Current News

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets 2020 was a year of turbulence, uncertainty and change, with many important societal issues highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets has been deeply involved in many of these issues impacting Vermonters, while ensuring that important agriculture considerations continue to stay at the forefront of ongoing legislative discussions.

by Geoff Robertson As Ron Wexler sat in his office one cold winter day back in 2014, he got to thinking about windows. The seven large casement windows in his office allowed natural light to flow into his workspace—along with freezing cold drafts from the icy wind outside. Replacing the windows would be expensive in the 1925 building, prohibitively so at the time, but it bothered Ron that so much energy was seeping out those windows—not only because he was cold, but also because as a product developer and environmentalist, he understood how those old, drafty windows were contributing to the much larger problem of climate change.

by Dan MacArthur & Douglas Korb The Legislature has recently passed S.13 establishing a Task Force to study and implement updates to Weighting Factors in Vermont’s Education Funding Formula. The task force will use a study commissioned by the Vermont Legislature, and completed by Professor Kolbe from UVM, which contains some very specific recommendations for how to address the issue of inequity, as the basis for its work. It is important to note that the recommendations of the study do NOT add any funding from either state or local sources, they simply re-allocate the same pot of money so that local tax rates become more equitable.

Vermont Business Magazine The official Vermont State Butterfly, the Monarch, will soon be returning to Vermont, and with it a new children’s book from New York Times Best Selling Authors and Essex residents John and Jennifer Churchman. This will be the Churchman’s seventh book since 2015 when they debuted with their first book Sweet Pea & Friends The SheepOver.

Vermont Business Magazine Opera North has announced a grant of $10,000 from the Couch Family Foundation that supports organizations serving the Upper Valley and Martha's Vineyard. Opera North usually hosts more than 7,000 people at our summer festival productions. Last year, though we managed to Sing ON under very careful and constrained conditions, we sang for just 750. That significant drop in ticket sales threatened more than just finances and awareness; it meant a re-evaluation of vision and mission.

Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing As all have heard by now, more than 80 percent of eligible Vermonters have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and Governor Phil Scott has lifted all business, gathering, and travel related restrictions.

Vermont Business Magazine Community National Bank (CNB) CEO Kathy Austin has announced the promotion of Christopher (Chris) Caldwell to Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer. The Board of Directors of Community Bancorp. and Community National Bank in Derby voted to approve Caldwell’s promotion to Executive Officer of the Bank and Vice President of Community Bancorp., to be effective July 1, 2021. Austin commented, “Chris will be a great addition to our Executive team. He brings a wealth of knowledge gained in his previous lending and executive leadership positions.”

Vermont Business Magazine As the UVM Health Network continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and a widespread cyberattack, the FY 2022 budget submission filed today with the Green Mountain Care Board focuses on advancing the Network’s commitment to serve patients with the highest quality care and services at the lowest possible cost. The combined net patient revenue increase is 6 percent. The hospitals include UVMMC, CVMC and Porter.

by Julie Lowell, Public Assets Institute Vermont leaders demonstrated their commitment to Vermonters during the pandemic. They told the truth, faced reality, and committed to the public good to weather the emergency. The post-COVID recovery requires this same level of commitment to address the ongoing challenges that the pandemic highlighted—deteriorating infrastructure, income insecurity, and systemic inequities. Aided by federal relief funds this year, the $7.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2022, which started on July 1, provides a good start.

Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint It’s imperative that Vermonters who don’t own their own homes are able to rent safe, clean apartments. Our constituents want and deserve decent homes for themselves and their families. Poor housing quality often leads to serious health problems, especially for children. This critical bill provided a long overdue complaint-driven system for protecting our constituents from substandard rental housing conditions. This alone was reason enough to support the bill.

Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski At a time when Vermont is experiencing a severe housing crisis, the Governor’s veto of S.79 sets us backwards, not forward in solving the problem. S.79 would have invested in affordable housing, expanded home ownership to more Vermonters, and provided resources to improve the health and safety of rental properties across the state.

Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition While we are grateful for Governor Scott’s actions to create more affordable housing in Vermont, we are disappointed by his veto of S.79, the Rental Housing Safety Bill. This legislation had the support from a wide array of groups, including the Vermont Landlords Association, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, the Vermont Planning and Development Association, Regional Planning Commissions, the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness, and from officials within the Administration.