Current News

Vermont Business Magazine ALEC-Laffer “Rich States' Poor States” was released earlier this spring with Vermont ranked in its usual spot: Next to dead last. In the 10 years of the ranking, Vermont has finished in the penultimately worst position every year but one and New York has finished last in every year but one, 2013, when the two states briefly switched positions.

The “Rich States” report in authored by Reagan-era economist Arthur B Laffer. The report is not a report of each state’s wealth, but of its economic competitiveness based mostly on its tax policy. The American Legislative Exchange Council itself attempts to influence legislative policy on taxes, workers compensation and union laws, etc, on behalf of economic opportunity.

The report judges economic performance by state GDP, migration and employment growth. It does not factor in other outcome measures, such aseducational attainment, unemployment rate or median household income.

Vermont Business MagazineThe newUVM Health Network/Porter Express Careclinic will open on Tuesday, June 13, in the Collins Building on the main Porter campus in Middlebury. “This location offers easy access to a variety of hospital support services including lab and radiology, while providing convenient, high-quality healthcare services to our community, said UVMHN-PMC President Dr Fred Kniffin. “We have been working diligently for months to design and build a comfortable 5-bed clinic with all of the resources to streamline care for our community, and it is an exciting new service for Porter and our community.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor is taking swift action to address an error that impacts Vermont employers who hold past due balances for unemployment insurance and health care assessments. The Department is undertaking an effort to modernize and innovate its legacy unemployment insurance system, and this month that process revealed – and the Department promptly verified – a rounding error was coded improperly into the 30-year old system. This rounding error affected only the interest rate calculations on past due unemployment insurance and health care fund assessment contributions. As of June 1, 2017, the rate is being calculated correctly.

“The Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that anyone impacted by this error is made whole, and I have directed my team to begin proactively working to identify impacted entities and make refunds for verified overpayments as quickly as possible.” Lindsay Kurrle, Commissioner of Labor.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources today filed a new rule for aboveground storage tanks that will require inspectors to affix red tags on heating oil tanks that are at imminent risk of a fuel spill. Fuel distributors are not allowed to deliver fuel to a red-tagged tank until the tank has been repaired or replaced. Homeowners will have until July 31, 2020 to schedule their first inspection and after the first inspection must have their tanks inspected once every three years.

The red-tag rule will help prevent costly spills of heating oil from aboveground storage tanks. Last year, Vermont’s Petroleum Cleanup Fund spent over $1 million providing assistance to tank owners for tank upgrades and repairs and paying for cleanups associated with roughly 80 aboveground storage tank releases. The Petroleum Cleanup Fund’s heating oil account is financed through a one-cent fee on each gallon of heating oil fuel.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont has long been recognized as a leader in the Farm to School movement, which connects our students to local farmers through hands-on learning and healthy meals. Wednesday, Governor Phil Scott signed S33, the Rozo McLaughlin Farm to School bill, which will further enhance Vermont’s Farm to School programming by expanding the program and setting new, ambitious goals for growth.

Vermont Business Magazine Following President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, 19 Attorneys General have joined forces with governors, mayors, business leaders and universities across the country pledging to maintain their commitment to fighting climate change and abiding by the principles of the global agreement.

The 19 state attorneys general joining the coalition include:

Vermont Business Magazine This afternoon in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce markup of the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017 (HR 2430), Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced an amendment to authorize the importation of safe, low-cost medicine from Canada.In his opening remarks on the amendment, Welch decried the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States and implored the Committee to allow Americans to get their prescription drugs from Canada where prices are significantly lower.

A full transcript of Welch’s remarks can be found here.

by Stephanie Hainley Over 50 million working Americans are headed toward poverty in retirement. The lack of retirement savings is staggering, but fortunately, there is one simple way to help change that: give more people access to workplace savings plans. Some states, including Vermont under the guiding hand of Treasurer Beth Pearce, the Governor’s support, and bi-partisan efforts, have taken it upon themselves to help more working families save by creating a state-based public retirement option, which makes it incredibly simple for Vermont’s small employers to offer their employees access to a vetted product. Vermont’s small business economy depends on innovative solutions like this, and I am pleased to see Green Mountain Secure Retirement on the horizon.

Vermont Business Magazine As part of improving access to health care for all Vermonters, especially those living in rural parts of the state, Governor Phil Scott signed a bill that seeks to expand the use of telemedicine, defined as health care services delivered via a live interactive audio and video connection. The bill signing took place Wednesday morning at The University of Vermont Medical Center.

Vermont Business MagazineVail Resorts, Inc today announced that it has closed on its acquisition of Stowe Mountain Resort inVermont, the premier, high-end resort for skiers and snowboarders on the East Coast. Vail Resorts acquired the resort from MtMansfield Company, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of American International Group, Inc(AIG).The final purchase price, after adjustments for certain agreed upon terms, including a reduction in the price by the amount that the resort's EBITDA exceeded capital expenditures for the period fromNovember 1, 2016, through closing, was$41 million.The original estimate at the time the deal was announced in February was $50 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s regional planning commissions and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are pleased to invite municipalities to sign up for a new Municipal Roads Grants-in-Aid Pilot Project. DEC’s Clean Water Initiative Program is offering approximately $2.1 million to support this pilot project. The funding will help Vermont achieve its water quality goals by aiding municipalities in implementing best management practices on municipal roads. This additional support will help municipalities get a jumpstart on meeting the forthcoming DEC Municipal Roads General Permit requirements:http://dec.vermont.gov/watershed/stormwater/permit-information-applications-fees/municipal-roads-program.