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Public Assets Institute Vermont taxes are higher, as a percentage of income, on the poor and those in the middle than they are on the 1 percent at the top, according to the new study "Who Pays?" released Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Vermont is not alone; the wealthiest pay less than everyone else in all states. But Vermont is better than most when it comes to collecting taxes from those who are better able to pay, according to the study.

"In recent years, multiple studies have revealed the growing chasm between the wealthy and everyone else,” said Matt Gardner, executive director of ITEP. “Upside down state tax systems didn’t cause the growing income divide, but they certainly exacerbate the problem. State policymakers shouldn’t wring their hands or ignore the problem. They should thoroughly explore and enact tax reform policies that will make their tax systems fairer.”

Bond Auto Parts, Inc, a Barre, Vermont, based company, created a fundraising mission during this past holiday season and raised $30,525 for local food shelves across its network of stores. Food shelves across the region are typically hit hard during the holiday season and the money raised can go to purchasing food to replenish their shelves or help run their programs. Bond Auto’s 45 store locations throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York worked hard along with their customers to raise the funds. Each store started raising funds just before Thanksgiving and had until December 31st to raise raise as much as they could to donate to a local food shelf within their community.

Waterfowl hunters who did not remove their hunting blinds from the waters of the state earlier must do so before February 15 on Lake Champlain or May 15 on inland waters according to a reminder from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. State law requires removal of the blinds before these deadlines in order to protect natural areas and to prevent boating accidents after the ice melts.

"Removal of the blinds and any posts that may be below the surface of the ice is important because of the danger they present when boaters are on the water in the spring," said State Game Warden Colonel Jason Batchelder. Batchelder says wardens have recorded names and addresses of blind owners and will follow up with inspections.

Governor Peter Shumlin has announced that construction has been completed on three solar projects at state correctional facilities in St Johnsbury, St Albans and Windsor, the first projects to go online in the largest public solar initiative in the history of Vermont. These 500kW projects are part of an initiative to provide solar power to state government facilities, including each of the state’s correctional facilities, several state office buildings, as well as the pavilion building that houses several state offices, including the Governor’s. Utilizing Vermont's group net metering law, the three recently-completed projects will provide power to 12 state facilities. The completed initiative is slated to provide energy for a total of 19 state buildings. Construction of the additional projects will continue through 2015.

Only days into 2015 and it’s clear that the team of Flavor Gurus at Ben & Jerry’s have been hard at work. The ice cream maker unveiled its latest addition to the legendary line up of flavors - a collection of three decadent Cookie Cores that will leave fans of ice cream, cookies and cookie butters clamoring for more. The Cookie Core line utilizes the same design as Ben & Jerry’s popular 2014 Core flavors but instead of jam, fudge or caramel running directly through the middle of the pint, the Flavor Gurus have added cookie butters. The crunchy, swirly inclusion of spoonable cookies right down the center of each pint is a taste that must be eaten to be experienced. The Cookie Cores tie in favorites such as chocolate cookies, peanut butter cookies, and speculoos cookies (a cinnamon spice cookie) at their respective centers, and let fans customize the way they eat each and every pint.

Moving ahead on implementing the regulations that will govern the labeling of foods produced with genetic engineering, the Attorney General has commenced the formal rule-making process. Last month, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrel submitted the proposed rule to the Vermont Secretary of State’s office. This submission began the statutory process required by Vermont’s Administrative Procedure Act.

Efforts to improve Lake Champlain’s water quality got another major boost Wednesday, coming hard on the heels of a succession of other announcements of funding for Lake cleanup efforts in recent months. Grants under a new US Department of Agriculture (USDA) resource conservation program in last year's Farm Bill were announced Wednesday in Washington by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and were hailed at an afternoon event at the Vermont State House by Governor Peter Shumlin and state agency officials who put together Vermont's application, and by others, including the chief of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, Jason Weller.

A coalition of leading environmental, business, and farm organizations gathered at the Vermont State House today to call on the legislature to move aggressively on the renewable energy and clean water goals laid out by Governor Shumlin in last week's inaugural address. “The Governor described a number of ways Vermont must ramp up its efforts to tackle climate change and Lake Champlain clean-up, and we applaud his focus on these critical issues in his inaugural address,” said Lauren Hierl, political director for Vermont Conservation Voters. “Healthy waters and a clean energy future are central to Vermont's identity and prosperity.”

As part of an ongoing commitment to programs that give people the confidence and tools they need to budget, save, invest and be fiscally healthy, Citizens Bank is now accepting applications from Vermont nonprofits for financial literacy programs that teach good financial practices. Through January 30, organizations throughout the bank’s 11-state footprint are invited to submit an application for up to $50,000 in funding as part of the bank’s Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money program. Eligible Financial Literacy Activities include:

· Basics of banking and asset building

· Budgeting

· Homeownership counseling

· Foreclosure prevention

· Credit management and repair programs

· Financial management for small businesses

Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) announced the top 12 Vital Projects for the updated Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) on Monday January 12th at the River Garden in downtown Brattleboro.

The following numbers for Vermont Health Connect customers are up-to-date as of 11:59 pm Monday, January 12, 2015: 8,709 individuals have checked out a 2015 health plan. This includes 3,506 individuals in Qualified Health Plans (private health insurance) and 5,203 individuals in Medicaid or Dr. Dynasaur plans. After a new customer checks out a plan, they must make an initial premium payment and have their selection processed before they have an active health plan. Of the 8,709 individuals who checked out, 7,239 have completed the enrollment process and have an active health plan (i.e., effectuated enrollment). Of those who completed the process, 2,202 are on a Qualified Health Plan and 5,037 are on Medicaid or Dr. Dynasaur.

The following graphic provides more detail on where new Vermont Health Connect customers are in the enrollment process. Please note that applicants who qualify for Medicaid are not included.

by Amy Ash Nixon vtdigger.org Rebecca Holcombe, the secretary of the Agency of Education, presented two scenarios to lawmakers on Friday. School A has 300 students and a long list of science classes and several science teachers, including a few Advanced Placement classes, while School B has 80 students with one teacher offering a few classes in basic science courses. “If you were a parent, which of these schools would you want your kid to go with?” asked Holcombe. She asked lawmakers to imagine a student trying to get into college from both those schools.