The 49-member Republican caucus in the Vermont House of Representatives unveiled a new Website this morning. You can check it out
here.
In the back and forth between the Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate and the Republican Douglas administration, the voice of this minority in the House can get lost -- except when it comes time to hold a veto vote.
To make sure folks outside the Statehouse know what they are thinking and saying, the caucus has set up this Website.
House Republican Leader Steve Adams isn't at the Statehouse right now, having just undergone heart valve surgery. (Reportedly successful according to the Website) Still, he offered this advice at the Website:
"So, if I can’t be in Montpelier myself, at least let me share this thought with my colleagues from both parties, and hope it stays with you in my brief absence. This session, focus on what is really important. All the issues that we know divide us, set them aside for now. Don’t let them be a distraction that keeps us from fixing the things that our constituents need us to fix. This is what the people of Vermont deserve, and we will all be better for it."Assistant Republican House Leader Patti Komline of Dorset is in charge for now and she outlines the caucus' priorities for the session at the site. Obviously, if folks outside the Statehouse like any of these ideas, they will need to lobby to get them to happen, because if the House Republicans' proposals don't coincide with the priorities of Democratic Speaker Gaye Symington and her leadership team -- and some don't -- they won't happen. Remember the split in the 150-member House is 93 Democrats, 49 Republicans, six Progressives and two independents.-- Nancy Remsen
