Legislators head back to Montpelier as session begins

It has been a whirlwind of activity for new and returning legislators since the November election. Every day, I’m so grateful to the voters in Chittenden-9 for supporting my candidacy and electing me to be your representative in the People’s House in Montpelier.

Each month, your South Burlington legislative delegation will be sharing updates on activities happening in the Statehouse. Once the session starts on Jan. 4, you can call and leave us a message at 802-828-2228. We encourage you all to let us know your thoughts on upcoming votes, pending legislation and policy discussions. The daily calendar, committee meeting schedules, and House and Senate bills can be found at legislature.vermont.gov.

The Statehouse is open to the public, and I encourage you to let me know if you’ll be in the building so we can connect.

This past month, new legislator orientation gave newly elected members the chance to connect with some of our colleagues, learn about legislative procedure and traditions, and meet the staff that will assist us in our work at the General Assembly. The four-day orientation gave us the opportunity to meet legislative branch leaders, executive branch officials, as well as the judiciary branch justices and staff.

We had workshops on parliamentary procedures, ethical decision making, the bill drafting process, how to work with the press and updates on current budget and revenue issues facing Vermont. The new member orientation is a nonpartisan program presented by legislative staff, in collaboration with the Snelling Center for Government.

Your legislative delegation is committed to our promise to bring your voices and concerns to Montpelier. We invite you to attend our monthly South Burlington legislative forums with Martin Lalonde, Emilie Krasnow, Kate Nugent, Noah Hyman and Brian Minier to discuss what’s on the legislative agenda for the upcoming year. This will be held on the fourth Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m. in the community room on the second floor of the South Burlington Public Library, with our next meeting on Monday, Jan. 30. To attend the meeting on Zoom, find the link at the library’s event page.

Thank you again for the honor of representing you in Montpelier for the 2023-2024 legislative session. I look forward to our continued conversations over these next two years.

Reach Rep. Emilie Krasnow at ekrasnow@leg.state.vt.us.