Local democratic lawmakers held a town hall meeting discussing everything from mental healthcare to education and school camera citations. It was the last listening session before the general assembly convenes Monday January 13, 2026.
State Representative Debbie Buckner said one word sums up what she’s hearing from her constituents: affordability. “Most of the people that I’m talking to on the streets are talking about the price of things and whether they can afford things and what the economy might do and what’s happening. They’re concerned about just everyday expenses. They’re worried about will groceries go up, will gas go up, those kinds of things so I think we need to look at how we can help them out as best we can to keep things affordable and take care of our working families that are out there trying real hard to make all the ends meet.”
Representative Teddy Reese echoed those sentiments saying “I think about hungry people in our community today, I think about us threatening to hold back SNAP. I think about our seniors struggling to pay their prescription bill or pay their light bill and we just shouldn’t be in these positions and then there are those that act like they don’t see the challenges and that’s the part that bothers me the most.”…