Vermont Oct 2022

Editorial: MADD about this bill (vermont)

should necessities be taxed (vermont)

Presidents, VPs and Congressional Members Trivia Quiz - Fun Facts

blight in vermont

Should patients be mandated to get the Covid vaccine in order to receive an organ transplant? (Congress)

Should the Department of Labor review top secret clearance candidates for federal positions? (Congress)

Olypmics in vermont?

What does and for other purposes mean in bills?

Please enjoy a sampling of photos throughout the mag that provide a glimpse of the beauty of Vermont. None of the photographs deal with the subject matter on the page they are found.

About me, mag & contact info

I m Lisa Vallone. I have been involved with politics & government since my pre-teen years. The majority of my involvement centered around my role as a consultant to help various Party Chairs learn how to run more effective campaigns based on issues as well as training candidates on how to communicate constructively with those in their district. This led me to running for office myself, winning and proudly becoming the voice of my constituents. All of my experience has led me to this platform as I believe it is time we all more extensively educate ourselves on what bills are being considered for law on the State and Federal level. Afterall, we Americans need more than broad stroke concepts with no real meat of the issue for us to digest. We value the efforts of those elected officials and candidates who reach out with Town meetings and other measures to let us know what they are doing or plan to do in office. And we believe they are in the majority. But, we must seek out every avenue to let our Representatives hear our voice so they can better represent us in government.

Based on my background in government, teaching and communications I believe in 3 pillars as the foundation for any discussion (1) Educate yourself, (2) Communicate with others, and (3) Reciprocate respectfully. If we follow these pillars - if we educate ourselves, let our voices be heard in an environment of mutual respect for those in office, those seeking office or those with differing opinions, then we can make a more perfect union.

A couple of notes . . . In this magazine I intentionally leave off the name/ Party affiliation of the person who introduced the bill as we are more than our Party we are Americans looking for responsible government that represents us. Too often when we hear legislation has been proposed by the opposite Party we close our ears or immediately discount it. I do not want that to happen. Only during my podcast will this information be revealed. Here is to the power of people to have the knowledge to know how hard their representatives work to represent them in government.

Email: KnowTheIssuesWithLisaVallone@gmail.com

Podcast on Most Platforms: Know The Issues With Lisa Vallone Website: KnowTheIssues.com

Presidents, VPs & Congressional members

trivia quiz?

1. Which Presidential candidate ran for office while in jail: a. Eugene V Debs b. Richard M Nixon

2. The first Native American Congressman was: a. Charles Brent Curtis b. Thomas Ellicott

3. Which President named the “White House” the “White House”? a. Theodore Roosevelt b. Barack Obama

4. In Presidential elections having a height advantage seems to help a candidate as the taller candidate usually wins a. true b. false

5. This Congressman is the only Congressman to have a #1 hit on the Billboards Hot 100 a. Joe Walsh b. Sono Bono

6. Two archrival Presidents died on the same day. Were they a. Adams and Jefferson b. Adams and Washington

7. Glover Cleveland’s first name was actually “Stephen” before he changed it.

a. true b. false

Editorial: MADD About this bill ?

Vermont is taking steps to lower the legal blood alcohol concentration limit to operate a motor vehicle in the State to below 0.05. This bill, H733, was crafted to change the current prohibition on operating a motor vehicle from the current blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.08 or more.

Why this is important . . .

According to the MADD website .05 is approximately 3 drinks and can reduce coordination, ability to track objects, ability to steer and ability to react in an emergency. According to a study by Wagenaar in 2007 and Fell in 2018 if all states implemented a .05 BAC level, 528 to 1790 lives would be saved each year. “At .05, crash risk is 38 to 40 percent higher than it is at zero alcohol concentration. (National Safety Council, 2016). (Compton, 2002) and the risk of being killed as a driver in a single vehicle crash is 6 to 17 times greater for drivers at BACs between .05 and .07 compared to drivers with .00 BACs. (Zador, 2000) In the United States, a majority of the public supports a .05 BAC”

And so does Know the Issues with Lisa Vallone.

I hope other states such as NY pick up on Vermont’s lead.

If you would like to be on the podcast write knowtheissueswithlisavallone@gmail.com

Should necessities be taxed?

Anyone who has taken 12th grade economics knows that there is a difference between wants and needs. Wants are luxury items whereas needs are necessary tangible items. Necessities such as food and medicine are largely exempt from sales tax. But until recently, this dispensation had not been extended to feminine products. That is until Vermont passed legislation making feminine products exempt from sales tax. And with that passage one has to question what other products are considered a “necessity” that have not been slated by upcoming legislation to be exempt from sales tax. Breathing masks, clean room apparel & equipment, ear & hearing protectors, face shields, hardhats, helmets, protective gloves, safety belts, and safety googles are all taxable yet one can argue that they are all necessities especially when weighed against other pieces of clothing such as ear muffs &formal wear that are exempt. Medical alert bracelets can argueably save a life of someone and yet they are not exempt but wigs designed for people who suffer hair loss due to medical problems is exempt as it is considered a necessity.

