Current News

by John Herrick vtdigger.org After weeks of debate centered on the rights of lakeside property owners and the urgency to protect Vermont’s shared resources, a committee of lawmakers approved legislation to regulate shoreland around the state’s lakes and ponds.
The Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee unanimously approved a bill Friday to require a permit for certain development around lakes and ponds of greater than 10 acres.
The Senate’s version of H.526 requires a state permit to develop property within 250 feet of lakeshores under certain conditions. The bill also includes a list of exemptions for small projects, qualifying towns and urban and agricultural shorelands.
Sen. John Rodgers, D-Essex-Orleans, a member of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee. Photo by John Herrick/VTDigger

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org A first-of-its-kind look at student-staff ratios across grade levels in Vermont offers some insights into education costs, and also raises plenty of questions. Namely: what to do with all the information.
The report from the Agency of Education recommends minimum course sizes across grade levels for four main learning categories: English, math, science and social studies. Up to eighth grade, the smallest class sizes should be 10 students at schools of 150 children or more; at schools with fewer students, classes should consist of no less than five children, the report says. The minimum class size would be 10 for schools with grades 5-8, or any school up to 12th grade.

Addison County Transit Resources (ACTR) was recently asked by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) to provide management services for Stagecoach Transportation Services Inc, based in Randolph. Stagecoach is one of Vermont's several non-profit rural community transportation providers.
Stagecoach's longtime executive director recently stepped down from that role, which left it in need of new leadership. ACTR was asked to assume management responsibilities due to its strong history of operational success, as well as the many similarities between the two regions.
Stagecoach provides more than 100,000 rides annually to Orange and North Windsor County residents connecting people to jobs, medical appointments, school, shopping and other vital quality of life services. VTrans, Stagecoach and ACTR are currently working out a three-year agreement for ACTR to manage administrative and operational functions for Stagecoach.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org The Vermont House passed the Budget Adjustment Act on Friday. The vote, which was largely split along partisan lines, was 110 to 33. Most of the Republican caucus voted against the $12.6 million mid-year increase in spending for fiscal year 2014.
The Budget Adjustment Act, H.655, includes increased spending on winter road maintenance, methadone treatment, an increase in prison costs and a spike in emergency housing expenditures.
The House also put $9.5 million in a rainy day fund.
In a statement House Speaker Shap Smith said the bill ‘makes important adjustments to the 2013 budget with the health and wellbeing of Vermonters in mind.’

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Environmental issues will preoccupy both the Vermont House and Senate this week. The House takes up H.702, the so-called ‘net metering’ bill, which would raise the cap on how much power utilities can accept from household solar electric systems. Under the current law, utilities are required to take up to 4 percent of the utility’s power based on peak demand levels from net-metering systems. The bill would raise the cap from 4 percent to 15 percent. Utilities and customers want assurance that the program does not subsidize backyard renewable energy projects at the expense of ratepayers who do not participate in the program.
The Senate is expected to bring H.526, the shoreland protection bill, to the floor.

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Friday announced formation of a new Vermont Judicial Selection Commission to screen candidates for Vermont’s upcoming federal judicial vacancy.’ On January 15, US District Court Judge William Sessions informed Leahy and President Obama that he will be taking senior status after 18 years on the federal bench in Vermont.
The District Court in Vermont is at full strength with two active judges currently serving, but Judge Sessions’ decision will soon create a vacancy.’ Continuing a tradition of merit commissions to fill federal judicial vacancies that the late Sen. Robert Stafford (R-Vt.) and Leahy developed and used, and that have been used since then, Leahy is working with Sanders and consulting with Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and the Vermont Bar Association on the current merit commission process, to find a highly qualified replacement.’

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Environmental watchdog groups told lawmakers Thursday that a bill to expand local input in the state’s review process for energy projects could hold back Vermont’s goals for renewable power.
The Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee heard testimony Thursday on legislation to give property owners and local planners a stronger voice in the state’s energy project review process. The bill is partly a response to local recoil over industrial-scale energy projects.
Environmental advocates say the policy could undermine the state’s renewable energy goals by blocking future development.
Sen. Peter Galbraith, left, D-Windham. Paul Burns, executive director of VPIRG. Photos by John Herrick/VTDigger
In a testy exchange, Paul Burns, executive director of Vermont Public Interest Research Group, told the committee the bill could obstruct the need to develop renewable power sources in the state.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org bill that shifts responsibility for overseeing the sale of hospital assets from the Department of Financial Regulation to the Green Mountain Care Board won preliminary approval Thursday in the House. The bill, H.596, is set for a final House vote Friday.
The legislation is designed to ensure that if any of Vermont’s 14 nonprofit hospitals sell expensive equipment or facilities to for-profit companies that the price is fair and the money is used in a way that preserves their public benefit.
Aerial view of the Fletcher Allen Health Care campus. Photo courtesy of FAHC.
The current oversight rules were enacted in 2005 in response to the sale of nonprofit hospitals to private companies in several other states, Assistant Attorney General Elliot Berg said.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) made an appearance at Burlington International Airport on Thursday to encourage collaboration among Vermont companies that supply the global aerospace industry.
The combined industries of aerospace manufacturing and commercial aviation represent about $2 billion in value, according to the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. The chamber’s Vermont Aerospace and Aviation Association, a special initiative geared toward developing the industry in the state, held an ‘aerospace summit’ Thursday at airport, where Welch spoke.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org The Vermont House gave preliminary approval of the $12.63 million Budget Adjustment Act on Thursday. Lawmakers are expected to pass the mid-year adjustment to state spending for fiscal year 2014 on Friday.
The additional spending in the current budget year brings the General Fund budget up to $1.37 billion.
The bill is a snapshot of ‘ups’ and ‘downs,’ or unanticipated savings and expenditures, six months into the new year.
The budget adjustment includes $2.85 million to cover an ongoing budget deficit at Vermont Veterans Home; $3.22 million in emergency housing; a $7.17 million increase in the Medicaid caseload; $1.55 million for prison detainees; and a $570,000 increase in spending for the Brattleboro Retreat.

New unemployment claims fell again last week to their lowest level since before Thanksgiving. For’ the week of January 4, 2014, there were 778 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 210 from the previous week's total, and 332 fewer than they were a year ago.
Mathew Barewicz, economic and labor market information chief at the Vermont Department of Labor, said the recently high unemployment claim pattern is typical of the holiday season in Vermont, he said, as the economy transitions from warm to cold weather labor requirements and also reflects temporary hires and layoffs.
Altogether 9037 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 827 from a week ago and 891 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 285 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 39 fewer than the previous week.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin reiterated at a news conference Wednesday that Vermont's statewide property tax is going up dramatically this year because school boards aren’t doing enough to contain spending.
Governor Shumlin was at the Duxbury school in December to help launch its solar energy project.
Lawmakers, school board members and the head of the Vermont School Boards Association say it’s unfair to blame schools because most of the increase is not related to school spending. They say changes to the $1.5 billion Education Fund made by the Legislature and the Shumlin administration that have led to hikes in the statewide property tax.