Dear Constituents –

The week of May 26 in the Statehouse was one of hurry up…and wait…then hurry up and wait all over again. As of this writing, we adjourned at 7pm on the 29th, before hearing speeches from the Governor and House leadership.

The House Government Operations & Military Affairs continued to a final flurry of testimony and take votes on amendments to S.64 (expanding scope of the practice of optometry), S.278 (cannabis), and H.935 (emergency management).

During our time on the House Floor, we debated bills such as S.64, S.313 (transforming Vermont’s CTE system), S.193 (establishing a forensic facility for certain criminal-justice involved persons), H.915 (bottle redemption), S.71 (consumer date privacy and online surveillance), H.542 (suspending testing for PCBs in Vermont schools), and H.931 (miscellaneous changes to education law).

Bills of major importance that were also taken up during the last hours were: H.944 (Transportation Bill), H.951 (Budget), H.955 (Education Transformation), H.949 (Yield Bill), H.933 (miscellaneous tax bill), and an unsuccessful veto override attempt of H.727 (sustainable data centers). We also voted to not take up S.208 (standards for law enforcement identification). Even the annual Adjournment Resolution (JRS 56) demanded a roll call, as Progressives and some Democrats protested leaving without taking up S.208, the “ICE masking bill”.

The hours are long and sometimes unpredictable, but the rewards of public service are many.  It is an honor to serve as your Representative to the Vermont General Assembly. I have served for four terms since I was first appointed, and I humbly ask for your support to return to the Legislature next year to continue this work on your behalf.

During the off-session, I am available by email at [email protected] and will return your message in a timely manner. Please learn more at HangoforHouse.com

Stay well,

Representative Lisa Hango, Franklin-5