Current News

Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO On May 1st, International Workers’ Day, the House Committee on General and Housing passed S.102, the Vermont Protect the Right to Organize “PRO” Act with strong, bipartisan support: 11 of the 12 Committee members voted yes with only one abstention. Last year, S.102, the Vermont Protect the Right to Organize “PRO” Act, passed the Senate 23-7. Many of our labor laws have not been updated in decades – some for almost a hundred years – and have failed to protect some of the most marginalized workers. S.102 would fix Vermont’s labor laws and level the playing field. It would study granting collective bargaining rights to agricultural and domestic workers; protect employees from political and religious coercion, also known as captive audience meetings; and simplify union elections in the public sector through card check.

Vermont Business Magazine On April 30, Vermont’s Agency of Human Services (AHS) submitted a request to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to amend its Global Commitment to Health (Global Commitment) demonstration. This agreement grants Vermont flexibility in utilizing Medicaid dollars. Since its approval in 2005, the Global Commitment demonstration has played a pivotal role in broadening access to health care coverage, strengthening Vermont’s public health and health-related services infrastructure, and driving reforms in health care payment and delivery. Through this amendment request, Vermont aims to expand access to care for Vermonters with mental health conditions and substance use disorders (SUD), provide housing and other supports to promote whole-person health, and implement a new payment model for hospitals. 

Vermont Business Magazine Patients in our region are being served by nationally recognized hospitals as all three critical access hospitals in the University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center, Elizabethtown Community Hospital, and Porter Medical Center – have been named to a list of 27 ‘Critical Access Hospitals to Know’ nationwide by Becker’s Hospital Review. Critical access hospitals are vital to ensuring residents and visitors of rural areas have access to high quality care, close to home, when they need it. By definition, they offer 24/7 emergency care and have no more than 25 inpatient beds. Alice Hyde earned Critical Access Hospital designation just a few months ago.

Vermont Business Magazine For the second year in a row, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services (USDA), in coordination with the Vermont Department of Health, will conduct a spring rabies vaccine bait drop. This special distribution of approximately 264,000 oral rabies vaccine bait in areas of Chittenden, Lamoille, Franklin, and Grand Isle Counties is scheduled to begin on May 4. Officials said the extra effort is needed to help counter an ongoing wildlife rabies outbreak, which has expanded into Franklin County. The early distribution is in addition to the annual bait drop in August. In both rounds, rabies vaccine – in the form of a sweet-smelling oral bait that is attractive to raccoons and skunks – will be dropped from low-flying airplanes in rural areas, by helicopter in suburban areas, and placed by hand from slow-moving vehicles in residential areas. Rabies is a deadly viral disease of the brain that infects mammals.

Vermont Business Magazine Health care clinicians from across Vermont applaud the Legislature for passing H.766, a bill that will reduce administrative delays in care and streamline insurance requirements. Health care organizations, including the Vermont Medical Society, Vermont Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics Vermont Chapter, Vermont Association of Hospital and Health Systems, Bi-State Primary Care, Vermont HealthFirst and University of Vermont Health Network support the important steps this bill takes in reducing insurance paperwork burdens for Vermont providers and in removing barriers to care for Vermont patients, and urge Governor Scott to sign the bill. The passage of H.766 will alleviate the mounting administrative burden on primary care clinicians by exempting primary care from prior authorizations for imaging and procedures.

Vermont Business Magazine As the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) has previously reported, Change Healthcare, which operates Vermont's Medicaid pharmacy claims system, experienced a significant cyber security issue on February 21, 2024. Starting on March 18, 2024, pharmacy claims began processing again. As of this time, Change Healthcare, and their parent company UnitedHealth Group, have not informed the Department what member information may have been compromised during the incident. The Department of Vermont Health Access would like to notify Vermonters of support programs in place for those who are concerned about the security of their personal data, due to the criminal cyberattack on Change Healthcare’s systems. 

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.64 per gallon, up 1 cent per gallon from last week, up 27 cents/g from last month and up 9 cents/g from last year. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.44/g in Rutland, while the highest was $3.79/g in Lyndonville. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 1 cent per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.66/g today. The national average is up 11 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 9 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Drivers of fully electric vehicles in Vermont are beginning to feel some relief from range anxiety with the arrival of the first fast chargers provided through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. The four super-fast NEVI charging stations can simultaneously charge 180 kilowatts per hour and are located in a municipal parking lot known as Denny Park at 6 South Main Street in downtown Bradford, near I-91. Many more locations are on the way and the Vermont Agency of Transportation is taking applications for the future sites. There will be a total of 15 NEVI sites, which will be located near key interchanges and local routes across Vermont. They can charge an EV in about 15 minutes. The next 14 NEVI sites will be under contract this year, though the completion of all those buildouts might not be completed this year necessarily.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and State veterinary and public health officials are investigating an illness among primarily older dairy cows. Vermont is monitoring the situation as it develops.  Currently, no cases have been detected in Vermont and no links to affected states have been identified.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $28,650,000 from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help Vermont identify and replace lead service lines, preventing exposure to lead in drinking water. Lead can cause a range of serious health impacts, including irreversible harm to brain development in children. To protect children and families, President Biden has committed to replacing every lead pipe in the country. Vermont projects include: Town of Bethel has received $2,500,000 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to begin a preliminary engineering report and environmental report for replacing lead service lines; City of Rutland has received $800,000 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to inventory lead service lines.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources is hosting two events to receive feedback on the proposed Core Principles of Community Engagement (the Principles) under the Vermont Environmental Justice Law. The Principles will guide the creation of community engagement plans by the Agencies of Natural Resources, Transportation, Commerce and Community Development, Agriculture, and Education; the Public Utility Commission; the Natural Resources Board; and the Departments of Health, Public Safety, and Public Service. The public is invited to join one of the public meetings, one hybrid and one virtual, to provide feedback May 17 or May 22.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont’s (UVM) second annual Research, Innovation, Sustainability and Entrepreneur (RISE) Summit is attracting local, regional and national voices who will gather June 24 and 25 to share knowledge, to network and create conversations on this year’s theme “Partners in Place.” In 2023, UVM brought together the region’s entrepreneurs, business and community development leaders with faculty and students to introduce an intensive partnership approach to building a prosperous future for Vermont and the region. The first RISE conference attracted over 900 participants.