On July 8, in Brattleboro dozens of home healthcare workers announced their union had a major win. “We voted to ratify a new agreement with the state of Vermont regarding the minimum hourly rate paid. The two-year agreement went into effect on July 1, and includes a 5 percent increase to the minimum base rate each year as well as a retention bonus based on time worked,” the workers said in a press release. The 5,000 or so home health care workers in Vermont save taxpayers millions of dollars every year by keeping people out of nursing homes. The workers have a web site at www.vtHomeCareUnited.org.

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Shutesbury, Massachusetts borders Amherst. An aerial photo of a big solar facility on the site of what was, until recently, forest in Shutesbury is at:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/JvNzi2kRiGqh6Hto7

Instead of cutting down a forest, these solar panels should be on the roofs of warehouses and big box stores. That's according to:

https://environmentamerica.org/center/resources/solar-on-warehouses/

and

https://environmentamerica.org/center/articles/which-10-american-retaile...

“There are now 7,332 K-12 schools using solar power nationwide, making
up 5.5% of all K-12 public and private schools in the United States,” according to:

https://irecusa.org/our-work/solar-schools/

On July 6, Shutesbury planning board member Michael DeChiara told the Valley Post, “The core issue for municipalities is the removal of the so-called solar exemption, a 1985, outdated law that constrains municipalities from practically regulating both solar and energy storage (batteries).”

Info on another effective way to stop climate change is at:

www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/climate/

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In January 2024, the New York Times wrote, “Representative Emilie Kornheiser, chair of the Ways and Means Committee in the Vermont House of Representatives, is sponsoring two bills aimed at taxing wealthier individuals in Vermont.”

Now Kornheiser is in a tough battle for re-election.

State representative Mike Mrowicki wrote in the February 2024 edition of the Views of Dummerston newspaper, “Twenty years ago, Brattleboro high school was only about 3% students of color. It’s now 13%.”

In Brattleboro in February 2024, about 28 people attended a rally. The rally was to call on the Brattleboro high school (BUHS) to do more for survivors of sexual abuse. Diana Whitney was one of the organizers. On July 6, Whitney gave the Valley Post to publish the following essay about Kornheiser and Kornheiser's opponent, which Whitney wrote:

I believe in communication and collaboration. That’s one reason I’m supporting Emilie Kornheiser in her reelection campaign for state representative and will be voting for her in the primary on August 13.

Emilie is an experienced legislator who is deeply respected in our Statehouse. She’s also a skilled communicator who works hard to build relationships and engage with her constituents, taking the time to talk with us at town hall meetings at the library, at neighborhood gatherings open to all, and (during COVID) in accessible zoom meetings. She shares updates about the legislative session in her newsletter, writes commentaries in The Commons and The Reformer, and discusses policy issues on her pod-cast, The Montpelier Happy Hour.

Emilie stays connected to the Brattleboro community by showing up at events and businesses downtown. You’ll often see her at Gallery Walk, the Brattleboro Literary Festival, the Stone Church, the Coop, and social justice rallies. She volunteers regularly with Downtown
Brattleboro Alliance and can sometimes be found working as a server in downtown restaurants.

I’ve known Emilie since we were founding members of the Women’s Action Team in 2016 and organized together to build power for women and other marginalized groups. Emilie came to every meeting with a collaborative spirit, bringing all her intelligence, determination, courage, and vulnerability to the organizing process. I learned a great deal from her extensive experience in public policy and community-building, and from her passionate commitment to a more just and equitable Vermont. Even when we disagreed, as we occasionally did, I was impressed by her willingness to listen, engage, and find creative solutions to complex
problems.

In her six years in the Statehouse, Emilie has become an innovative problem-solver and an energetic leader. In 2022, she worked tirelessly to pass Vermont’s Reproductive Liberty Amendment, enshrining reproductive rights in our state constitution. She has passed
groundbreaking legislation that established paid family and medical leave and universal childcare, a crucial step for Vermont families and our economy. In 2023, she received the Legislator of the Year award from Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.

I’m proud that Emilie is fighting for affordable housing and a fair Vermont for all citizens, addressing our state’s housing crisis and growing income inequality through a proposed tax on the wealthiest 1% of Vermonters. I’m heartened by her close relationship with
Representative Becca Balint, who is doing similarly vital work in Washington. I find it notable that Emilie’s opponent in the primary, Amanda Ellis-Thurber, did not support Becca Balint in her historic run for Congress but instead backed self-described “lifelong Vermonter,” Molly Gray. In the absence of any concrete information about Ellis-Thurber’s platform or proposed policies, we have to piece together a picture from the clues she has scattered.

One such clue is her green-and-white campaign sign, designed to resemble the Vermont license plate. Another is her campaign’s focus on the importance of belonging to a third-generation Vermont family. This messaging taps into a dangerous narrative of nativism and raises the insidious question of who does and doesn’t belong in our state.

When I first moved to the Northeast Kingdom from Massachusetts in the late 1990s, I was affectionately deemed a “flatlander” by my neighbors but told in no uncertain terms that I could not call myself a Vermonter unless my family had lived here for at least three generations. Even my children— who by now have lived their entire lives in Brattleboro— could never be true “native Vermonters.”

What I’ve always loved about Brattleboro is our community’s openness and creativity, its confluence of different people with different stories and backgrounds. While I wholeheartedly support Vermont’s farms and farmers, I’m troubled by the subtle nativist undercurrents
in the Ellis-Thurber campaign.

In our time of economic struggle and deep political and cultural divisions, it is easy to draw lines between us and them. As a queer, half-Jewish woman, I want to live in a Vermont that embraces diversity and welcomes people who move here from other places. I want a Vermont
that serves the needs of all its residents– those in financial hardship as well as those who are affluent landowners. I want a Vermont where my friends and neighbors can afford housing and where the wealthiest 1 percent pay their fair share.

Emilie Kornheiser is working relentlessly towards this vision. She is indeed committed to community in all its complexity and challenges. If you have questions about what she stands for, go talk to her. She’ll listen.