S.39: A seat at the table of public service

Multiple news outlets covered the S.39 Senate Floor Debate, here are few of those pieces of coverage that feature Senator White who was the Reporter of the bill.

Photo by Kevin Mccallum from Seven Days

“Vermont senators advanced a plan on Thursday to double the pay of lawmakers in a bid to make it easier for average residents to serve in the part-time General Assembly. The bill is in response to the mounting evidence that serving in the Statehouse presents a major financial hardship for many.

’Serving in the Vermont legislature is not supposed to be a career,’ Sen. Becca White (D-Windsor) said. ‘But it’s also not supposed to be a job that only wealthy or retired folks can afford to do.’

White, who at age 28 is the youngest Vermont senator, is a part-time cashier at the Upper Valley Food Coop, where she makes about $15 per hour. She noted that the state constitution says lawmakers have the ‘right to reasonable compensation,’ and said policy debates in Montpelier always benefit from a more diverse group of lawmakers.”