Current News
Vermont’s congressional delegation ‘ US Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) ‘ announced today the release of $4.9 million for Vermont under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
The latest allotment released by the US Department on Health and Human Services brings Vermont’s total this year to $19.5 million this winter, down from $26 million in 2010. The state of Vermont has committed $6.1 million to help make up the difference.
Sanders, Leahy and Welch are cosponsors of legislation to provide additional funding for LIHEAP to at least match last year’s total of $4.7 billion nationwide and $26 million for Vermont. Sanders and Leahy have called on Senate leadership to bring up the measure as soon as Congress reconvenes in January.
Vermont's political leaders have weighed in on President Obama's decision Wednesday toreject a permit for TransCanada to build an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. A new permit possibly for a different route of the Keystone XL Pipeline is expected.
Governor Shumlin said: ‘I applaud President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline. We need to find energy sources that will mitigate the impacts of climate change as much as possible for Vermont and the United States. The Keystone Project would have been a step backwards for energy efficiency and government transparency in the United States. President Obama made the right decision.’
Vermont Law School has received a $1.25 million grant to support its new Center for Agriculture and Food Systems, which advocates for community-based agriculture across the United States.
The anonymous grant, which will be distributed over four years, will allow the center to hire a director with national experience and to expand its agricultural law and policy curriculum and training, research and support programs.
‘This generous grant recognizes Vermont Law School's growing strength in agricultural law and policy," said Professor John Echeverria, acting director of the Environmental Law Center.
The agriculture center builds on Vermont's reputation for small-scale agricultural innovation and ethos of environmental and social sustainability. It will provide support for community-based agricultural systems, sustainable agriculture advocates, agencies, food hubs, incubators and farmers.
Inergy Propane, doing business in Vermont as Pyrofax Energy, has agreed to pay $140,000 in civil penalties to the State of Vermont and $100,000 as a payment to the Vermont LIHEAP program to settle the Attorney General’s claims that Pyrofax violated Vermont’s consumer protection laws when it assessed ‘minimum usage fees’ in the fall of 2010 and delayed refunds following termination or disconnection of services. An additional $75,500 will be paid to former consumers who received late refunds following disconnection of services.
By Alan Panebaker vtdigger.org Legislation introduced Tuesday could lay the groundwork for the first phase of substantive health care reform in Vermont as the state inches toward universal health care.
Rep. Mike Fisher, D-Lincoln, and Rep. Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington, introduced H.559, legislation from the Shumlin administration that would set out the ground rules for a health benefits exchange that the state is required to put into effect in 2014.
The two controversial aspects of the legislation include a requirement that small employers only buy insurance through the exchange. In addition, the definition of a small business under the Shumlin administration plan would be a company with 100 or fewer employees.
By Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Vermont’s economic recovery from the Great Recession has hit the pause button. Over the next 18 months, the economy will stall and the state will see a slight dip in tax receipts, according to two economists who advise the Shumlin administration and the Legislature.
Despite the fact that many economic development deals fall short on job creation or other benefits, states are inconsistent in how they monitor, verify and enforce the terms of job subsidies. Many states fail to verify that companies receiving subsidies are meeting commitments, and many more have weak penalty policies for addressing non-compliance.
These are the findings ofMoney-Back Guarantees for Taxpayers: Clawbacks and Other Enforcement Safeguards in State Economic Development Subsidy Programs,a study published today by Good Jobs First, a non-profit, non-partisan research center inWashington, DC. It is online atwww.goodjobsfirst.org.
During a tour of a new assembly line at DR Power Equipment in Winooski Wednesday, US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Governor Peter Shumlin (D-VT) and Country Home Products CEO Joseph Perrotto announced that the company has attracted more than 20 foreign investors who will contribute more than $10 million in capital through Vermont’s EB-5 Regional Center Program. The capital will help the firm retain about 200 jobs at the company’s Vergennes headquarters and Winooski assembly facility.
Union Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ ‘ UNB) today announced Net Income for the fourth quarter 2011 of $1.7 million, or $0.39 per share, compared to $1.4 million, or $0.31 per share, for 2010. There was an increase in net interest income for the quarter of $570 thousand, or 11.8 percent, an increase in noninterest income of $561 thousand, or 37.1 percent, and a decrease in income tax expense of $34 thousand, or 8.61 percent. These positive factors were balanced by an increase in the loan loss provision of $185 thousand, or 132.1 percentmainly due to the growth in the loan portfolio from $382 million at December 31, 2010 to $429 million at December 31, 2011 and a $628 thousand, or 14.2 percentincrease in other operating expenses.
Vermont’s congressional delegation ‘ Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) ‘ today announced that Vermont will receive nearly $8.7 million for two flood relief programs integral to helping Vermont farmers and property owners recover from Tropical Storm Irene.
Vermont will receive $6,300,000 for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP) and $2,325,000 for the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP). Both programs are administered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
EWP assists property owners whose homes are threatened by flooded rivers, helping to stabilize stream banks and protect foundations and houses from further flood damage. EWP also provides resources for clearing log jams that threaten property and public infrastructure. ECP provides emergency funding and technical assistance for farmers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters.
AARP Vermont today launched a statewide campaign to recover $21 million owed to ratepayers of Central Vermont Public Service and has formally intervened in the pending merger of Green Mountain Power and CVPS. AARP intervened in December and files its testimony with the Vermont Public Service Board this week. The matter will be considered by the Board in the coming months.
‘AARP is speaking up for the thousands of Vermont ratepayers who reached into their pockets to bail out CVPS in 2001 when it was in serious financial trouble,’ said Greg Marchildon, AARP Vermont state director. ‘They deserve to be paid back and this merger should not go through until the company commits to directly repay this loan.’
By Lieutenant Governor Phill Scott: It’s been just 12 months since the inauguration of 2011, and many candidates are already asking for money and votes for the next race. In my opinion, we spend far too much time and money campaigning. And, I would argue, our two-year election cycle in Vermont exacerbates the problem.