Current News

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Attempts by the state auditor to determine whether Vermont is getting a good deal on prescription drug benefits offered through the state employees’ health plan have been stymied by the contract’s language.

“We explored the possibility of auditing the Express Scripts contract with the State but found that certain contract language prohibited us from accessing the information necessary,” State Auditor Doug Hoffer wrote in an email to lawmakers on the House Health Care Committee.

Doug Hoffer

Fletcher Allen Earns Governor’s Gold Award for Worksite Wellness

Burlington, VT — Fletcher Allen has been chosen for a Gold Worksite Wellness Award from the Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports for the company’s extensive efforts to improve employee health. State Health Commissioner Harry Chen presented the award to Fletcher Allen president and CEO John Brumsted, MD at the annual Fletcher Allen Quality Forum on April 17.

The award recognizes leadership support for wellness initiatives that engaged 35 percent of Fletcher Allen’s 7,200 employees. Key elements of the program included tobacco cessation, fitness challenges and testing of basic health indicators like blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

The Lake Region Union High School FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) will be headed to Nashville for the National Conference.

Lake Region Union High School FBLA members gather round for the Business Person of the Year presentation to Claudio Fort, President & CEO, North Country Hospital. Front row L to R – Sydney Whipple, Morgan Mason, Katie Menard, Claudio Fort, Grace Miller, Keshia Paddleford, Betsy Calhoun (FBLA Advisor); Back row Ryan Steeter, Andre Messier (LRUHS Principal). Photo courtesy of North Country Hospital.

Last month the group nominated Claudio Fort, President & CEO of North Country Hospital, and Vermont FBLA selected him as Business Person of the Year. His name will be entered as the Vermont nominee at the National Conference.

The Public Assets Institute, based in Montpelier, is developing a series of charts depicting proposed Vermont state spending for fiscal 2015. It tracks the annual appropriations bill makes its way through the Vermont General Assembly, from the governor’s recommendation in early January to the final House and Senate compromise passed on the last day of the session.

Vermont Business Magazine In response to several proposals to transmit energy from Vermont’s north and west to markets in southern New England, the Renewable Energy Vermont board of directors last week announced its support of a “Green Energy Corridor.”

While REV has not endorsed any specific proposal, the trade association said it favors projects that:

Berkshire Bank and its two charitable foundations contributed $196,599 to local United Way organizations as part of its 2014 workplace campaign. The money raised includes corporate donations from the two foundations of $77,500, employee contributions of $85,390 and matching donations of $33,709.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org A Senate panel endorsed a new minimum wage proposal Friday that would phase in increases over a four-year period. The bill, H552, which was approved in a unanimous 5-0 vote, would increase the minimum wage to $9.15 in January 2015 (or nearly a dollar less per hour than the House version); $9.60 in January 2016; $10 in January 2017 and $10.50 in 2018. It heads next to the full Senate. This is a somewhat slower pace than even Governor Shumlin proposed, who wants the minimum wage to increase to $10.10 by 2017.

Senator Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, chair of the committee, said he was pleased his committee quickly reached consensus on the minimum-wage level.

“Although some members felt it went too far, others thought it did not go far enough,” Mullin said.

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org A state employee allegedly crafted an elaborate check-cashing scheme and embezzled at least $75,000 from the state, Governor Peter Shumlin announced Friday.

State police Friday arrested Office of Risk Management employee Lisa Peduzzi and charged her with multiple charges of Embezzlement by a Public Official.

So far investigators have uncovered 19 incidents in 2013 and 2014 in which Peduzzi, a claims investigator who worked in the risk management office of the Agency of Administration, allegedly wrote state checks to buy cars, boats, guitars and jewelry.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Jay Peak Resort’s multi-million dollar side projects in Newport and Burke are delayed due to a slow-down in investor recruitment. Federal backlogs and increased scrutiny of all projects financed through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program have jammed up the ventures, which are part of the resort owners’ ambitious Northeast Kingdom Economic Development Initiative.

Jay Peak president and partial owner Bill Stenger, and majority owner Ariel Quiros, say they’re confident construction will begin this summer at AnC Bio, their planned biotechnology research park in Newport, and at Q Burke Mountain, Jay Peak’s newly acquired sister ski area in Burke.

Before they access the money they’ve already raised, the developers are waiting for the EB-5 projects’ early investors to receive visa approvals from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which administers the EB-5 program.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Two years ago, Governor Peter Shumlin was riding high on a wave of popularity. The governor’s approval rating was 65.1 percent in the spring of 2012 as the election season began, thanks in no small part to the successes of his first term in office. Vermonters overwhelmingly supported his handling of Tropical Storm Irene, and there was broad support for the passage of Act 48, a plan for single-payer health care that the governor initiated. The WCAX/Castleton poll from 2012 showed that 22.6 percent of voters disapproved of Shumlin after his first two years in office.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College is one of the 332 most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. and Canada, according to The Princeton Review (www.PrincetonReview.com). The education services company known for its test prep programs and college rankings, ratings, and guidebooks profiles Champlain College in the fifth annual edition of its free downloadable book, "The Princeton Review's Guide to 332 Green Colleges."

Sustain Champlain Eco-Reps tabling at a campus event. Photo courtesy of Champlain College.

Public Assets Institute In what may be an encouraging trend, March data released today show that the number of working Vermonters, including those who are self-employed, increased for the sixth consecutive month. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.4 percent, a low not seen since 2005. At the same time, Vermont private sector employers reported 800 new non-farm payroll jobs, seasonally adjusted.