Vermont Public senior reporter Bob Kinzel has been covering the Statehouse since 1981 — longer than any continuously serving member of the Legislature. With his wealth of institutional knowledge, he answers your questions on our series "Ask Bob."
Curious about how the Vermont Legislature works? Have questions about what's happened under the Golden Dome in the past, and how that's affected our present? Ask Bob!
Explore the series, and submit a question for future exploration using the form below.
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Reporter Bob Kinzel answers a listener question about amendments to the Vermont Constitution.
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Sen. Patrick Leahy will not seek another term in office, planning to retire after serving 48 years in the U.S. Senate. Shortly after that, Rep. Peter Welch announced he would seek Leahy’s Senate seat. It’s a rare Vermont vacancy in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House, something that’s only happened a handful of times over the last century.
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As we enter the darkest season of the year, you may be wondering: Why do we have to fall back and spring ahead? And is there anything that can be done about it?
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After meeting remotely through the 2021 legislative session, Vermont lawmakers hope to return to the Statehouse in January for the 2022 session in person. But the recent rise in COVID-19 cases is causing legislative leaders to balance public participation in the democratic process with safety concerns.
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After more than a year of delays, the findings of the 2020 Census have been released. The once-a-decade count is used to realign both the country’s 435 districts of the U.S. House, as well as state legislatures nationwide, to reflect changes in population. It's a process known as redistricting in some places, and it’s called reapportionment in Vermont. Now, delays at the federal level mean Vermont’s apportionment board has gotten a late start to redrawing the state’s political map.
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The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins Tuesday, Feb. 9, and Vermont's Sen. Patrick Leahy will play a key role in the trial.…
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The second day of the new legislative session is traditionally the biggest ceremonial day in the Statehouse, a time when officials are sworn into office…
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Health concerns associated with the coronavirus pandemic mean the 2021 legislative session will be quite different from previous years. But before…
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Roughly 16 years ago, VPR senior political reporter Bob Kinzel set off on a massive research journey to see if he could find a town in Vermont that always…
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Vermonters have already set an all-time record for voting by mail in the 2020 election. Data from the Secretary of State's office reports more than…