Legislative

From the Office of Senator Welch:

In a speech on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) blasted the fiscal irresponsibility of congressional Republicans’ refusal to raise the debt ceiling without precondition. He outlined the dangerous consequences—both domestic and global—of a U.S. fiscal default, highlighting the perilous position a default would create from a national security perspective and the harm it would inflict on the value of the dollar. Senator Welch implored Speaker McCarthy to take default off the table and raised the need to consider 14th Amendment in order to meet our financial obligations.

“I am willing, as I believe the vast majority of my colleagues are, to engage in serious budget discussions to bring down America’s debt. What I am not willing to do, now or ever, is abandon America’s historic commitment to paying its bills. I am not willing to inflict the damage to our economy and the pain on our people a catastrophic default would impose,” said Sen. Welch. “We cannot do this. We must not do this. We must, as America has always done, pay our bills, in full and on time.” 

From the Office of Senator Welch:

In a Tuesday floor speech, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) laid out the catastrophic economic effects of defaulting on our national debt, after House Republicans made clear they are willing to risk default to force substantial cuts to programs that create jobs, support working families, and increase revenue for the federal government. Senator Welch, who has represented Vermonters in Washington since 2006 and was a Member of the House of Representatives during the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis, called on Republicans to stop using the debt ceiling as a political pawn and pass a clean bill to allow the United States to pay its bills and avoid default. An excerpt of the Senator’s remarks is included below.

“This notion of defaulting on our debt—or using that as a tactic to get something completely unrelated to what we all know is an obligation to pay our bills—is a disaster for the economy and has long-term devastating implications for everyday Americans, as well as our reputation and strength as a country,” said Senator Welch. “That we would put that in jeopardy and even threaten not to pay our bills is something that has never, ever happened before in this country and should never happen. We pay our bills in full, on time. That’s what the United States of America has always done. That’s what the United States of America must always do.”   

From Senator Sanders Office:

The Scoopers of Ben & Jerry’s Burlington Scoop Shop took their union campaign public on April 17th, announcing that they were organizing a union and asking Ben & Jerry’s to sign the Fair Election Principles, a code of corporate conduct for union elections. The Organizing Committee will announce major developments, accompanied by Senator Bernie Sanders and other guest speakers from the labor movement and the community.

Host Emily Brewer, CCTV's Marketing and Communications Coordinator, speaks with Representative Martin LaLonde (D), and Senator Thomas Chittenden (D) to discuss the Vermont Legislature and their work during this year's legislative session.

To contact your local representative, you can find their contact information on the State's website.

Full South Burlington Delegation:

Senator Thomas Chittenden (D)
Representative Noah Hyman (D)
Representative Emilie Krasnow (D)
Representative Martin LaLonde (D)
Senator Virginia "Ginny" Lyons (D)
Representative Brian Minier (D)
Representative Kate Nugent (D)
Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D)