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Leonine Public Affairs This week Governor Phil Scott announced his plan to reopen the state and lift the most significant restrictions that have been in place since the COVID-19 pandemic reached Vermont. The Vermont Forward Plan aims to lift gathering, distancing and masking requirements by July 4, although social distancing and masking will continue to be encouraged. On Tuesday Governor Scott released his proposal for how the state should spend roughly $1 billion in one-time federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The state has until December 2024 to allocate these funds, unlike the Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars, which needed to be spent by the end of 2020. In the legislature the Senate approved two constitutional amendments that will now go to the House for consideration. Proposition 2 would remove references to slavery from the Vermont constitution and Proposition 5 would enshrine people’s personal reproductive rights in the Vermont Constitution.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Legislature are celebrating 30 years of VSAC’s Educational Opportunity Center with a proclamation and concurrent resolution, naming the week of April 12, Educational Opportunity Center Week in Vermont. Vermont Student Assistance Corp. is marking three decades of success in the Educational Opportunity Center, a federally funded outreach program that helps Vermont adults access college and career training services that will build the foundation for successful careers.

Vermont Business Magazine Healthy Living Market and Café has announced that a combined $49,167 has been donated to food banks in each of its three communities as a result of its round-up campaign, Together We Can Help. With each Healthy Living location having chosen its own beneficiary, four organizations received a donation for the 2020 fundraising campaign. In Vermont, $24,701 will be provided to Feeding Chittenden and $18,904 to the South Burlington Food Shelf — with all of the Williston location’s donations going to Feeding Chittenden, and the South Burlington Food Shelf and Feeding Chittenden receiving a 50/50 split of the South Burlington location’s round-up proceeds.

Vermont Business Magazine As part of the State of Vermont’s vaccination efforts, The Vermont National Guard is administering 1000 doses of the one dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine at the Central Vermont Medical Center’s Vaccine Hub located in the former JCPenney in Berlin Mall on Sunday April 11. The by-appointment-only event will run from 8am to 8pm, and is already completely booked.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Bank NA recently presented a $10,000 donation to Special Olympics Vermont (SOVT) as part of its Goals for Good sponsorship with the University of Vermont men’s and women’s ice hockey teams. At the start of the hockey season, Community Bank N.A. pledged to donate $75 per goal to SOVT. This is the third year in a row the bank has supported this community initiative and this year expanded the partnership to also include the women’s ice hockey team.

Vermont Business Magazine Nearly a quarter million Vermonters have now received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Beginning at 8:15 a.m. Monday, April 12, Vermonters age 30 and older will be able to make an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The final group of 16+ can sign up starting April 19. Governor Scott has also suggested that, if vaccine supply holds up, even out-of-staters will be able to sign up in Vermont. The VDH is reporting today 145 new cases of COVID-19 with one more death for a statewide total of 231.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Regular weekly unemployment claims continue at a very high level as claimants were required to refile. Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said last that the pandemic hit one year ago. The annual refiling then triggered the increase. However, initial claims are nearly 15,000 fewer than the same time last year.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointments of Sabina Haskell and Wendy Knight as deputy commissioners at the Department of Liquor and Lottery. The Department of Liquor and Lottery was created in 2018 when Governor Scott signed Act 1 of the special session into law, merging the Department of Liquor Control with the Vermont State Lottery.

by Gary Derr, University of Vermont vice president for operations and public safety There has been much attention in the news in recent weeks about UVM’s coronavirus cases. But focusing only on the number of positive test results, as news reports have done, is misleading. There is likely no other population in the state that is being tested more extensively than UVM students are. In a recent 14-day period, UVM conducted about 32% of all the tests across the entire state. That is a staggering statistic; nearly a third of all the coronavirus tests conducted throughout Vermont come from UVM tests.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont Senate voted to advance two proposed amendments to the state Constitution. The Senate voted 29-1 in favor of Proposal 2, which seeks to clarify that slavery and indentured servitude in any form are prohibited, and 26-4 in favor of Proposal 5, which seeks to ensure the personal reproductive liberty of every Vermonter.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders on Friday issued the following statement after workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama lost a vote to form a union: “I am disappointed but not surprised by the vote. It is extraordinarily courageous for workers to take on one of the world's wealthiest and most powerful corporations, a company that spent unlimited sums of money to defeat the organizing effort. It also appears that some of Amazon's anti-union efforts may have been in violation of NLRB law. And that is something that the union is addressing with the NLRB right now."

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott, Senator Bernie Sanders, Vermont Afterschool and the Agency of Education today outlined a plan to enhance and expand summertime enrichment opportunities for Vermont students grades K-12. In response to the impact of the pandemic on children, youth and families, Governor Scott, Senator Sanders and other partners are working to ensure that every child, of every age, has access to engaging, enriching activities this summer. Knowing the challenges of this past year, these leaders are committed to making sure kids can re-connect with themselves, their friends, and their communities in safe and rewarding ways.