Current News

by Rob Roper Before the 2020 legislative session kicked off, proponents of the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) were calling the interstate agreement to raise prices of gasoline and diesel by as much as 17¢ a gallon their “banner” legislation for the new year. Now, just half way through January, the scheme is unravelling at a rapid pace. Here in Vermont during his State of the State speech last week Governor Scott said, without naming TCI specifically, that, “I simply cannot support proposals that will make things more expensive for [rural and low income Vermonters].” Scott has been vehemently opposed to any form of carbon tax since his first run for governor in 2016.

Vermont Business Magazine Imagine standing in the grocery store, looking at a pile of bananas. On your side of the pile, the manager has posted yesterday's newspaper flyer, showing bananas at 62¢ per pound—so that's what you pay at the register. But on the other side of the pile, there's an up-to-the-minute screen showing that the price of bananas has now dropped to 48¢ per pound—so that's what the guy over there pays. Exact same bananas, but the price you see depends on which aisle you're standing in.

Vermont Business Magazine Getting the best snowboard gear helps anyone enjoy their time on the slopes, in the park, or on the half-pipe, whether they're new to the sport of snowboarding or an experienced rider.

Vermont Business Magazine Chunk spelunkers rejoice! Ben & Jerry’s has introduced two new flavors of oh-so-snackable cookie dough chunks. That’s right—just the chunks. Put down your spoon and dig in!

Raw cookie dough has become a global phenomenon, but Ben & Jerry’s are the dough-riginals. In 1984 they were the first national ice cream company to drop big chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough into a batch of ice cream. Today the company announced two new flavors of cookie dough chunks:

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont House approved S.23, the Minimum Wage bill, on a vote of 93-54. The current minimum wage in Vermont is $10.96 per hour. Under the new proposal, this would increase to $11.75 on January 1, 2021 and then to $12.55 a year later.

Vermont Business Magazine After round-the-clock monitoring of an emergent situation on Interstate 89 in Georgia, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) will close the northbound right lane between exits 18 and 19 today at approximately 6:00 p.m., after the evening rush-hour commute. A 600-foot-long concrete culvert that runs under I-89 at milemarker 106.69 is failing after damage that occurred during the Halloween 2019 rainstorm.

Vermont Business Magazine Revenue collections continued to show strength in the personal income tax, rooms & meals tax and even the sales tax for the month of December 2019. Meanwhile, the corporate tax followed recent behavior with a wild swing, this time down, and the Transportation Fund-related revenues disappointed again. General Fund revenues collected for the month totaled $137.94 million, or $5.11 million above the monthly consensus revenue target. Year to date, General Fund revenues exceeded their target by $15.40 million, or 2.12%.

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Christopher Mesick, 38 of Jeffersonville, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury sitting in Burlington with being a felon in possession of a firearm and with being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm. Mesick was arrested on these charges on January 13, 2020 and was detained. Mesick waived his appearance yesterday at his arraignment before U.S.

Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy and Mesick’s defense attorney entered pleas of not guilty on his behalf.

Vermont Business Magazine Unemployment claims rose last week and are ahead of levels from last year. After a long period during the summer and fall of very low numbers, claims have been generally higher over the last few months.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Donovan joined a lawsuit yesterday challenging the Trump Administration’s latest effort to allow 3D-printed gun files to be released on the internet. These files would provide access to blueprints for 3D-printed firearms, also known as “ghost guns,” that are unregistered, untraceable, and difficult to detect.

As a result of a previous multistate lawsuit, a federal judge struck down the Trump Administration’s prior attempt to allow the release of the files.

However, yesterday, the Administration renewed its efforts by publishing formal rules that would transfer regulation of 3D-printed guns from the State Department to the Department of Commerce, effectively allowing their unlimited distribution.

“3D-printed guns present significant risks to public safety,” said Attorney General Donovan. “We have already fought this battle and won, and we will keep fighting.”

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Technical College, in collaboration with Community College of Vermont (CCV), will offer a Principles of Manufacturing class at the Williston Campus starting February 27. Eligible parents can enroll at no cost via the Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI), a grant funded program through Vermont Tech.

The first of two courses in CCV’s Certified Production Technician (CPT) program, Principles of Manufacturing introduces students to manufacturing, including facilitating safe work practices in industrial environments and controlling and improving quality in a manufacturing setting. Students earn college credit, as well as credentials from the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council.