be replaced by an historically significant woman, yet to be determined. While I am all in favor of putting a woman on the U.S. currency, I do not believe Hamilton is the person whose portrait should be replaced.
Middlebury’s voters will see a competitive election for the town’s two Vermont House seats, a consequence of Rep. Paul Ralston’s not running for another term.
Three candidates have filed for the Aug. 26 Democratic primary. Rep. Betty Nuovo, who has served in the House from 1981 through 1990, and again from 1997 to the present, will be seeking her 15th term in Montpelier.
Last Sunday, in order to learn more about Vermont Health Connect, I explored the VHC website to get information on insurance options for a hypothetical family of two adults and two children with Vermont’s median household income of $53,000.
Earlier this week, The Politico, a publication with a wide readership among Washington insiders, ran an article entitled “What Is Howard Dean Thinking?” The article noted that Dean recently made a speech in Iowa, the first caucus state, and will be speaking soon in New Hampshire, the first primary state.
The three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation must decide whether to support President Obama’s request that Congress authorize the use of military force against Syria in response to the Assad government’s chemical weapons attack on communities near Damascus. As of Sept. 3, none of the members of the delegation had made a firm statement about how he will vote.