Here is the page for items in Vermont that are taxable and not taxable. https://tax.vermont.gov/exempt-items

Blight fight

Urban blight such as the existence of deteriorating, substandard, vacant of abandoned properties is a problem everywhere to various degrees. Vermont has the highest number of vacant properties in the United States according to a recent the New York Times article, And that is why H714 was introduced to create a blighted property special fund to assist municipalities with making improvements to blighted properties.

Email me at KnowTheIssuesWithLisaVallone@gmail.com and I will book you on the podcast. It s free!

What does and for other purposes mean in the bills I read

If you have seen the title of a bill in Congress you may have noticed most say and for other purposes . For example, HR6549 reads To provide debt relief to developing countries with unsustainable levels of debt, and for other purposes. The phrase means all of the title could not fit so they shortened it. It should alert you to the fact that you should always read the entire bill to understand it completely. In this bill for example the and for other purposes includes such elements as standards for equitable burden sharing among all creditors with material claims on each participating debtor; robust debt disclosure; expanded eligibility criteria to include all countries with unsustainable levels of sovereign debt; standards for comprehensive creditor participation consistent with robust application of the policies of the International Monetary Funds relating to lending into arrears; and consistent enforcement and improvement of the policies of multilateral institutions relating to asset-based and revenue-based borrowing by participating debtors, and coordinated standards on restructuring collateralized debt. And that is just a small part of the and for other purposes . So it is important when discussing a bill take the time to read it all.

winter olympics In vermont

Bill 732 was crafted to authorize a study to explore the costs & benefits of hosting the Winter Olympics in Vermont.

It has been proven that the Olympics increase valuable tourism, which can in turn boost local economies. For example, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games had over 6.6 million foreign tourists that brought in over $6.2 billion dollars. But financial gain is not the only way that an Olympic site will increase the value of a location for it has been found that billions of people will watch the broadcasts of the Olympics and will put a hosting destination in a prestigious global presence.

Unfortunately, the Olympic hosting destinations also find that being a host results in the displacement or burden on its residents with minimal if any compensation. Neighborhoods are altered/destroyed to accomodate the events, traffic increased, and cost for needed infrastructures skyrocket. And these new infrastructures are typically discarded after the events have concluded leading to blight and crime.

Vermont has a lot to consider. How do you feel about this bill? Would you like to be a podcast guest? If so what knowtheissueswithLisaVallone@gmail.com

Should the Department of Labor review top secret clearance candidates for federal positions?

HR 6419 is titled Fair Chance Improvement Act and if passed would “revise provisions regarding the prohibition on federal contractors, including defense contractors, inquiring about applicants' criminal histories prior to conditional offers of employment.”

With this bill there are at least two parts to contemplate (1) should applicants criminal histories be reviewed prior to conditional offers of employment? If you believe it should be then (2) should this task be switched from the GSA and the Dept of Defense to the Department of Labor as the bill states it will be.

Is the Department of Labor equipped to investigate contractors with top secret clearances for national safety concerns? Will this change the mission of the Department of Labor? Will this actually add cost to train and hire people qualified for reviewing potential federal contractors with top secret clearance?

Answers to trivia quiz

1. Which President . . .:

a. Socialist candidate Eugene V Debs was in federal prison when he ran for office and although he lost he still received 900,000 votes (3.4% of the vote)

2. First Native American Congressman . . . .

a. Charles Brent Curtis starting in 1893. (Native American on his mother’s side) He was also the 1st and only Native American VP, having been on the winning ticket with Hoover. Interestingly enough Native Americans were not given the right to vote until the Snyder Act of 1924.

3. Which President named it the “White House” . . .

a. Theodore Roosevelt officially named it the White House. Prior to him taking office, the White House had different names including the “President’s Palace,” which sounded a bit like a throwback to England’s royalty, the “President’s House” and the “Executive Mansion.”

4. Taller candidate . . .

a. true. In the thirty-one presidential elections between 1900 and 2020, twenty-one of the 31 winning candidates have been taller than their opponents. In the JFK-Nixon televised debate voters are said to have thought JFK won the debate due to not only has tanned and relaxed look but also because of his height advantage.

5. This Congressman is the only Congressman to have a #1 hit on the Billboards Hot 100 b. Sonny Bono holds that title with his hit “I got you Babe” which stayed at #1 for 3 weeks.

6. Two archrival Presidents died on the same day. Were they a. Adams and Jefferson. The feud between these two Presidents is said to have begun over a disagreement regarding the Declaration of Independence. Adams thought the day to celebrate should be July 2nd as that is when the actual vote for Independence took place. Jefferson however argued that July 4th should be the date to celebrate as that is when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Jefferson won that argument. Oddly enough both Presidents died on July 4, 1826 - 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration.

7. Grover Cleveland’s 1st name was actually Stephen. . . a. True. Does Stephen Cleveland have the same ring to you?