Current News

Vermont Research News While much recent attention has focused on urban police forces, such as the move to cut the Burlington police budget, town spending on police services has also grown. Student researchers with the Legislative Intern Policy Center collected data from 140 towns on how much they spend on police services. Some towns spend a lot and some spend very little. Per capita town-level spending ranges from almost zero to above $400. Also, In a sample of interviewed participants around Burlington, 25.8% had either never, or very rarely accessed their local natural areas before the pandemic.

by Bill Schubart As a grateful user of Vermont’s healthcare system (UVM hip replacement last year), an observer of its growth (the house I grew up in in Morrisville was next to a pasture in which the current Copley Hospital was built in 1958), and a participant in its growth (I chaired Fletcher Allen in 2003). I value and care deeply about healthcare in Vermont. And, full disclosure, I’m an advocate for universal healthcare coverage and hope to see it in my lifetime.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch was in Winooski Wednesday to highlight sweeping infrastructure legislation expected to pass the US House of Representatives. The event was held near two Winooski projects that could benefit from the passage of the bill and included Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott, local developer Jacquie Dagesse and Vermont State Senator Dick Mazza.

Vermont Business Magazine AT&T customers across Vermont are getting a major boost in their wireless connectivity. They've expanded their 4G LTE network coverage across the state. Additionally, they’ve launched two new, purpose-built cell sites to give first responders access to FirstNet, the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to America’s first responders and the extended public safety community.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported 17 new cases of CVOID-19 in Vermont. This is the highest single-day total in over a week. Eight of the cases were in Chittenden County, three were in Franklin County and another three in Windham County. The statewide total is now 1,227. Associated deaths are holding at 56. There are two hospitalized.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) are leading a new proposed amendment to the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to require President Trump and the Trump Organization to disclose full financial information, including the total income earned by the Trump Organization from any licensing agreements, for foreign properties owned by President Trump’s family business.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott announced actions on the following bills, passed by the Legislature. Notable among these bills is H.966, the second part of the Emergency Economic Recovery Grants. Scott also chose to let S.348 bill become law without his signature. This is the vote-by-mail bill that the governor disagreed with in its process but had said repeatedly that he would not "stand in the way" of.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) today released its weekly COVID-19 data and modeling update for Vermont. Governor Phil Scott said: "As we see concerning outbreaks across parts of the United States, we are fortunate the Northeast continues to move in the right direction. Here in Vermont, between June 26 and July 1, our seven-day average test positivity was 0.4 percent, the lowest in the United States."

Vermont Business Magazine In light of a “stunning lack of federal government action to protect passengers, flight attendants, pilots, and other aviation workers,” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) wrote to the heads of the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, demanding that they “take immediate action to mandate that airlines protect passengers and employees and put safety over profit."

Vermont Business Magazine The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced nine Vermont arts and cultural organizations will receive $629,154 in highly competitive direct grants through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to mitigate the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) today announced the launch of a new electronic device incentive program in which VEC members who purchase certain types of equipment can be entered into a monthly drawing to win a $100 bill credit. VEC’s “ChargeItUp” program is a way for VEC members who buy electricity-powered tools such as yard care equipment and other devices that have been traditionally powered by fossil fuels, to have a chance to win the bill credit and share their experience with the equipment.