ROCKINGHAM — Bellows Falls resident Matthew Trieber is finishing up his first full term in the Vermont House of Representatives, working alongside fellow Windham-3 lawmaker Carolyn Partridge, D-Windham.
It's been three years since Gov. Peter Shumlin appointed Trieber to fill out the remainder of the term of longtime Bellows Falls Rep. Michael Obuchowski when that former House Speaker joined the Shumlin administration as Buildings and General Services Commissioner.
But the young Democrat, one of six openly gay Vermont legislators, has moved out from under Obuchowski's shadow and is making a name for himself as an active member of the House Human Services Committee.
He told The Commons that he has worked on what he called one of the most important pieces of legislation to come out of the House this year - H.790, a bill that addresses financial eligibility requirements for Vermont's Reach Up program.
Reach Up helps families with children by providing cash assistance for basic needs and services that support work and self-sufficiency.
Trieber said that one of the problems participants have run into in their struggle to get on their feet and move forward is what is called “the benefits cliff,” or what happens when a family makes too much money to remain eligible for the program but not enough to live on.
“The benefits cliff has unintended consequences for low-income Vermonters,” Trieber said, “preventing them from accomplishing goals we want of helping them move forward, and not pushing them into further debt.”
Trieber described a hypothetical scenario where a single, working mother is offered a raise at her part-time job and bumped to full-time hours. Under the previous eligibility requirements, he said, she would have had to refuse that offer in order to retain the cash benefits that she needs to bridge the income gap.
Oftentimes, this means a choice between working and not working, depending on the employer, he said.
Trieber said the previous financial eligibility requirements provided a disincentive to find or continue work. The benefit cliff was addressed when Trieber and other members worked in the Health and Human Services Committee on H.790 to raise taxable earned income credits.
The bill as written mandates raises in the earned-income tax credit to $5,000 for eligible families, up from the previous $2,000.
Trieber said this provides the buffer and incentive for wage earners with children to seek employment and accept raises without falling over the benefits cliff.
The bill was passed out of committee to the Senate, where it was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules on March 27. Trieber and many others on both sides of the aisle hope it will be considered before adjournment next month.
“People will always do what is in their best financial interest to do,” Trieber said. “It's the state's responsibility to set up programs that remove barriers to moving out of poverty.”
He added this bill “is the most important bill that will pass all year,” noting that everyone in the House stood up and applauded when the final vote was announced.
Raising the minimum wage
Trieber said he supported an amendment phasing in the minimum wage increase from $8.73 to $10.10 an hour over several years. He said he believes the $2,849.60 additional wage burden per employee per year was too much to expect small business owners to pay without consequences.
Trieber cited a study that said one of the consequences of an immediate increase to $10.10 would be the loss of jobs.
He explained that most of the businesses in towns along the Connecticut River border with New Hampshire, including his hometown, Bellows Falls, are small businesses, not “big box corporations,” and where the big corporations might not feel it as much, the unintended consequence of pushing the minimum wage up too fast could spell job losses from small businesses.
With New Hampshire's minimum wage the same as the current federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, Trieber said this creates an “island economy” for Vermont.
Again, he said, people will do what makes the most financial sense to them, and for employers balancing books it could mean relocating businesses to New Hampshire or letting employees go.
Trieber noted that if the federal minimum wage were raised to $10.10 an hour this problem of an “island economy” and potential job losses would not figure in the same way: everyone would be equal in dealing with the change.
H.552 has also been referred to the Senate Rules Committee, to be considered before the Legislature adjourns.
Trieber also voted in favor of the amended S.77, a bill that prohibits liability for self-administered lethal dosages; H.200, which reduces penalties for small amounts of marijuana; H.464, a bill that prohibits hydraulic fracking, with a conference report adopted; H.559, which establishes a health benefit exchange; S.17, a medical-marijuana bill; and H.202, the single-payer, unified health system.
Trieber said that “the Vermont state government has a fiduciary duty to live within its budget, just as its citizens do. While in the Statehouse, I worked to pass responsible budgets created without broad-based tax increases. Serving on the House Committee on Human Services, I fought to meet the needs of Vermont's most vulnerable while eliminating waste.”
Quick ascent
Trieber began his political career in 2010, running for and winning a one-year Rockingham Selectboard seat. When a three-year seat opened up on the board later that year, Trieber sought it and won.
He ran for and won re-election to the Vermont House in 2012. With his duties in the House taking up much of his time, Trieber declined to seek re-election to a Rockingham board seat in 2013.
Since then, Trieber, who works as an environmental consultant when the House is not in session, has been busy living up to what he says is the most important part of the Obuchowski legacy - being there for his constituents to listen and lend a hand when needed.
“The issues that are of the most importance to me are the ones that are brought to me by my constituents,” Trieber said. “I have enjoyed meeting so many people, hearing their concerns, and bringing them back to Montpelier to fight for them.”
To contact Rep. Matthew Trieber, write matrieber@hotmail.com.