Current News

Vermont Business Magazine H.849, the Constitutional Accountability Act, passed into law yesterday. It is one of the first bills to clear the governor’s desk this year. The law allows individuals to sue government officials for monetary damages and other forms of relief if they violate a person’s federal constitutional rights. It represents one of the most powerful tools available for states to protect against unconstitutional actions by federal agents and was a top legislative priority for the ACLU of Vermont this year. 

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont has announced the speakers for its 225th Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16. UVM President Dr. Marlene Tromp will deliver the traditional address to the graduates as she presides over her first commencement since taking leadership of the university last summer.  Two-time Olympic medalist cross-country skier Ben Ogden will deliver a special guest address at the ceremony. A fourth-generation Vermonter, Ogden grew up in Landgrove, Vt. He graduated from UVM in 2022 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Ogden will be introduced by Interim Provost Linda Schadler, who was his academic advisor and dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences during his time as a student at UVM.

Vermont Business Magazine Ballou Family Apothecary, a Vermont-crafted wellness brand dedicated to sustainable beauty, persistent wellness, and community investment, has announced a new partnership with Vermont Green Football Club for the 2026 season. The collaboration links Ballou’s commitment to direct childcare funding with Vermont Green FC’s mission-driven approach to sport, turning matchday support into a model where every purchase helps working Vermont families. Ballou Family Apothecary commits 10% of every purchase to affordable childcare initiatives for working Vermont parents. Vermont Green FC, the reigning USL League Two national champion, contributes 1% of its annual revenue to environmental causes.

Vermont Business Magazine Jan K. Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health and health policy, professor of medicine, and chief of the Division of Public Health in the Department of Medicine at the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, has been named president of the American College of Physicians (ACP). Dr. Carney’s term began at the conclusion of ACP’s annual Internal Medicine Meeting on April 18, 2026. The ACP is a national organization of internal medicine physicians who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults. With more than 163,000 internal medicine physicians, subspecialists, and medical students in more than 172 countries, ACP is the largest medical-specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States.

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont Health – Central Vermont Medical Center and is hosting free community heart health events in early May and offering walk-in blood pressure screenings, heart health education and connections to local health and wellness resources. The events are open to the public, do not require an appointment and are designed to improve access to preventative heart care and education across central Vermont. The first event will be held from 11am to 1pm Friday, May 1, in Café Conference Rooms 4 and 5 at UVM Health – Central Vermont Medical Center, 130 Fisher Road, Berlin. Attendees should enter through the hospital’s main entrance. The second event will be held from 11am to 1pm Saturday, May 2, at Aldrich Public Library, 6 Washington Street, Barre.

by Devon Green, Sr. Vice President of Policy & Strategy, VAHHS We’re bumping up against May of an election year, which usually means legislators want to high tail it out of town to hit the campaign trail. The work going on in education this year, however, likely puts us in session a bit longer, providing more time for committees to look at new proposals as they pass out all the other bills. Data Privacy: The House Commerce Committee unveiled a new 54-page data privacy bill on Friday. The bill is a patchwork of the Senate-passed version, S.71, Connecticut law, S.69, and other language. It does not contain a private right of action, but it includes HIPAA-covered entities such as hospitals, entangling them into two different privacy frameworks. VAHHS supports S.71 as passed by the Senate. Elimination or Reduction of Hospital Services: VAHHS supported a public process and asked for greater clarity in S.189 around the elimination or reduction of hospital services in House Health Care.

Vermont Business Magazine In response to a significant increase in rabies cases among wild animals in Vermont, state and federal officials are planning a rabies vaccine bait drop beginning May 2. Rabies activity has risen sharply in recent years, with 66 rabid animals reported in both 2024 and 2025 – more than double the previous annual average number of cases. So far this year, 16 rabies cases have been reported. Most recent cases have been concentrated in Orleans County, though several other northern counties have been affected.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott announced action on the following bills, passed by the General Assembly. He signed five bills into law and let a sixth become law without his signature. That bill is H.849, An act relating to a civil action for damages for deprivation of federal constitutional rights by any government official. While he said he agrees with the sentiment, he is concerned that it will give Vermonters who agree with it "false hope," as it could be unconstitutional at the federal level.

by Mike Donoghue A Wellesley, MA, mother, who is charged with strangling to death her young daughter and son and leaving them in her bed, will be headed back to the Bay State to contest the two murder charges. The lawyer for Janette R. MacAusland, 49, said Monday afternoon she would not fight the extradition request and wants to head home as soon as possible. She is charged in Norfolk County, MA, with two counts of homicide for the deaths of Kai, 7, and Ella MacAusland, 6, in their home on Friday. They were found there by Wellesley Police, acting on a request by Bennington Police to conduct a welfare check.

Vermont Business Magazine Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced that the Department of Education has finally released $11.58 million in federal K-12 COVID-19 funding for 20 Vermont school districts and the Agency of Education, after over a year of needless delay. 

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today announced that Vermont received a total of $22,103,714.56 from tobacco manufacturers under the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). Annually, Vermont receives monies from tobacco manufacturers from the MSA, which resolved the state’s lawsuit filed in the 1990s. The settlement funds are credited to the State’s Tobacco Fund, and the Legislature determines how they are spent. Vermont has received more than $840 million from the tobacco companies since 1998.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) joined the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act (Absentee MVP) Act, legislation led by U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), to block President Trump’s unlawful March 31, 2026, executive order (EO) that aims to illegally rewrite federal election rules or any similar order and prohibit the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and any other agency from spending funds to implement actions in the President’s unconstitutional executive order.