Current News

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Lawmakers are considering a plan to tax the state’s natural gas pipelines to fund renewable energy projects. The new taxing scheme could raise millions for renewables as Vermont Gas Systems charts a southern pipeline expansion through Addison County on the western side of the state.
The proposal, to be introduced to the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, would divert pipeline tax revenue into the Clean Energy Development Fund from the state’s Education Fund, where the revenue goes under current tax policy. Because the Education Fund is facing tough fiscal pressures, the proposal may raise concerns about the monies that would be diverted.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources announced the release of the draft Deerfield River and Lower Connecticut River Basin (Basins 12 ‘ 13) Water Quality Management Tactical Basin Plan for public comment today. This plan reflects years of preparation within the region to evaluate the health of the basin. ‘
The Basin 12-13 Water Quality Management Plan provides an overview of the health of the basin and a description of the priority future and ongoing steps to restore and protect the quality of its surface waters. ‘ Watershed Coordinator, Marie Levesque Caduto said, ‘This Plan reflects what is happening on the ground with the rivers, streams and lakes in southeastern Vermont.’ The Agency is looking to the communities for information on anything they are aware of that we might have missed.’ I hope folks will take the time to look at it and share their knowledge of local waters.’ ‘

The Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA) strives to incorporate green practices into its daily operations as it helps residents, employees, and visitors in its service area make sustainable transportation choices. The mission of CCTA is to operate safe, convenient, accessible, innovative and sustainable public transportation services in the Chittenden County region that reduce congestion and pollution, encourage transit oriented development and enhance the quality of life for all.
CCTA actively works to fulfill this mission through a variety of ongoing green initiatives, including:

It was a banner year as Vermont celebrated the 1000th new captive, but there were plenty of other notable accomplishments as 29 new captives were licensed, according to data released by the Vermont Captive Insurance Division. The new captives were made up of 16 pure captives, two industrial insured, three risk retention groups, three sponsored, and five special purpose financial insurers.

Last fall, a Senate special committee on current use toured the state, taking general comments on Vermont’s current use program as well as hearing public reaction to House Bill 329, which would modify the program. Based on that tour, the special committee is proposing amendments to the current use program and H.329. ‘
The special committee will be hosting a public hearing to hear comments on the proposed changes on Tuesday, January 28, 2014, from 6 to 8 pm in Room 11 at the Vermont State House. ‘
The public is invited to participate in person or to submit written comments to the committee. To mail comments to the committee, send them to Rebecca Ramos, c/o Senate President’s Pro Tem Office, 115 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05633-5201, or email comments to [email protected].’

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and 15 other senators held a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday to announce the formation of a task force on climate change.
The first action by Senate Climate Action Task Force members will be to question why television network Sunday news programs have virtually ignored the issue of climate change. Sanders and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) are taking the lead on the issue.
A study by Media Matters for America reported that throughout 2012 the network programs devoted a total of 8 minutes to the issue of climate change.
‘We have the scientific community telling us that climate change is the greatest crisis facing our planet and the major networks on their Sunday news shows have devoted all of 8 minutes to discussing that issue,’ Sanders said at the news conference.

Vermont gasoline prices fell again over the last week, according to a national rating firm. Average prices are down for the week and the year, and about the same as one month ago. In some places in Vermont, prices are under $3.40 (www.vermontgasprices.com).
GasBuddy, the nation’s leading gas price app, has listed the top 25 lowest priced retail gasoline offerings, which together saved consumers millions of dollars on their yearly gasoline fill-ups in 2013. Each year, GasBuddy combs through nearly 35 million individual gasoline prices and compares each brand’s pump offering (by zip code) to the average price of local competitors. It then tabulates the results, rating each brand by the average discount it delivered versus the average pump prices in its competitive area.

by Tim McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin offered his Vermont Budget Address this afternoon with promises not to raise broad-based taxes, but still meet a $71 million budget gap. While his administration is suggesting that some $14 million can be raised through a’ 0.8 percent tax on every private health insurance claim’ ‘ and another $30 million through one-time sources, which were not named, the exact revenue structure was not specified.
While this address lacked the packed gallery and standing ovations of his now-famous "opiate" speech from his State of the State address last week, he did receive his loudest applause when he emphasized that he will bring single-payer health care to Vermont in 2017. He used the trouble with the Vermont Health Connect rollout to emphasize the need for single-payer.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org It’s time to re-evaluate Vermont’s education financing system and test its fairness to both students and taxpayers. That was the consensus at an education symposium convened Tuesday by Gov. Peter Shumlin and the Legislature.
The event kicked off what’s intended to be a session-long discussion of the state’s school funding formula, with the aim of understanding how it’s working in the current economic and educational environment ‘ and whether it could be improved.
The current funding formula was created in 1997 with the passage of Act 60, and amended in 2003 with Act 68. Now all of the laws’ complex parts and funding mechanisms, everything from per-pupil costs and outcomes to property tax structures and income sensitivity, are on the table.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Republican lawmakers say allowing businesses to enroll in the state’s health exchange directly through insurers is not enough to fix problems associated with Vermont Health Connect. The Shumlin administration announced on Tuesday that companies with 50 or fewer workers that had not yet purchased insurance could buy coverage directly through an insurer before the next deadline on March 31.
Representatives from the House GOP say individuals should not be required to enter the exchange because the state’s website, Vermont Health Connect, is not fully functional. Vermont is the only state in the nation that requires individuals and workers for small businesses to buy health insurance through the exchange.

FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP) has completed work in 2013 on two broadband expansion projects made possible by grants from the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA). Additional VTA grants are expected to deliver broadband to more locations in 2014.
The two VTA grants, totaling more than $477,000, brought FairPoint’s broadband services to 58 more locations in the towns of Barnet, Bradford, Rochester, Rupert and Ryegate.’
‘FairPoint is committed to delivering high-speed broadband services to rural Vermont communities, and grants from the VTA allow us to do just that,’ said Beth Fastiggi, FairPoint state president for Vermont. ‘We’re proud to help the state meet its broadband goals and look forward to more opportunities to bring broadband to Vermonters.’’

The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC), with support from a number of planning partners and sponsors, has scheduled the first session this spring of a proven program designed to help small- and mid-sized Vermont manufacturers and other interested companies boost their sales through profitable exports.’ ‘