Occasional news and commentary about local government in Norwich, VT
* * * Note: Posting a link is not an endorsement. Odell and Palm are on the Norwich School Board. For general information regarding Act 127, see the Norwich School Board webpage on the Weighting Study, which is updated periodically.
Now that some dust has settled for this year on financing Act 127, I wonder if our School Board should address the difficult question of increasing class size (students per section) at Marion Cross School. Under H.850, which is now law, school boards can delay the vote on their budgets until April 15 in order to rework them. If I am correctly reading the materials from the Norwich Budget Presentation on December 6, 2023, MCS could go from three sections Continue reading Increase class size at MCS?
As part of its Full Disclosure series, VTDigger summarized the ethics disclosure forms of all legislators currently in office in the Vermont General Assembly. Below is the information regarding those serving Norwich. The full database, as well as an analysis of trends is in Full Disclosure: What lawmakers’ ethics forms reveal about their lives outside the Legislature by Erin Petenko published on VTDigger on April 20, 2023. House Legislator Employer (House Only) Boards or Service Roles Corporate Ownership James “Jim” Continue reading Norwich Legislators in the General Assembly: VTDigger’s Summary of Their Ethics Disclosure Forms
State Representative Tim Briglin, one of two State Reps representing Norwich, Sharon, Strafford, and Thetford in Montpelier, will not seek reelection when his term expires at year-end. He made the announcement in a May 12 listserv post. See below for text. Mr. Briglin was first elected to the General Assembly in 2014. He is the Chair of the House Energy and Technology Committee, holding that position since 2019. He also serves on the Joint Fiscal Committee. According to a May Continue reading House Rep Briglin won’t seek reelection
By a 4-3 vote, the Vermont Legislative Apportionment Board (LAB) opted to recommend single-member House and Senate districts across the State. If approved by the General Assembly (and that is a big ‘if’), most of the Town of Norwich would lose all incumbents currently representing its population in the Legislature. As explained by Lola Duffort, a reporter for VTDigger, in a recent article: The General Assembly must redraw its boundaries every 10 years, after the new U.S. census is published, Continue reading UPDATE: Legislative Apportionment Board opts for single member House and Senate districts, rejecting Norwich BCA recommendation on House
The Norwich Board of Civil Authority (BCA) is against the House redistricting proposal put forth by the Legislative Apportionment Board (LAB). The Norwich BCA submitted a formal response to the LAB last week. The BCA’s for Sharon, Strafford and Thetford are also against the change from a four town district. As noted in a prior post, Norwich, Sharon, Strafford and Thetford currently comprise the Windsor-Orange 2 district. It has two representatives in the Vermont House of Representatives. Seeking to create Continue reading UPDATE: Norwich opposes House redistricting proposal, as do Sharon, Strafford and Thetford
House Representatives Jim Masland and Tim Briglin weighed in for Daybreak on the tentative proposal by Legislative Apportionment Board (LAB) to split the Town of Norwich into two House districts. Rep. Masland says it is: “Bad, bad, bad!” Further, Rep. Briglin believes “there is little/no chance the LAB’s proposal will be adopted by the legislature.” See their complete comments on Daybreak here. However, single member districts get support from Vermont Public Research Interest Group, a left-leaning advocacy organization, as well Continue reading Masland and Briglin pan House redistricting proposal for Norwich
The Town of Norwich is split into two House districts, under the map tentatively proposed by Legislative Apportionment Board (LAB). The Norwich Board of Civil Authority (BCA) plans to meet on Monday, October 25, 2021 to review the map. At present, Norwich, along with Sharon, Strafford, and Thetford, are in the Windsor-Orange 2 district. It has two representatives in the Vermont House of Representatives. The LAB’s emphasis was to create single member House districts. As a result, the current Windsor-Orange Continue reading Proposed House districts split Norwich
Tim Briglin and Jim Masland represent Norwich, as well as Sharon, Strafford, and Thetford, in the Vermont House. Both voted against the legislation to allow retail marijuana sales. I wondered why and both men were kind enough to respond to my emails. By way of background, Senate Bill 54 legalizes the retail sale of marijuana to folks 21 years of age and older. See inset below. However, S.54 is not yet law. Governor Phil Scott has not said whether he Continue reading Briglin, Masland voted against the retail sale of marijuana. I learn why.
State Representative Tim Briglin, one of two State Reps representing Norwich, Sharon, Strafford, and Thetford in Montpelier, recently released the results of his (first?) constituent survey. The survey questions relate to legislation likely to come before the House in the session that began this week. The summary of the results to Question #1 are below. To see a summary of the results of all six questions, go to the article here at the website, Jim & Tim Report. We may Continue reading State Rep Briglin releases 2020 legislative survey results