The second week of the 2021 legislative session seemed to fly by. I guess, more accurately, you would say 'zoomed' by as we continue to meet remotely. I landed back on the Human Service Committee, and have been elected as the clerk. I have served on this committee for the past 4 years and look forward to working on issues that effect older Vermonters, children and families and our population health.
The first order of business during the second week of the legislature was to quickly move a bill that provides municipalities flexibility when determining how and when to hold Town Meeting. It gives municipalities the ability to expands access and protect citizens' health by allowing Australian balloting, should the town choose to do so. The legislation passed the Senate and has been signed by the Governor.
This past week the Human Services Committee held two joint sessions with the House Health Care Committee and the Senate Health & Welfare Committee. We were given updates on the Agency of Human Services' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We heard from the VT Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine who gave an update on the vaccine rollout and concerns he has about only receiving 8,000 doses per week. He did state that this is largely due to delays in distribution and not manufacturing. As of Friday, 5.2% of Vermont's population has received their first dose of the vaccine. This places us in the top ten among other states. It goes without saying that we are lucky to have Dr. Levine as Commissioner.
We heard from DAIL Commissioner Monica Hutt and representatives from nursing homes, residential care facilities and home health agencies which have have been providing services to older Vermonters. It was obvious how closely they have all worked together during the pandemic as our state has seen the lowest infection rates among older residents.
All of our committee meetings can be found on YouTube, should you like to follow along. The best place to track them down is to go to the legislature's web page at www.legislature.vermont.gov . From there you will see a tab for committees. If you go to the Human Services link you will see a link to the live stream as well as agendas and the bills we are working on. The same is true for all committees and the house floor debates; it is all on Youtube.
Rep. Theresa Wood and I held the first meeting of the Older Vermonters Caucus; we meet every Wednesday at noon. We started this caucus three years ago as a way to elevate awareness of the needs of older Vermonters among our legislative colleagues. We must make sure our laws and policy decisions take their needs into account. We will be hearing from the the Commissioner of Health, the Commoner of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living and the director of the UVM Center on Aging in the weeks to come. Each week we address a different topics ranging from housing and nutrition to transportation and internet accessibility.
I am drafting legislation this session that develops a framework for recovery housing. The goal is to provide greater access across the state to places where individuals in recovery can call home and begin to heal. I am also working on a bill that increases access to medically assisted treatment for individuals struggling with opioid use disorder by allowing one point of contact for treatment (currently a best practice in the military). Rep. Wood, of Waterbury, and I are partnering on legislation that looks at nutrition services available to older Vermonters and makes sure our resources are allocated effectively. I am working on legislation that creates the Office of the Child Advocate with the goal of making sure youth in foster care have the supports they need to transition to adulthood. I am working on some legislation with Sherif Marcoux to allow his staff to participate in a retirement system that will increase retention, professionalism and reduce the costs of employee turnover at the Lamoille County Sherif Department.
Representative Kate Donnally and I will be holding regular office hours over zoom the fourth Saturday of the month at 9:00 am. You can register here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfABXQQYq-mptJdJN4MQts2KYAJyFZ5UVwIYVf8Sv6kVuCfxw/v[...]NqY And of course, should this format or time not work for you, please feel free to give me a call or drop me an email if you have any questions or concerns about state government.
In Service,
Dan
Daniel Noyes Vermont House of Representatives - Human Services Committee Dnoyes@leg.state.vt.us Lamoille -2 802-730-7171
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