Current News
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine As a result of the COVID-19 emergency, some motor carriers have requested an extension of the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) first-quarter report currently due by April 30, 2020. IFTA has issued a notice that it will not require first-quarter funds to be transmitted from jurisdictions until early June.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Just as the world confronts the coronavirus pandemic and economic pandemonium, and the American educational system struggles to transition to meaningful online education, Sterling College is poised to confront all three challenges simultaneously with the support of a recently awarded $1.5 million grant. Sterling College is breaking new ground with EcoGather, the first online higher education platform of its kind designed to advance ecological thinking and action as a foundation for building regenerative communities.
by tim
Senator Patrick Leahy Today the DC Court of Appeals is hearing arguments in the US House of Representatives’ lawsuit against the Trump administration for hijacking billions of congressionally appropriated dollars to benefit military families and redirecting them to build President Trump’s wall. The House’s central argument – that Congress, and Congress alone, possesses the power of the purse – doesn’t require any esoteric interpretation of the Constitution; it simply requires a reading of its plain text.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Employees at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (Blue Cross) have donated $8,555 to the Vermont Foodbank to assist with the growing need for food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Blue Cross matched these funds dollar-for-dollar to make the total donation $17,110.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS) Chancellor, Jeb Spaulding, today announced plans to resign from the post after more than five years leading the organization. Spaulding will formally submit his resignation to the Board of Trustees at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow night. Spaulding has led the organization through a time of significant challenges and disruption in higher education. These challenges have been intensified by the global COVID-19 pandemic causing more strain on organizational finances and leading the chancellor to make the recent controversial recommendation to close three VSCS campuses, which he withdrew last week.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The permitted processes include: Mailing a ballot proactively to every active or registered voter; Implementing a “drive-up” voting procedure; Holding a polling location outside; Forgoing the review of write-in votes in certain instances; Adjusting the deadline for nominating paperwork for candidates.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine In a recent report card delivered to the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) applauded Vermont’s progress toward reaching Lake Champlain cleanup goals. The Lake Champlain cleanup is a decades-long endeavor, requiring steadfast stewardship and action across Vermont’s land-base that drains to Lake Champlain – spanning about half the state.
by tim
Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development Applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as of yesterday are once again being accepted from participating lenders. Farms and ranches are eligible and always have been for the PPP program. The new development is that they now are also eligible for the EIDL program. However, the portal is not open for EIDL yet as they are processing loans in the queue. PPP provides cash-flow assistance to employers who maintain their payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. Small businesses and other eligible entities can apply if they were harmed between February 15, 2020 and June 30, 2020. Loans are available through June 30, 2020. Businesses can access PPP by contacting the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA), their local bank or credit union, or the SBA Vermont District Office.
by tim
by Steven R Gordon, VAHHS Board Chair When I became chair of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS) Board of Trustees, I never imagined our health care system navigating a global pandemic. Across the country, people are suffering from COVID-19—both the illness itself and the economic and social consequences.
In Vermont, we face the same set of struggles and are doing our best together to manage them. What makes us fortunate here is that we can work together in a way larger states cannot. We can gather all the hospitals around a single—and now “virtual”—table.
by tim
Devon Green, Vice President of Government Relations, VAHHS Here’s something I never thought I’d say: the Vermont State House has gone fully virtual. What used to be crowded committee rooms and cafeteria conversations is now Zoom calls, YouTube, and voting apps. The Senate and House health care committees have been meeting jointly, which is an efficiency that is much appreciated right now. VAHHS has been laser-focused on tracking federal initiatives, but the state house has had some major movement lately.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases and continuing strain on health care workers and the economy, an alarming statistic – a sharp decrease in heart attack-related hospital admissions – thrust cardiologists, including University of Vermont Professor Harold Dauerman, MD, into unprecedented action.
by tim
by Rob Roper Given the potential COVID-19 health risks associated with standing in line at polling places there are understandably more calls for a move to voting by mail. This may turn out to be necessary, but, if we are going to change the way we vote, we also have to ensure that the new ways are just as secure as the old. Otherwise citizens cannot have faith that that the outcomes of elections are fair, accurate, and therefore, valid.