Thank You
by Rep. Bill Frank

Thank you, thank you!  I appreciate the support my Underhill, Jericho and Bolton neighbors gave me this election year.  It is truly a great honor to represent you and I am looking forward to returning to Montpelier on January 5^th.   I enjoyed bicycling, walking and driving up and down every road in our three towns, knocking on your door and visiting with you.  I listened to your stories and received your complements and criticism.  I heard what you think is working and what is not.  But most of all I got to meet you again, and many of you for the first time.  I will represent all of you for the next two years as we tackle some very difficult issues.

            Between now and January 5^th, I will be attending many meetings for legislators hosted by organizations including the Chittenden Country Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce, the Chittenden County Building Bright Futures, and Voices for Vermont’s Children.  I will also attend two all day conferences: The Vermont Statewide Housing Conference; “Bridges Out of Poverty” which is a training program that leads to a new way of thinking about poverty and economic diversity, helping to end generational poverty in our communities.  The third annual Kids Are Priority One Coalition State House Open House invites families to the State House.  I will be doing a skit with other legislatures for children and their parents on how a bill becomes a law.

My legislative committee, Human Services, is going to meet in December, prior to the next session, to discuss Vermont’s new Benefits Modernization program.  This will give us a jump start on the work ahead of us.  I am going to ask to be assigned to the Human Services committee again.

The last two years in the legislature were both challenging and rewarding.  We made investments in our roads, bridges, state parks, energy infrastructure, farms, health care systems and many other areas.  We worked to strengthen and smarten our sex offender laws.  We insured that all Vermonters had the right to marry.  There are many other areas where we did significant work.  Put simply, in the past two years, I believe that we focused on building a strong foundation for Vermont's Future.  We need to continue this work.  In December I will be writing in this column about how we will continue this work and some of the personal challenges I have. 

On December 28^th Rep. Till and I will be at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library to discuss these challenges.  Please plan to join us from 6:30-8:00 pm.