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You wouldn’t know it from most news coverage, but voters really do want presidential candidates to lay out their plans to keep Social Security financially sound for future generations.

June 21, 2016

Gubernatorial Town Halls : We invite you to attend candidate town hall style forums this summer with all five candidates for Governor. Find out how each candidate stands on issues important to older Vermonters like transportation challenges, high utility bills or housing issues. Ask your own questions—face to face.

We are headed into a critical election both nationally and locally; and voters deserve to know how candidates will lead. The future of Social Security needs to be a critical part of the debate for President. As for state level elections, if a candidate wants to be Governor, they should be able to tell us their plans to address transportation needs and the rising cost of our utilities. We need your help to ensure issues facing older adults are top of mind for our next Governor.

As the state gears up to elect its next governor, AARP is offering members a chance to meet the candidates and learn their positions on issues important to Vermonters age 50-plus. AARP will host an information and training session for those interested in talking with candidates about their plans to improve transportation infrastructure, for example, or to keep utilities affordable. Volunteers will facilitate discussions of key issues at town hall meetings and other events, or through social media. “This is a great chance to get involved in the race for governor without getting tangled in partisan politics,” said Greg Marchildon, AARP state director. The session will be held at the AARP state office, 199 Main St., Suite 225, in Burlington, on Friday, July 1, from 10 a.m to noon. Snacks will be provided.

As the state gears up to elect its next governor, AARP is offering members a chance to meet the candidates and learn their positions on issues important to Vermonters age 50-plus. AARP will host an information and training session for those interested in talking with candidates about their plans to improve transportation infrastructure, for example, or to keep utilities affordable. Volunteers will facilitate discussions of key issues at town hall meetings and other events, or through social media.

Do you want inspiration for how Burlington could make its streets safe for walking and biking -- for everyone, all year round? Join us for an evening with Betsy Hodges, the mayor of Minneapolis, who will share her city's work to bring walking and biking within reach for all her city's residents.

“Everything is OK.” That seems to be the conclusion of the recent report and testimony by the Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) in responding to a legislative order to study whether its advocacy unit is best representing ratepayers. Unfortunately, everything is not OK, and both their report and public comments, while defending the status quo, actually prove how they are failing at that mission. It shows that the DPS does not serve, in any fashion, as a ratepayer advocate. In fact, it sees its mission as being focused on promoting the “public good” rather than “ratepayer interests,” particularly residential and small commercial customer interests. When our public advocate backs the utility companies time after time, something is clearly wrong