Current News

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Nearly 80 percent of Vermonters who the state estimated needed to sign up for health insurance before January 1 have picked a plan, according to the Shumlin administration.
But it’s unclear how many of the close to 23,000 people who signed up for individual or family coverage through the Vermont Health Connect website have had their applications processed. It’s also unknown how many of those whose applications were processed have made a payment as the January 7 payment deadline looms.
New applications and payments are constantly being processed, making it hard to pin down figures for either, Mark Larson, commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access, said Thursday.
An additional 29,200 people signed up for coverage through their employer thanks to changes made in November to the health care exchange rollout.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Internal documents originally posted on the Department of Vermont Health Access website that were posted with the state’s health care exchange IT contract were taken down to eliminate confusion, officials said Thursday.
The state’s contract with the Canadian IT company CGI is longer and more complex than most state contracts; memos and routing forms that predate the final contract and amendments were removed last month to eliminate confusion, DVHA spokeswoman Emily Yahr said.
One of the routing forms included a higher dollar amount that was later negotiated down, Yahr said. The documents were pulled by the department’s business office after a reporter pointed out the discrepancy, she said in an email.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Legislators are not just staring down a $70 million General Fund shortage in 2014. Pressures on education funding and retirement health care benefits for teachers will need to be balanced against the cost of tax incentives and economic development initiatives as Vermont continues to pull itself out of the Great Recession.
An uptick in economic activity and job creation is generally regarded as the solution. But economic growth has been slow ‘ in particular for already challenged low- and middle-income populations, as a recent report from the Public Assets Institute underscores. The think-tank’s study found that despite Vermont’s low unemployment rate, highly educated workforce and relatively high median household incomes, wealth is more concentrated now than before the recession.

by Lori Fisher, LCC Executive Director If you walk along a stream in an agricultural area it is not unusual to encounter pipes discharging water directly into it. These pipes are attached to drain systems that farmers use to lower the water table for their fields. The practice, termed tile draining, can dramatically improve crop yields on marginal fields, but its environmental impact is unclear.
Drainage pipe awaiting installation. Photo by Dwight Burdette
Fields have been tiled for millennia. The Roman statesman Cato was the first to describe the practice around ancient Rome. He noted the use of brush, straw, poles, stones, boards, and tile to improve drainage in fields. It was popularized in the United States in the mid 1800s by John Johnston, a Scottish immigrant who used tile drainage to improve the poor soils of his farm in upstate New York. Today perforated plastic piping has largely replaced actual ceramic tiles in fields.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Under a bill proposed by the powerful chair of the Judiciary Committee, the Vermont Attorney General, now an elected office, would become an appointed position.
Senator Dick Sears, D-Bennington, wants to give the governor the authority to handpick the attorney general, with the consent of the state Senate.
The bill, S.270, would also make it possible for the governor ‘ and any member of the General Assembly ‘ to remove the attorney general from office for misconduct, inefficiency in office or failure to perform his or her duty.
The Vermont Attorney General enforces the state’s laws, defends the state when it is sued and handles criminal and civil cases.
Sears says the legislation is not politically motivated or directed at the current Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell.
The bill would not go into effect until 2016 ‘ after the next election cycle.

Fletcher Allen Health Care has earned recertification as a Level 1 Trauma Center for’ adult’ patients by the American College of Surgeons (ACS).’ The designation is the highest accreditation given to trauma services, and is granted after a rigorous evaluation by the ACS.’ Fletcher Allen is the only Level 1 center in Vermont, and shares this status with just 102 of the 5,000 hospitals in the US.’
Studies show that being treated at a Level 1 Trauma Center increases a seriously injured patient’s chances of survival by an estimated 20 to 25 percent.’ ‘ ‘
Certified centers must provide:

Expert care for every aspect of injury from pre-hospital care through rehabilitation
Immediate access to a full range of specialists and equipment 24 hours a day
Treatment areas and operating rooms reserved for trauma cases ‘

Vermont is one of the only states without comprehensive ethics laws governing the conduct of public officials, and the independent advocacy organization Campaign for Vermont (CFV) has set out to change this fact.
In a policy paper released by CFV co-founder Bruce Lisman, the organization laid out specific proposals for establishing standards of conduct for public officials that is enforced by an independent, non-partisan and quasi-judicial commission. Specifically, the organization calls on lawmakers to enact ethics laws that: ‘

Damage from last week’s ice storm is being revealed as people check on their sugar woods. ‘ The federal Farm Services (FSA) offices have begun taking applications for the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) for maple sugar makers. The affected areas appear to be mainly in Lamoille, Orleans, Franklin, Chittenden and Washington Counties where FSA officials are encouraging sugar bush owners to call to report damage.’ ‘
The ECP funds can be used to cost-share debris removal in active sugar woods. FSA is investigating whether special practice funds can be accessed to help with maple tap and tubing replacement for sugarbushes that were already prepared for this year’s tapping. ECP also can help with funds to move debris off of the tubing and open up sugaring access roads or trails.’