I’d like to introduce Kate Larose who was a talented 2018 candidate for the statehouse from St. Albans, and will hopefully be successful the next time she decides to toss her hat in the ring.

Kate is a generous, public spirited member of our community, who recently organized an excursion to the southern border in order to lend a helping hand to asylum seekers caught in the snare of Donald Trump’s xenophobic fantasies.  

Here is a link to the GoFundMe page that Kate has created for the ongoing effort.

Upon her return from the border at the beginning of March, Kate suffered a concussion that has left her with some temporary challenges.  Nevertheless, she penned the following which I am happy to share with our GMD readers:

“After thinking about it for 10 minutes I turned to my husband and asked, embarrassed, “Is it 2018 or 2019 right now?”  These moments are becoming less frequent in recent weeks, but my struggle to get my life back after smacking my head on the ice this winter continues on.  There are good days and bad days.

This morning I woke up and found I was having a good day.  And realized that it’s May 1st, celebrated as May Day— a reminder of the pain, suffering, and advocacy that it took to obtain current working conditions such as the 40-hour workweek, two-day weekends, and a ban on child labor.  And that this time last year I was running for office, in large part because bills like $15 minimum wage and paid family and medical leave were being debated in the statehouse, but not expected to pass.

Though I came up short on the votes in November, I was relieved knowing that there was a majority in the house and that the issues my neighbors told me were critically important to them—issues that would substantially change lives for the better for at least 90,000 Vermonters—would pass into law even with the governor’s expected veto.

This morning was the first time I’ve been able to give much thought to this since the accident, and I only got to this point due to privileges that most of my neighbors don’t have: decent healthcare coverage, access to short term disability insurance, a spouse who can use paid sick time to drive me to my many medical appointments.  (It comes as no surprise that a recent report found that 66% of all bankruptcies are tied to medical issues, given the high costs of healthcare and unpaid time out of work.)

There are no excuses for paid family and medical leave and $15 minimum wage to not become law in July.  No excuses for people not to have the same access to recovery and medical care that I have.  Yet too many politicians are wavering under the pressure being heaped on by lobbyists. The corporate donors. The voices of those who are able to take seats at the statehouse (because they’re not busy working two and three jobs to make ends meet).

Out of our Franklin county delegation of 13 elected officials, only one (thank you Rep. McCarthy!) is in support of minimum wage, and only two (McCarthy and Fegard) are currently in support of paid family and medical leave insurance.

So here I am a year later, still wondering to myself if it’s 2018 or 2019.

Contact your reps today and ask that they vote in the best interests of Vermonters: not in the interests of their circles of supporters or desired longevity of their political careers.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”  If you believe this to be true, please consider running for office.  Franklin county and Vermont needs you!”