Legislative

Host Bobby Lussier, CCTV's Development Director, speaks with Representative Lori Houghton (D) and Representative Karen Dolan (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 Essex Delegation:

Senator Philip Baruth (D/P)
Representative Alyssa Black (D)
Representative Leonora Dodge (D)
Representative Karen Dolan (D)
Representative Rey Garofano (D)
Senator Martine Gulick (D)
Representative Lori Houghton (D)
Senator Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D)
Senator Irene Wrenner (D)

Town Meeting TV's Development Director Bobby Lussier and Outreach and Communications Coordinator Emily Brewer take a trip to the State House to meet with members of the legislature and discuss what is happening in the State House. Featuring interviews with Representative Emma Mulvaney-Stanak (P/D-Burlington), Representative Seth Chase (D-Colchester), Senator Martine Larocque Gulick (D-CHI-Central), Paul Burns (Executive Director, VPIRG), Representative Gabrielle Stebbins (D-Burlington), Representative Brian Cina (P/D-Burlington), Representative Barbara Rachelson (D-Burlington), Marcie Gallagher (Environmental Advocate, VPIRG), and Brenda Siegel (Policy Advocate & 2022 Nominee for Governor).

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.”