Current News

by Walter Judge The Vermont legislature has passed a bill that mandates, effective July 1, 2016, the labeling of food that contains – or might contain – genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The governor signed the bill Thursday afternoon. Although two other states have passed GMO labeling bills (Connecticut and Maine), Vermont’s bill is a first-in-the-nation bill because it does not contain a “trigger” clause, as the Connecticut and Maine laws do. The trigger clause in Connecticut’s and Maine’s laws means that those laws do not take effect until some other state’s labeling law goes into effect first. The idea behind including a trigger clause is that it reduces the likelihood that the enacting state will be sued by the food industry because, by definition, it will not be the first state to mandate labeling.

Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its A (Strong) financial strength ratings for National Life Insurance Company and Life Insurance Company of the Southwest, the two insurance companies of National Life Group. At the same time the rating agency revised the outlook on the group’s insurance companies to positive from stable. According to Standard & Poor’s, the “positive outlook reflects our expectation of continued improvement in operating performance, very strong capital adequacy, and strong fixed-charge coverage.”

Mehran Assadi, president and chief executive officer of National Life Group, said he was extremely pleased with S&P’s decision to revise the group outlook to positive from stable.

“This action reflects our strong positive growth over the past few years,” he said. “We have been setting sales records as well as setting records in net income, total assets under management, insurance in force and statutory surplus.”

Wyatt Investment Research, based in Richmond, Vermont, is circulating a petition asking US Attorney General Eric Holder to end high frequency trading. "We represent a coalition of individual investors who are deeply concerned about the state of the financial markets in the United States," said Ian Wyatt, president and publisher of the Vermont-based investment research company. "We believe that High Frequency Trading is an illegal activity that gives certain stock market participants an unfair advantage. There is clear and convincing evidence that trading firms, Wall Street banks, stock exchanges, and online brokerage firms all profit from High Frequency Trading."

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and Public Service Department Commissioner Christopher Recchia announced today the receipt of $5.3 million from Entergy Vermont Yankee for the development of clean energy, and confirmation that Entergy has deposited $10 million as its first payment into the Vermont Yankee Site Restoration Fund. Both payments were part of the Settlement Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Entergy and the State signed in December 2013.

The $5.3 million will be administered by the Public Service Department’s Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) to aid in the development of renewable energy sources across Vermont. As required by the MOU, the CEDF will spend at least 50 percent of these funds for clean energy development activities in or for the benefit of Windham County. The Site Restoration Fund will be held in trust and grow over time until it is needed to help restore the Vernon site.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Lawmakers have passed a bill designed to prepare the state for the implementation of its universal recycling overhaul under Act 148. The bill now goes to the governor’s desk. The program is set to phase in this year. Starting July 1, large food waste producers located within 20 miles of a composting facility will be required to compost. Next year, recyclables will be banned from the landfill.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org A House version of a bill to regulate toxic chemicals in children’s products will not have an easy time in the Senate, the bill’s lead sponsor said. “I think we’ve budged as far as we can go,” said Senator Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, who introduced the legislation. House lawmakers Wednesday voted to strike several Senate changes expanding the scope of S.239, including Lyons’ amendment allowing the health department to require manufacturers to label or remove chemicals it considers harmful from products that children come into contact with.

A Springfield woman who led efforts to clean up the Black River was presented the GMP-Zetterstrom Environmental Award at a State House ceremony Tuesday. Kelly Stettner, who founded the Black River Action Team, which celebrates, cleans up and protects the Black River in southeastern Vermont, was selected from eight nominees for the annual award, named for famed osprey advocate Meeri Zetterstrom. The award comes with $2,500 to continue BRAT’s work.

Investor, philanthropist and advanced energy advocate Tom Steyer will deliver a lecture titled “Climate Solutions – Building a Clean Energy Future” at 3:30 pm Friday, May 16, in the Chase Community Center on the Vermont Law School campus. The lecture, on the eve of VLS’s 39th Commencement, is free and open to the public and press.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org A provision in the state budget relating to a 2 percent Medicaid reimbursement rate increase could hurt the bottom line of some agencies that care for Vermonters with disabilities and mental illness. The provision says designated agencies, also referred to as specialized service agencies, must provide “an increase in compensation for direct care workers that is in proportion to the Medicaid rate increase.”

That’s problematic for the 16 nonprofit designated agencies that contract with Agency of Human Services to provide services for low-income people with disabilities or mental illnesses, said Julie Tessler of the Vermont Council of Developmental and Mental Health Services, a trade association representing the agencies.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org The Vermont House has given an initial OK to a provision that would pay the cost of any new unfunded education mandates out of the state’s General Fund. Representatives Patti Komline, R-Dorset, and Kurt Wright, R-Burlington, proposed the amendment to the teachers’ retirement health care plan Wednesday.

The provision requires the Joint Fiscal Office to assess the cost of mandates from the Vermont Legislature to local school districts for the coming year. An unfunded education mandate is defined as a state statute or regulation “that requires a supervisory union or school district to perform certain actions” with no financial support for the requirement.

Komline cited several examples, including a bill requiring that schools provide training to coaches, parents and students about sports concussions and individual education plans.

Vermont Business Magazine According to a new federal study on the effects of climate change, Vermont will be wetter and warmer with the change having a significant impact on fauna and flora. Governor Peter Shumlin said in response that key industries, like maple sugaring and the ski industry, have already seen the effects and will continue to do so at an accelerated level.

In a statement following the release of the report, the governor said: “This assessment tells us, in unprecedented detail, what we already know in Vermont: that climate change is affecting not just our state, but every part of our country, and every sector of our economy. The assessment makes it clear that climate change is not a distant threat, it is affecting us right now.

Gretchen Bailey, who heads the constituent casework team for US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), was honored Wednesday with a prestigious award for exemplary public service. The award was presented during a ceremony at the John F Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston.

“I’m honored and humbled,” Bailey said. “I work with an incredible team of people.”

The Congressman John Joseph Moakley Award for Exemplary Public Service, named for a longtime Massachusetts congressman, is presented annually in recognition of outstanding accomplishments and achievements by a staffer for a member of the New England congressional delegation.