Dear Editor,
The new session has begun. We are still exclusively meeting virtually, with meetings livestreamed on YouTube, so legislators are not physically going to Montpelier. It presents its challenges, but personally I like the virtual meetings right now. I do have very big personal news: my wife and I just had a baby girl, Ginny Ophelia Nicoll, born Dec. 14, 2020, six pounds, our first. So, the virtual session is actually more convenient for me in some ways because I don’t want to leave the house that much anyway.
If you saved the YouTube links from last year, they should all still be the same. But this is the link to the legislative page with all the YouTube links: www.legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming.
We are mostly focusing our efforts this year on surviving this crisis and making sure Vermonters and Vermont businesses have the support they need. That being said, there are some big issues that will likely come up that are not directly related. Modernizing our transportation infrastructure has been a priority for many years, and I think is one that may come up this year even though it is not directly Covid-related. It may end up somewhat partisan because it is tied so closely to climate change. Paid family leave is another that is a priority and has been for many years, and may come up this session even though it is not necessarily a Covid response bill. But I would argue that it is more important because of Covid, and I can’t help but think how much better of a position we would have been in if we had a system to support Vermonters staying home when they were sick right now.
For this session I am on the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development. It is a pretty big change in subject matter for me, but I am excited, and obviously we will be at the forefront on a lot of the Covid-response bills this year. Last session I was on Human Services, which handles a lot of issues I am interested in – Substance Misuse Prevention and Child Care, but Commerce & Econ Development is a lot more related to what I studied in college. And with this new committee, I will make more connections with those parts of our state government that support small businesses and workers and workers’ rights, which I think will be extremely valuable for our district in this current moment.
As always, call me if there’s anything I can do to help or you want to talk about anything.
Stay safe and stay strong,
State Rep. Logan Nicoll
Ludlow, Mount Holly, Shrewsbury