Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Over 400 Vermonters may benefit from a settlement announced today by Vermont Attorney General William H Sorrell. Vermont is joining a $470 million joint state-federal settlement with mortgage lender and servicer HSBC. The settlement creates a $60 million fund to compensate victims of HSBC’s foreclosure abuses, requires a $40 million payment to federal agencies, and provides $370 million in other consumer relief available to HSBC borrowers.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders’ legislation to expand Social Security would extend the life of the program an additional 40 years, from 2034 to 2074, according to a new analysis by the agency in charge of determining the solvency of Social Security. The Social Security Expansion Act – introduced by Sanders last year – would subject all income over $250,000 to the payroll tax. Under current law, the amount of income subject to the payroll tax is capped at $118,500.

Vermont Business Magazine The US House of Representatives approved an amendment introduced by Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vermont) that would expand the federal housing assistance program to cover previously ineligible expenses of low income mobile home owners. The bipartisan initiative was approved as an amendment to the Housing Opportunities Through Modernization Act (H.R. 3700), which passed the House and will now go to the Senate for further consideration. The legislation will expand HUD housing assistance to pay for insurance, utilities, and property taxes of mobile homeowners.

“Low-income Vermonters are struggling to make ends meet and stay in their homes,” Welch said. “This legislation will provide a much-needed boost in federal assistance to low-income mobile home owners in Vermont and across the country.”

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims continued to fall last week as they have since spiking after Christmas. Claims in 2015 generally were lower than in 2014, but since the holiday season they have been generally running ahead of the prior year until last week. For the week of January 30, 2016, there were 635 claims, down 118 from the previous week's total and 43 fewer than they were a year ago. By industry, claims were down for most categories but increased slightly for Services. 

Altogether 7,374 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 131 from a week ago, and 717 fewer than a year ago.

The Department processed 0 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08).

by Guy Page This month the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) will consider the proposed second dry cask storage pad at Vermont Yankee. This concrete pad would support the remaining reinforced concrete and steel casks containing spent reactor fuel. Vermont Yankee plans to self-finance the $145 million project, and is willing to begin the fuel transfer two years earlier than planned. The pad’s approval was a condition of the 2013 Entergy/State of Vermont Settlement Agreement providing $50 million of redevelopment funds to Vermont.

This pad is a very big deal for all concerned. Without it, the decommissioning cannot proceed as planned and recently found acceptable by the USNRC. A PSB denial could conceivably place at risk the Settlement Agreement and all of its benefits. Although Vermont Yankee does not produce electricity anymore, approving this spent fuel storage site is an important next step in the decommissioning process.

Vermont Business Magazine What economists have called a "terrible" start to the ski season has had a predictable effect on the state's consumption tax revenues in January. Sales and Rooms & Meals were both off significantly, offsetting what was otherwise a decent month for revenues. General Fund (GF) revenues for the January were off slightly by -$1.30 million or -0.82 percent, totaling $156.85 million versus the monthly target of $158.15 million. A $4.04 million (+147.71 percent) jump in the Corporate Tax and a $1.51 million (+1.50 percent) increase in the vital Personal Income Tax were offset by a -$3.23 million hit (-10.94%) in the Sales and Use Tax and a -2.91 percent fall in the R&M tax  (-$0.38 million). The Inheritance and Estate Tax also was down by -$1.99 million (- 77.73 percent). The cumulative GF revenues total of $824.84 million remains slightly below the Y-T-D target of 826.14 million by -$1.30 million, or -0.16%.

Vermont Business Magazine In an unusual move Thursday, the Vermont Senate has decided to revisit H187, the paid sick leave bill, despite overwhelming passage of the legislation Wednesday. The sticking point is a floor amendment before Wednesday's final vote that exempted businesses with five or fewer employees until 2018 (the "Campion amendment"). That provision would thus exclude initially many of the workers the bill is intended to help, but it would help soften the financial blow to these very small businesses. The House version passed last year did not have this provision. The vote Thursday calls for the Senate to reconsider the amendment next Wednesday. The Senate bill as passed could have triggered a Conference Committee and a fight with the House. The reconsideration of the amendment was initiated by Senator Bill Doyle (R-Washington) who voted in favor of the measure Wednesday.

by Mike Faher/The Commons, Brattleboro Entergy spent $58 million from the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund in the first year after the Vernon nuclear plant’s shutdown, the company disclosed. Overall, with investment income and trust administrative expenses figured in, the fund decreased by about $69 million in 2015 — from $664.56 million to $595.4 million at year’s end. Administrators said the new figures show that Entergy is in compliance with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and is on track financially in the early stages of Vermont Yankee’s decommissioning.

“The good news is, we’re still well above the NRC required minimum balance for the trust,” said Joe Lynch, Entergy Vermont Yankee’s government affairs manager. “And we are under budget, overall.”

by Mike Faher/The Commons, Brattleboro When groundwater is collected at Vermont Yankee, there are two sets of eyes — Entergy’s and the state’s — scrutinizing the samples for pollutants. The question, though, is whether that arrangement should continue now that the plant no longer produces power. And some say it’s a high-stakes debate, given the past discovery of contaminants, like tritium and strontium-90 at the Vernon site. Plant owner Entergy is calling for a streamlined monitoring system to replace the “redundant, resource-intensive and inconsistent programs” now in effect. But Vermont officials are arguing that their separate, independent environmental monitoring is necessary — and that Entergy should keep footing the bill for that program.

by Public Assets Institute New evidence finds that public investments that help build a skilled workforce and improve the quality of life for local residents are more likely to create jobs and build a strong economy than tax cuts and attempts to lure businesses with financial incentives. In State Job Creation Strategies Often Off Base, a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Senior Fellow Michael Mazerov and Michael Leachman, Director of State Fiscal Research, show that the vast majority of jobs are created by businesses that start up or are already present in a state.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) has taken the first steps in its five-year plan to expand conservation work within local communities, by announcing it will employ ninety-two young Vermonters, ages 16-18, in eight Vermont regions: Barre, Bennington, Dorset, Richmond, Rutland, Saint Albans, South Burlington, and Woodstock. These young adults will be employed in small teams, doing meaningful work that directly benefits these cities and towns. Youth in each region can apply for one or both 4-week sessions this summer. Applications are now being accepted for Corps Members and Crew Leaders. More information and applications are at www.vycc.org/positions.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront (BPRW) Director Jesse Bridges released on Wednesday the City’s first system-wide Parks Master Plan. The plan seeks to honor and enhance the role of Burlington’s park spaces and recreation opportunities within the City and the region, and brings together community and staff visions for the continued revitalization of our parks, recreation, and waterfront assets.

“Our Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Master Plan builds on the hard work of generations of Burlingtonians to establish a robust system of parks, public spaces, programs, and connections,” said Mayor Weinberger. “The careful planning identifies elements of the parks system that could be improved upon and showcases the renaissance underway in our treasured park system.” SEE MAP BELOW