Earlier this week I joined the governor and a handful of legislators for the signing of H.620, the Access to Birth Control bill. It’s a law that expands birth control and family planning options for women and for men. When I wrote about the Access to Birth Control bill back in April, I didn’t foresee the onslaught on reproductive rights May would bring. Standing on the State House steps Monday, I had a flashback to 1992. That year I took a leave of absence from Senator Leahy’s office in D.C. and moved to central VT to organize volunteers for the Clinton and Leahy campaigns. One event I vividly remember took place on a rainy October Saturday on the State House lawn when people came out fo
Whether we call it affordable housing, student housing, workforce housing or senior housing, a warm dry place to call home is critically important to all of us. Vermont’s future depends on increasing the supply of affordable to all corners of the state. Businesses large and small, young couples hoping to start a family, budding entrepreneurs, people with disabilities and college students all need an expanding variety of housing alternatives. And of course the elderly who want to age in place have a hard time locating a home within walking distance of basic necessities. Whose Involved While Vermont continues to struggle to provide affordable housing units in sufficient numbers, t
Our health care system has a drug problem. I’m referring to the skyrocketing cost of pharmaceuticals. While concerns about the cost of prescription drugs have been around for decades, the issue has reached a tipping point this year as price inflation has accelerated with no causal link to the costs pharmaceutical companies bear. Why are pharmaceutical companies increasing prices so fast? Because they can. There have been the extreme instances of hedge funds masquerading as pharma companies (Turing and Valeant Pharmaceuticals), but more commonly we are seeing companies ramping up prices of both new drugs and old, generics and those still under patent. Four of the top-10 selling prescript
