Avah Lamie, a sixth grader at Hartford Memorial Middle School, is not yet old enough to vote for her state lawmakers.
But one is never too young to lobby. And on Wednesday, Lamie came to the Statehouse to urge officials to act on legislation: specifically, H.165, a bill that would mandate free breakfast and lunch for Vermont students.
“Let me tell you a little story,” Lamie told a VTDigger reporter. “In kindergarten, I hadn’t been informed that milk cost some money. So my parents ended up with a bill because I’d been getting milk almost every day. And we could pay that, thankfully, but it also made me think about people who can’t pay for that if they end up getting a bill like that.”
“That’s one of the reasons why I came here today,” she added.
Lamie had made the nearly one-hour trip to Montpelier along with roughly 30 of her Hartford classmates. The visit — organized by Rep. Esme Cole, D-Hartford, one of H.165’s sponsors — was part of a late-session push to get the legislation over the finish line.
“A lot of kids are not eating lunch because they can’t afford it. And that’s not a good thing,” said Chuck Looby, another sixth grader from Hartford Memorial.
“It’s kind of unfair,” he added.
Looby is acting in his very first school play, Seussical: The Musical. Without enough food to eat at school, he said, “you wouldn’t have as much energy to dance and sing.”
“It wouldn’t be that exciting of a musical if people didn’t have that much energy,” he said.
If passed, H.165 would make permanent a requirement for Vermont schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to students. Students attending independent schools on public tuition would also be eligible for free meals, paid for by state dollars.
As written, the money for the meals would come out of the state’s education fund. Without language specifying a different source of money, that would likely lead to increases in state property taxes.
The bill, which passed the House in late March, is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“I hope the governor will take note of how much support Vermonters are offering this bill,” Cole said.
Jason Maulucci, a spokesperson for Gov. Phil Scott, said in an email that the governor is “in favor of providing free school meals to all Vermont children and families who need the support.”
But, he added, “It’s still too early to say whether or not the Governor can support the bill as written, because we need to evaluate the cumulative impact of the legislature’s many initiatives that carry high price tags.”
Some of the young advocates, meanwhile, were apparently so interested in the legislative process that, they said, they were considering becoming lawmakers themselves.
“It’s definitely something that is a good career path for me,” Lamie said, adding that she is also considering becoming a lawyer.
“I debate a lot,” she said. “I’ll say that.”
— Peter D’Auria
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IN THE KNOW
In the second installment of our Full Disclosure series, Kristen Fountain examines how the Legislature’s self-inflicted conflict of interest rules are drawn so narrowly that they almost never prevent lawmakers from crafting and voting on bills — even when they or their employers stand to benefit financially.
Rules that govern activity in both the Senate and the House prohibit members from voting on matters in which they are “immediately and directly interested.”
But what does that mean in a part-time citizen legislature in which members work and own businesses that give them a direct personal or financial interest in the laws they consider?
ON THE MOVE
As a legal battle over the decades-long approval of a widely used abortion medication wages in federal courts, Vermont lawmakers are making last-minute amendments to this year’s major abortion legislation to protect access to the pill within the state.
On Wednesday, legislators in both the House and Senate tacked on amendments to S.37 and H.89 — two bills known colloquially as this session’s abortion shield bills — to add protections to the medication mifepristone, even if its Food and Drug Administration approval is revoked or significantly tightened as a result of ongoing litigation.
Also on Wednesday, the Senate offered its final approval of H.89 in a voice vote after advancing it by a 26-4 vote Tuesday.
— Sarah Mearhoff
ON THE FIFTH FLOOR
It’s basically old news at this point: Gov. Phil Scott maintains his status as the nation’s most popular governor, according to a new poll released by Morning Consult on Wednesday. Yawn!
Surveyed between Jan. 1 and March 31, 78% of Vermonters polled reportedly told Morning Consult they approved of Scott’s job performance. Fourteen percent disapproved.
The next-most popular gov in the country is reportedly Wyoming’s Republican Gov. Mark Gordon, with a 67% approval rating.
— Sarah Mearhoff
ON STATE STREET
According to an invitation obtained by VTDigger, the Vermont-based conservative think tank Ethan Allen Institute hosted a “networking event” with state lawmakers and representatives of Americans for Prosperity and the American Legislative Exchange Council Tuesday night in Montpelier.
Founded by the Koch Brothers, Americans for Prosperity is among the nation’s wealthiest and most influential conservative lobbying groups, with representation in statehouse halls across the country. And the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC, for short) is a prolific force in pushing conservative model legislation in many states.
“This is a policy-focused networking event with members of the Vermont Legislature and is not a partisan event or fundraiser for political candidates,” wrote Ethan Allen Institute president Myers Mermel in an April 13 email. Mermel unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in Vermont’s open U.S. Senate race last year.
Asked for a copy of the event’s guest list, Mermel wrote in an email to VTDigger Wednesday afternoon, “We are not at liberty to share the guest list as it was a private event.” He said that none of the groups were soliciting funds, and that “it was simply an educational policy event.”
“This is a great opportunity for legislators to learn more about these organizations and get more engaged with our partners at the national level,” Mermel wrote in last week’s email invitation. “Even if you’re only able to stop by for a few minutes, I encourage you to introduce yourself, shake hands, and exchange business cards. I am elated to give them a warm Vermont welcome.”
Vermont Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Dandeneau told VTDigger on Wednesday that to call an event hosted by such organizations nonpartisan is “absolutely ridiculous.”
“It’s incredibly disappointing to have groups who have caused so much harm to marginalized people around the country peddling their hatred in Vermont with Vermont legislators,” Dandeneau said.
— Sarah Mearhoff
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Because there’s a child care crisis, Rep. Jubilee McGill, D-Bridport, still hasn’t been able to secure child care, and has been bringing her baby daughter, Marella, to the Statehouse with her. The upside? Marella got to celebrate her first birthday (with ice cream cake and cupcakes) in the House Human Services Committee on Wednesday — moments before her mom voted to advance S.56, the Legislature’s major child care bill.
But McGill said the moment was important for another reason: Her late sister, Mariah McGill, who died in 2020, worked in early childhood education, and was heavily involved in advancing the cause.
“To be able to participate in this is really also just meaningful for me personally,” said McGill.
— Lola Duffort
WHAT WE’RE READING
Cartoonist Alison Bechdel Recalls Her Friendship With Ed Koren (Seven Days)
A fire in Hartford highlights tensions in addressing Vermont’s housing crisis (Vermont Public)
Correction: A previous version of this story inaccurately described the nature of ALEC’s model legislation efforts.
