Current News

The Supreme Court Wednesday issued its ruling in McCutcheon v Federal Election Commission. In a 5-4 decision, the Court, once again, reversed long-standing precedent and declared aggregate limits on campaign contributions in elections to be unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment.
“Four years after the US Supreme Court handed down its controversial Citizens United decision, five justices once again have decided to rule on the side of moneyed interests and against the American people," Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) said in a statement following the ruling.
“As Justice Breyer warned in his dissent, ‘Taken together with Citizens United v Federal Election Comm’n, today’s decision eviscerates our Nation’s campaign finance laws, leaving a remnant incapable of dealing with the grave problems of democratic legitimacy that those laws were intended to resolve.’ I could not agree with him more.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org A House panel wants the state to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by January 1, 2015. Governor Peter Shumlin proposed the same increase — over a three year period. Minimum wages for tipped employees would be set to half of regular hourly wages, which would increase annually with the cost of living starting in 2016.
Members of the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs voted 6-2 in favor of the higher minimum wage Tuesday afternoon. H552 will go to the House Committee on Appropriations before it is voted on by the full House.
The state’s minimum wage now is $8.73 per hour for most employees, compared to the federal rate of $7.25 per hour. Vermont has the highest minimum wage in New England.

Tasha Wallis, Executive Director of the Vermont Retail Association (VRA), and Jim Harrison, President of the Vermont Grocers Association (VGA), announced today that the two groups would be merging into a single new entity, the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association. (VRGA).
More than a year in planning, the merger had been approved by the boards of both organizations in February and March, 2014 and was put to a membership vote on April 1. Both memberships voted to approve the merger.
“With the lines of retailing continuing to blur, it made sense for the VGA and VRA to examine options for the future,” noted VRA’s Wallis. “A single, larger organization will enhance advocacy efforts, improve member services and increase overall membership value for businesses.”

The Legislature is considering and the Vermont State Board of Education passed a motion (at its monthly meeting March 25) to support the legislative language in H883 to consolidate school districts.
The legislation would, as of July 1, 2020, eliminate all supervisory unions and reduce the number of school districts to between 45 and 55. Currently there are 46 supervisory unions and 283 districts. The two interstate school districts will not be affected.
“I think it’s the most important piece of educational legislation we have seen in some time,” said State Board of Education Chair Stephan Morse. “We must provide educational opportunities to all children statewide, and this is an essential change to our educational governance system.”
Student Representative and Co-Vice Chair Lachlan Francis made a motion, seconded by Board Member Mark Perrin, that:

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org The House has started work on a Senate bill calling for a two-year moratorium on privatizing public schools. Under the Senate plan, voters still would be allowed to close an elementary or school in order to send students to another town. But under the provisions of S91, towns would be prohibited from closing a public school in order to open an independent school in its place.
The bill now under consideration by the House Committee on Education seeks to temporarily halt the practice while the Agency of Education learns more about it. A proposed study was broadened in the Senate to ask not just whether privatizing a public school is constitutional, but also whether preventing privatization would be permissible under law.

Related Company: FirstLightFirstLight Fiber, a facilities-based telecommunications service provider operating fiber optic networks in Vermont, Upstate New York and Northern New England with connectivity to Canada, has announced that it will provide data center services to the New England Telehealth Consortium (NETC), a federally funded consortium of healthcare providers whose mandate is to create a shared network among rural and urban healthcare facilities across the region.
FirstLight’s Lebanon, New Hampshire data center will provide NETC with a high-quality, secure and reliable facility to host its clients’ mission critical network core. FirstLight’s services will allow NETC to seamlessly transfer data from one site to another securely and efficiently, which will enable NETC’s customers to provide the best service and care for its patients.

Related Company: FairPoint CommunicationsFairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP), a leading provider of advanced communications in northern New England, has expanded broadband to 90 homes and businesses in Brattleboro, Putney and Westminster.
FairPoint’s new fiber-based, high-capacity network offers customers a better, faster way to communicate.
“Our next-generation network allows us to expand broadband service into areas with no high-speed Internet access and provide enhanced services across the state,” said Beth Fastiggi, FairPoint state president for Vermont. “Broadband availability opens the doors to the world for the residents and businesses in Vermont and is fundamental to the state’s future economic growth.”

President Obama signed into law on Tuesday Represenative Peter Welch’s (D-Vermont) bipartisan legislation to provide funding to hospitals serving disproportionately large numbers of seniors in rural communities. This new law will provide financial relief for one year to the five Vermont hospitals currently receiving federal funding through either the Medicare-Dependent Hospitals program or the Low-Volume Hospitals program. Funding for the two programs was set to expire last night at midnight.
"Vermont's rural hospitals have a strong reputation for providing high quality health care to seniors in the communities they serve," Congressman Welch said. "This legislation will make sure our hospitals serving large numbers of seniors are adequately funded.”

Related Company: Citizens BankRBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc, the parent of Citizens Bank and Charter One, has marked the start of National Financial Literacy Month by announcing enhancements to its financial literacy program, Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money. This program gives consumers and small businesses the confidence and resources they need to budget, save, invest and be fiscally healthy. New components include a competitive application process for nonprofits to apply for funding, a social media initiative to celebrate “Money Mentors,” and an online financial literacy resource center dedicated to encouraging healthy financial habits.

Related Company: Northfield Savings BankNorthfield Savings Bank Board Chair Nancy Pope has announced Thomas Pelletier, President & CEO, will be leaving the Bank in 2015. Pope stated the Board has known for several years of Pelletier’s choice to depart the Bank in 2015 upon reaching the age of 60. Pope expressed the Board’s deep appreciation for Pelletier’s commitment to the Bank. She added NSB is well positioned for a change in leadership and the Board is confident the Bank’s performance will not be disrupted.
Pelletier became President & CEO in 1998. During his tenure, NSB has grown from $352 million to $754 million in assets and expanded its branch network into the Chittenden County market.

Governor Peter Shumlin today signed a new law that will expand renewable energy use in Vermont, support job creation, and help consumers reduce their energy bills. The so-called net metering law signed today allows more homeowners, businesses, farms and communities to install solar or other renewable technologies and meet their energy needs through local generation.
“Since 2011, we have quadrupled the amount of solar energy on the grid, with nearly 54 megawatts installed or pending today,” Shumlin said. “That push to expand renewable energy brings jobs to Vermont, and saves ratepayers money on transmission costs.”

Green Mountain College’s 2014 commencement speaker is the longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy. A longtime champion of environmental protection, constitutional rights, human rights and Vermont’s agricultural heritage, Leahy will address GMC graduates at the College’s 177th commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17 at 10 a.m. Leahy will also receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from GMC.
Sen. Patrick Leahy. Photo courtesy of Green Mountain College
A native Vermonter who grew up in the shadow of the State House in Montpelier, Leahy graduated from Saint Michael's College and earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He served for eight years as State's Attorney in Chittenden County and was selected as one of three outstanding prosecutors in the United States in 1974.