Current News

US Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on Monday welcomed a Department of Veterans Affairs announcement that the state-run Vermont Veterans’ Home in Bennington is in line for a nearly $1 million federal matching grant. The Bennington facility is on the USDepartment of Veterans Affairs’ priority list for construction grants during the coming year.

“I am committed to working with the state and the VA to ensure the veterans’ home can make these much-needed repairs,” said Sanders. “The men and women who have served our country in uniform deserve quality care in a safe home.”

The Bennington kitchen-renovation project is part of the VA’s commitment to providing a safe living environment and medical care for aging and chronically-ill Veterans. The federal share of the project is $994,045.

Source: BURLINGTON, Dec.22, 2014 – Sanders.

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org Staffers in the Department for Children and Families lack knowledge and understanding about how to work effectively with families affected by substance abuse, according to a new report released Thursday by DCF. The Casey Family Programs study is the third to come out this fall, as part of a wide response to two child deaths in February and April. All three came to similar conclusions.

The new report grouped its findings into five categories. The key items include better training, more social workers, more transparency and a stronger focus on opiate addiction’s impact on family dynamics.

DCF Commissioner Ken Schatz and his boss, Agency of Human Services interim secretary Harry Chen, presented the 18-page report and seven-page summary along with Schatz’s deputy, Cindy Walcott at a morning news conference in Williston, attended by only three reporters.

The US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury today issued proposed rules to help people who are shopping for health insurance coverage better understand their options. All health plans and issuers are required to provide consumers with a standardized, brief summary of what a health insurance policy or employer plan covers. This information allows consumers to make “apples to apples” comparisons when they are shopping for health insurance coverage, and to have a clear summary of what their insurance covers.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org The Shumlin administration spent about $1.6 million since 2011 to develop a proposal for a single payer health care program that is now on hold. In an interview with WDEV’s Mark Johnson on Thursday, Governor Peter Shumlin defended the money spent studying single payer. “I was optimistic we could make it work right now,” he said. “I was wrong. I accept that. I think we will get there, and I think the work we’ve done will be tremendously helpful when we do get there.”

by John McClaughry Single payer health care taxes are gone – for now – but there’s another hot idea in Montpelier for a new tax – the carbon tax. It’s being promoted by “Energy Independent Vermont”, a coalition led by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), the Vermont Natural Resources Council, and the Conservation Law Foundation.

Why, you might ask, do already overtaxed Vermonters need a new tax on natural gas, heating oil, propane, gasoline and diesel fuel? The coalition spokespersons are unanimous on this. We must defeat “climate pollution – the biggest environmental challenge of our generation”! They profess to believe – and some may actually believe – that human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide are giving us “super storms and extreme weather events.”

When specialist Cody Flanagan, a medic with the US Army 82^nd Airborne Division, arrived home on holiday leave last Sunday, a visit to Wilkins Harley-Davidson in Barre was high on his list of things to do. He’d been waiting since August to climb onto the seat of a shiny new Harley Sportster 48, the raffle prize from Gifford Medical Center’s Last Mile Ride, and annual fundraiser to support patients in advanced illness or at the end of life.

Photo caption: (left to right): Wilkins Harley-Davidson owner Barbara Wilkins; co-owner John Lyon, Tim Flanagan; Vermont Lt. Governor Phil Scott, Gifford Administrator Joe Woodin; front: Cody Flanagan

The Norwich University Alumni Association (NUAA) in conjunction with the Career Services Center honored Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center as a Norwich “Employer of Distinction” at an event at its Hanover campus on Thursday, December 18. Norwich President Richard W Schneider joined Chief Nursing Officer Gay Landstrom at a 9 am ceremony at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Fuller Boardroom.

“We recognize Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for not only providing Norwich alumni with opportunities to demonstrate the skills they learned at Norwich, but also for appreciating the values and ethics that Norwich alumni bring to the workplace,” Schneider said. “Of the many corporations Norwich’s Career Services Center works with, Dartmouth-Hitchcock has done an excellent job helping us prepare our students by providing information on the skills and competencies needed to succeed in the hiring process.”

A recent survey showed that “economic issues” are the top priority for House Democrats, ahead of education finance, and healthcare reform. In that light, Campaign for Vermont (CFV) today released a plan for economic prosperity. CFV urges the private sector to lead a broad-based coalition in support of economic growth.

“We believe that economic growth and shared prosperity is the best way forward for Vermont and its citizens. A vibrant economy is a prerequisite to addressing the issues of poverty, hunger, and upward mobility,” said Bruce Lisman, co-founder of CFV. “We believe that Vermont can be an economic powerhouse of its own definition.” CFV believes that their plan will attract business investment, create value-added jobs, and a bridge out of poverty for those seeking opportunity.

Pope Francis has appointed The Most Reverend Christopher James Coyne, until now Auxiliary Bishop of Indianapolis, as Tenth Bishop of Burlington. A Boston native, Bishop Coyne will formally be installed as pastor of Vermont’s 118,000 Catholics on Thursday, January 29, 2015, at 2 pm, with a Solemn Mass of Installation in Saint Joseph Co-Cathedral. The Pope’s ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, will be in attendance as the Holy Father’s personal representative.

“I am grateful to Pope Francis for his confidence in me in appointing me to Burlington. Personally, I could not be happier to be assigned here and look forward to returning to my native New England,” Bishop Coyne said.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org House Speaker Shap Smith is soliciting education finance reform proposals from the public. Education spending and financing reforms are top priorities for Smith this legislative session. Smith wants ideas from all-comers, and he is encouraging Vermonters to send him proposals.

“Vermonters value high quality public education, but the current delivery and funding systems have resulted in annual property tax increases that many Vermonters cannot afford,” Smith said. “We need to work together to solve this problem. That’s why I am inviting taxpayers, stakeholders and policy makers to add their voices to the conversation the House will undertake when we reconvene in January.”

by Bruce Lisman Affordability is a renewed slogan that has recently found its way into the vocabulary of Governor Shumlin and some members of the Legislature. Former Governor Douglas spoke often of it when combating the legislative impulse to regulate and tax Vermonters. Today, it’s being used as a euphemism for growing property taxes.

I believe the Administration and the Legislature can do more than re-consider how we pay for education. Now is the time to examine why it’s so expensive to live here, and what controllable costs go into that equation. All government mandates ought to be judged in part, by their added costs. So too, legislation even in support of the most popular policy measures should provide an accurate cost to families and employers. We expect our government to take a balanced approach to governance. So, let’s re-examine all existing programs to ensure the benefits outweigh the burden to pay for them.

Vermont Business Magazine New weekly unemployment claims in Vermont fell for the second week and back below 1,000. Claims had been very low during the summer, trending under 500, but have been high since early October. Levels this year had been running consistently lower than those of last year, but are now nearly the same. For the week of Deember 13, 2014, there were 867 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 203 from the previous week's total, and the same as they were a year ago.

According to Mathew Barewicz, Economic & Labor Market Information Chief at the Vermont Department of Labor, the cause of the recent increase was predominately the result of "a seasonal transition."