Current News

By Alan Panebaker vtdigger.org The Shumlin administration and the Green Mountain Care Board introduced road maps Thursday for how they plan to implement health care reform.
The board’s annual report and the administration’s Strategic Plan for Vermont Health Reform shed light on the specifics of how the state will maneuver to a health benefits exchange in 2014 and into a single-payer system in 2017.
Download theGMCB Annual Report
Last week the board approved its work plan, identifying high priorities for 2012. Anya Rader Wallack, chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, fielded questions from legislators Thursday that have become somewhat of the norm: How will the board maintain its independence from the Shumlin administration and how is a reformed system going to control costs?

The 2012 Farm Show, which runs from Jan. 24th-26th at the Champlain Valley Expo, will be the largest in Vermont’s history. The Essex Junction venue will be filled with 277 booths, representing 168 vendors. The show was relocated to the fairgrounds this year from its former home in Barre to accommodate steadily increasing attendance from both vendors and visitors in recent years.
For a full list of Farm Show exhibitors, visit http://www.vtfarmshow.com/exhibitors.html
Farm Show Schedule
Hours for the Farm Show are as follows
Tues., Jan. 24th: 9 a.m. ‘ 5 p.m.
Wed., Jan. 25th: 9 a.m. ‘ 8 p.m.
Thur., Jan. 26th: 9 a.m. ‘ 4 p.m.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Pat McDonald announced today that she would be stepping down at Chair of the Vermont Republican Party at the end of this month, but would be continuing to assist the VT GOP in communications and outreach.
Below is her statement:
"The past year has been one of the most exciting and rewarding times of my career. I have immensely enjoyed serving as Chair of the Vermont Republican Party, and I'm very proud of what we have been able to accomplish in positioning the VT GOP for the opportunities that lie ahead.
"Make no mistake, the ground is fertile for big changes in Vermont in 2012. The people of Vermont have grown weary of politics as usual, and they have little patience left for politicians who make promises they can't keep. They are looking for leaders to take them in a new direction: leaders who will help grow our economy, create new opportunities for the people that live here, and bring about a new age of prosperity in Vermont.

Formalizing agreements related to the impending sale of Central Vermont Public Service and its merger with Green Mountain Power, GMP signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the City of Rutland to ensure a strong relationship and significant benefits for Rutland in the years ahead. The MOU settles the city's intervention in the state's review of the sale and merger proposal, and explicitly states the city's support for the merger.
Rutland City Mayor Christopher Louras and GMP President and CEO Mary Powell signed the MOU after the Rutland Board of Aldermen authorized its execution Thursday evening.
"Rutland will play a critical role in the future of the post-merger combined GMP/CVPS company, and the post-merger combined company should continue to play a prominent role in Rutland as well, much as CVPS has done," the parties said in the MOU, which will be filed with the Vermont Public Service Board.

In a keenly awaited step along Vermont’s path to recovery from Irene, Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I), Congressman Peter Welch (D) and Governor Peter Shumlin (D) Friday announced that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is releasing $21.6 million in community rebuilding funds to Vermont from a newly enacted appropriations bill.

The State of Vermont cannot force the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to close on March 21, 2012. In a ruling released late Thursday afternoon, United States District JudgeJ Garvan Murtha ruled in favor of VY owner Entergy over the state, and in particular Governor Peter Shumlin. Murtha order said the state has no right to preempt the Atomic Energy Act and stand in the way of Entergy seeking a certificate of Public Good to extend the license of the plant for 20 years, nor could the state require Entergyt to seek additional state approval to store spent fuel on-site after March 21, 2012, nor could it require Entergy to sell electricity to Vermont below market rates.

We’re pleased with the decision, which Judge Murtha issued after a thorough review of the facts and the law. The ruling is good news for our 600 employees, the environment and New England residents and industries that depend on clean, affordable, reliable power provided by Vermont Yankee.

The third largest gift ever made to Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC’s) endowment will fund efforts to enhance primary care physician recruitment and support nursing recruitment and retention within the health system. The gift comes from Helen Dixon Kunzelmann who died in June. The amount was not disclosed.
‘Southwestern Vermont Health Care is extremely grateful to Mrs. Kunzelmann and her family for supporting us,’ said Thomas A. Dee, president and CEO. ‘Recruiting talented clinical personnel in the fields of primary care and nursing is a top strategic initiative for SVHC. Mrs. Kunzelmann wanted to make life better for people in the Bennington area. To her, that meant having quality primary care and nursing care available. By giving to our endowment, Mrs. Kunzelmann’s legacy will continue to help our health system for years to come.’

Merchants Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank, announced that its Board of Directors declared today, January 19, 2012, a dividend of 28 cents per share, payable February 16, 2012, to shareholders of record as of February 2, 2012. This quarter represents our 61st consecutive quarterly dividend payment and our 25th consecutive quarter at the current payout level.
Merchants also announced the extension, through January 2013, of its stock buyback program, originally adopted in January 2007. Under the program Merchants may repurchase 200,000 shares of its common stock on the open market from time to time, and had purchased 143,475 shares to date. Although Merchants did not repurchase any of its shares during the fourth quarter of 2011, and does not expect to repurchase shares in the near future, Merchants wanted to preserve the flexibility of an active buyback program.

State Auditor Tom Salmon, CPA, CFE, released today the results of the second of four planned audits that evaluate the state’s current active tax increment financing (TIF) districts. The first audit, City of Newport TIF district, was released June 2011. State law requires that the State Auditor audit all active TIF districts every four years.

Vermont’s congressional delegation ‘ US Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) ‘ announced today the release of $4.9 million for Vermont under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
The latest allotment released by the US Department on Health and Human Services brings Vermont’s total this year to $19.5 million this winter, down from $26 million in 2010. The state of Vermont has committed $6.1 million to help make up the difference.
Sanders, Leahy and Welch are cosponsors of legislation to provide additional funding for LIHEAP to at least match last year’s total of $4.7 billion nationwide and $26 million for Vermont. Sanders and Leahy have called on Senate leadership to bring up the measure as soon as Congress reconvenes in January.

Vermont's political leaders have weighed in on President Obama's decision Wednesday toreject a permit for TransCanada to build an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. A new permit possibly for a different route of the Keystone XL Pipeline is expected.
Governor Shumlin said: ‘I applaud President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline. We need to find energy sources that will mitigate the impacts of climate change as much as possible for Vermont and the United States. The Keystone Project would have been a step backwards for energy efficiency and government transparency in the United States. President Obama made the right decision.’