Current News

A national firm has released its monthly mortgage data indicating that the number of bad mortgages (delinquent plus foreclosures) are falling faster than the national average and that homes are more affordable now than before the housing bubble on the mid-2000s. Nationally, every state has shown a decrease in the number of non-current mortgages, while some states are now less affordable than they were.

Black Knight Financial Services has released its latest Mortgage Monitor Report, based on data as of the end of January 2015. The month's data showed that both first-time and repeat foreclosure starts reached 12-month highs, although there was clear separation in the levels of increase between the two. According to Trey Barnes, Black Knight's senior vice president of Loan Data Products, separation also continues to be seen between judicial and non-judicial foreclosure states across multiple performance indicators.

The Vermont Environmental Consortium and Vermont Technical College (VTC) have announced that registration is open for its spring conference: “The 4th Annual Water Quality Conference: Learning from Other Successes.” The conference will be held Friday, May 29, 2015 at VTC’s Judd Hall on its Randolph Center campus.

by Bruce Lisman Recently, I pointed to a few examples of how our government has failed us – the large budget deficit and the failed rollout of Vermont Health Connect are headliners. But, so is the stubborn insistence by the Governor and many legislators that the education system and its ruinous funding system work for Vermonters. It doesn’t.

Even the proposed solutions to the budget deficit – a relentless search for increased fees, taxes and a new payroll tax suggest our Governor has learned little from four years of budget mismanagement. Add to that, the newly proposed education reforms that would do little to solve our funding problems while advocating for forced consolidation of school districts which is unsupported by available research.

The Vermont Agency of Education has approved Goddard College for an Early College Program beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year, making Goddard only the second private college in the state with this enrollment option for high school students. Students who are at least 16 years old and enrolled full time in high school or in an approved home-school program may take a full year of college-level classes while completing their high school degree. Tuition is free to Vermont high school students, though students are responsible for books and related fees. Funding comes from the Vermont Agency of Education.

The Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) has identified an intentional, unauthorized acquisition by an employee of “personally-identifiable information” from its unemployment insurance program database. The now-former employee had access to such information because her regular work duties required her to utilize the department’s UI system; however, the department does not permit any employee to copy, transfer (by hard copy, electronic/downloaded transfer, or any other means), disclose or retain such data for any purpose unrelated to the department’s business. The Department has confirmed that none of its computer systems were breached.

Vermont will be among the first states in the country to pilot a program designed to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-eligible (3SquaresVT) participants find new jobs and develop new skills for the workforce, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Friday. The State of Vermont community partners across Vermont are being awarded $9 million in competitive federal grants to fund the pilot program and evaluate the results, so the best approaches can later be tried in other states. Vermont is one of only ten projects selected across the nation in this competitive process.

Vermont Business Magazine If a new plan laid out Friday by the Shumlin Administration does not meet intended goals, the governor said he will move the state health insurance exchange to a new model which could include dropping much of VHC and using the federal exchange. Governor Peter Shumlin today has announced that Vermont has finalized a contract and timeline to deliver long-sought automated “change of circumstance” functionality to the Vermont Health Connect website, and will present a plan to deliver improved customer service to Vermonters that includes specific legislated milestones and contingencies in the event Vermont Health Connect fails to meet expectations for improved service in the coming months.

Chief of Health Care Reform Lawrence Miller outlined the plan in the Legislature.

On Tuesday, the Vermont State Board of Education unanimously voted to suspend the use of Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) scores for the 2014-2015 school year for the purpose of annual school evaluation determinations. These English Language Arts and Mathematics assessments were developed to measure student mastery of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which were adopted in 2010. The Board said it first wants to see if the test can be administered equitably for all students, given that it must be taken on a computer, and if the results can be construed as reliable assessments of educational attainment.

The Regional Development Corporations of Vermont (RDCs of Vermont) announced their support on Thursday of S138, a bill developed by the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs committee, which is currently working its way through the Vermont Senate. The proposed legislation includes a number of provisions to stimulate economic development in the state.

Springfield's Bob Flint, President of the RDCs of Vermont, said that the group appreciated the efforts of the committee, and others in the State House, who have made economic development a priority this session.

by Amy Ash Nixon vtdigger.org A step taken last week to freeze education property tax rates for the coming fiscal year was partly scaled back by the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday. Representative Johannah Donovan, D-Burlington, ranking member of the committee, made a motion to increase the nonresidential rate by a penny, but leave the base homestead rate at this year’s level. Donovan’s motion was approved. Three members of the committee voted against the proposal: Reps. Adam Greshin, I-Warren; George Till, D-Jericho; and William Canfield, R-Fair Haven.

Maponics, a leading provider of spatial data based in White River Junction, has announced the acquisition of Urban Mapping's Neighborhood product and related assets from Silicon Valley-based Urban Mapping, Inc. Urban Mapping is a geospatial web and data service company with more than 10 years of experience in precise mapping of neighborhood data. As part of the transaction the company will receive the complete Urban Mapping Neighborhood portfolio, including over 100,000 neighborhood boundaries spanning 40 countries; as well as the Urban Mapping trademark. The procurement of assets is part of Maponics' broader strategy to deliver advanced geospatial solutions to the market.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell for the second week, which continues an up-and-down trend this year. For the week of March 14, 2015, there were 682 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 82 from the previous week's total, and 20 fewer than they were a year ago.

Altogether 7,828 new and continuing claims were filed, an decrease of 399 from a week ago and 711 fewer than a year ago. The Department processed 0 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), the same as the previous week.