Current News

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Many lawmakers and the Vermonters they represent have balked at the roughly $2 billion price tag for a universal health care system in Vermont.
Raising that amount of revenue is widely described as necessitating the largest tax increase in state history. The tradeoff would be that Vermonters would no longer pay private premiums for health insurance and access to coverage would be decoupled from employment.
However, several VTDigger readers have pointed out that the focus on the dollar amount of the tax increase is less meaningful if it’s not paired with the dollar amount Vermonters pay in premiums.
Earlier this year, the administration and the Joint Fiscal Office, which counsels the Legislature on financial matters, released a consensus estimate that Vermont would need to raise between $1.8 billion and $2.2 billion in taxes to pay for Green Mountain Care, as the program is known.

by Tom Brown, vtdigger.org Striking CCTA bus drivers may consider a vote on the latest management proposal Monday, CCTA officials said.
The Chittenden County Transportation Authority’s board of commissioners heard from about 45 people at a public hearing Monday morning, most of those speaking in support of the drivers, CCTA General Manager Bill Watterson said Monday.
Watterson said that he believed that workers were meeting at midday Monday to decide whether to vote on CCTA’s latest contract proposal. Seven Days reported Monday that the major stumbling block is the maximum number of hours covered by drivers who work a split shift. CCTA wants that time to span 13.5 hours, the drivers want it capped at 12.5 hours.
The strike, which affects about 10,000 passengers a day, entered its third week Monday after a more than 17-hour weekend negotiation session failed to resolve the issues.

The House passed the 2015 budget Friday, which makes investments critical to Vermont’s future. The budget increases Vermont’s commitment to addiction treatment and intervention, increases funds to help low-income Vermonters acquire reliable housing, and makes important economic and transportation investments.
“Under enormous economic pressures and increasing cuts in Federal funding, the House Appropriations committee has put together a responsible budget that makes important investments in areas that are vital to a vibrant Vermont.” said Speaker of the House Shap Smith.
“We have committed our resources to help low-income working families afford health care, housing, and childcare, while raising and spending less than the Governor’s recommend," he said.

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org
The state should not legalize marijuana or increase the number of medical marijuana dispensaries, a group representing local police chiefs said.
The Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police issued a statement in March saying it opposes expanding the availability of marijuana in Vermont.
Police believe their concerns about health risks, highway safety and employment issues related to marijuana have been ignored by the governor and lawmakers.
The statement came in response to a letter Gov. Peter Shumlin sent to association president Chief Douglas Johnston saying he was “open to further discussion” about whether it makes sense to legalize marijuana in Vermont. Johnston is Springfield’s police chief.
“This an area where I am happy to continue to let other governors lead, but I am open to the conversation,” Shumlin wrote, referring to Colorado and Washington, which have legalized marijuana.

The Vermont Mayors Coalition today, joined by Governor Peter Shumlin, honored AmeriCorps and other service members and highlighted the value of their national service to their communities during a news conference in the State Capitol’s Cedar Creek Room and through a proclamation. Vermont’s eight mayors, represented by Montpelier Mayor John Hollar and Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon, joined more than 1,200 mayors from around the nation offering similar recognition of their cities’ service members during the second annual Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service, a nationwide bipartisan effort to:

Recognize the positive impact of national service on our cities;
Thank AmeriCorps and Senior Corps participants who serve; and
Encourage citizens to give back to their communities.

Irving Energy, one of the largest propane retailers in New England, has agreed to pay $165,938 to Vermont consumers, $160,000 to LIHEAP -- the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program -- and $100,000 in civil penalties to the State of Vermont, to settle claims that the company violated Vermont consumer protection laws. The Attorney General found that for many Vermonters, Irving delayed removing propane storage tanks and issuing refund checks after consumers terminated propane service. “When Vermont propane customers terminate service, a supplier must promptly remove its tank and reimburse any monies due the customer,” said Attorney General Sorrell. “A failure to meet these obligations can be expensive. We encourage Vermont consumers to let us know if their legal rights have not been satisfied.”

Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced last Thursday the top 27 Best Places to Work in Vermont for 2014. The awards program was created in 2006 and is presented in partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management, Vermont State Council (SHRM), the Vermont Department of Labor and the Vermont Department of Economic Development and Best Companies Group.
SEE LIST OF WINNERS BELOW
This statewide survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Vermont, benefiting the state's economy, its workforce and businesses.
To be considered for participation, companies had to fulfill the following eligibility requirements:

Related Company: Vermont Law SchoolWilson College in Chambersburg, PA, and South Royalton's Vermont Law School, ranked Number 1 in the nation for environmental law, recently forged an agreement that will allow qualified students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Wilson and a master’s degree from Vermont Law in just four years.
Through an articulation agreement between the two colleges, Wilson students who qualify can pursue a bachelor’s degree in environmental sustainability at Wilson, followed by guaranteed admission to Vermont Law’s Master of Environmental Law and Policy (MELP) program.
Some credits would be shared between the two institutions and to expedite the master’s program, students would take two online courses from Vermont Law while attending Wilson. After their junior year, they could enter Vermont Law’s summer program. Both degrees would be completed at the same time.

by Paul Cillo, Public Assets Institute In the depths of the recession, Vermont unemployment peaked at 26,200. Since that point, in May 2009, it has steadily declined; by February 2014, more than 13,000 Vermonters had left the unemployment lines. Not all of those people found work, however. Between May 2009 and February 2014, employment in Vermont rose by just 2,750.
A slow decade for employment
New figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that employment fell in 2013, following a drop in 2012. In the 10 years from 2003 to 2013, the number of working Vermonters rose just 1.4 percent. That put Vermont in 37th place when the states were ranked from highest to lowest in employment growth. By contrast, from 1993 to 2003 Vermont saw an 11 percent increase in annual employment.
When it’s good to rank last

A series of public meetings will be held in April to gather comments on the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources’ Draft South Lake Champlain Tactical Basin Plan.
A Draft Water Quality Management Plan, the Southern Lake Champlain Tactical Basin Plan has been developed to protect and restore surface waters in the southern Champlain Basin. The southern Champlain Basin includes the Poultney and Mettowee River watersheds, as well as the East Creek and several other small discrete tributaries that drain directly to southern Lake Champlain, which includes all of the land in Vermont that drains to the lake generally south of Crown Point.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Developers are lining up to bring renewable power to southern New England as part of a regional initiative that guarantees a ratepayer-backed return on investment. This is the second proposal in recent months that would lay an electric transmission line under Lake Champlain and connect it to a Vermont substation.
In response to a six-state strategy to bring more clean power to the region, a Massachusetts transmission company said it wants to bury a transmission line under Lake Champlain to connect industrial wind power in New York to a Burlington substation.
“It’s a unique moment in time,” said Edward Krapels, CEO for Anbaric Transmission, which is in the early stages of proposing the 40-mile project called the Grand Isle Intertie.

House Speaker Shap Smith on Friday spiked a proposal to study potential tax revenue the state could earn by legalizing marijuana.
The amendment would have asked the Joint Fiscal Office to study the revenue impact of legalizing marijuana, using Colorado’s pot tax as a guide. The Ways and Means Committee endorsed the amendment.