Current News

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org A 13-year-old girl committed suicide in a group home at the Brattleboro Retreat last Friday. The teenager was last seen in a common room on Friday evening 10 minutes to 15 minutes before she was found dead in an upstairs room, according to Retreat officials. Staff at the adolescent residence hall called her for dinner, and realized she was missing when she didn’t respond.
The Brattleboro Police Department and the Vermont Department for Children and Families are both investigating the death.
Peter Albert, a spokesman for the Brattleboro Retreat, said psychiatric hospital staff are ‘gathering the data for the investigation and at some level coming to grips to how tragic this is, and how horrible it is for family ‘ that’s where our energies are at this point.’

Lawmakers returned to the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier Tuesday and the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility has issued its stance on big questions regarding health care, clean energy, food security, economic development and the state budget.
VBSR’s 2014 Legislative Agenda
Health Care
We support the full implementation of Vermont Health Connect and will work to ensure that the system is successful for our businesses and their employees. Vermont must also continue to build on federal health care reform efforts and create a health care system that covers all residents, cuts unnecessary waste and spending and decouples insurance from employment. This system must also be funded fairly and based on a person’s ability to pay.
Tax Reform and Fiscal Policy

FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP), a leading provider of advanced communications in northern New England, has expanded broadband to more than 40 homes and businesses in Braintree and Rochester.’
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.’’

Led by the vital personal income tax, General Fund revenues totaled $118.52 million for December 2013, +$4.10 million or +3.58% ahead of the monthly target. Year to date, General Fund receipts were $623.90 million, +$3.01 million or +0.48% above the cumulative target, and +$22.33 million (+3.71%) ahead of the same period for the prior fiscal year (FY 2013). Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding released the December 2013 General Fund (GF) revenue results today. December is the sixth month of fiscal year (FY) 2014.

The median income of married Vermont tax filers rose in 2012 to $70,573, according to The Vermont Economy Newsletter’s analysis of just-released Vermont Tax Department data.’ After adjusting for inflation, median family income was up by 0.8 percent.’ Fifty percent of families earn more than the median and fifty percent earn less.’
‘The increase in median income, although small, was welcome,’ said Art Woolf, co-author of the study and editor of The Vermont Economy Newsletter.’ ‘The sluggish economic growth since the end of the recession has constrained income growth for average Vermonters,’ he continued.’ ‘
‘Real family income fell by $3,300 during the recession,’ said Richard Heaps, the study’s co-author. ‘ ‘We’ve recovered $1,100 of that decline, so we’re one-third of the way back to our pre-recession peak.’’

Governor Peter Shumlin says the growing ‘opiate epidemic’ in Vermont will be a ‘major focus’ of his administration this legislative session, along with resolving a $70 million budget gap and laying the groundwork for his signature single-payer health care system in 2017.
Opiate addiction will be the overarching theme of the governor’s State of the State address on Wednesday. Shumlin will mention the documentary ‘Hungry Heart,’ a film by Bess O’Brien that documents the lives of Vermonters who are struggling with addiction. Dustin Machia, a recovering addict, and his doctor, Fred Holmes, will be in the audience.

In a case with nationwide implications that has been praised by anti-smoking advocates, Vermont has recovered $8.3 million in civil penalties and permanent injunctive relief from RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. The recovery follows a successful lawsuit filed by Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell in 2005 charging Reynolds with making unsubstantiated advertising claims concerning the health consequences of using one of its tobacco products. In 2010, the trial court found that Reynolds did not conduct sufficient scientific studies to support its advertising claims that a non-traditional cigarette, Eclipse, would reduce smokers’ chances of developing cancer. The court later awarded the State $8.3 million in civil penalties for the violations and issued a permanent injunction against Reynolds to prevent similar conduct in the future.

People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, announced today that it has awarded $113,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the communities it serves in Vermont.’
A total of 26 nonprofit organizations received grants in 2013. Funding supported programs such as basic needs services, financial literacy, workforce development and job placement, life skills training, first-time homebuyer programs, affordable housing development, education initiatives and after-school programs.’ Recipients included Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity, Vermont Works for Women, and the Committee on Temporary Shelter, among other local organizations.’

by Alicia Freese vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin set the tone for the 2013 legislative session by devoting his entire inaugural address to education. He offered an array of proposals to bolster both early education and postsecondary opportunities.
This year the governor’s focus will shift to curbing opiate addiction in Vermont, but the 2014 session will nevertheless start with two separate education summits ‘ one organized by lawmakers, the other by the Shumlin administration ‘ and the focus will be on how the state pays for public education and whether taxpayers are getting an adequate return on the investment. (Vermont spends more per pupil than any other state.)
The cost-benefit question will define much of the discussion in the House Education Committee, according Rep. Peter Peltz, D-Woodbury, who serves as vice chair.

On December 12, a group of dairy farmers and dairy industry representatives met in Montpelier, Vermont for the first board meeting of DairyVision Vermont, a forward thinking program to assist and support dairy farm operations in building successful businesses. ‘ DairyVision Vermont will organize service provider teams composed of experts in all the aspects of dairy operations to work with individual farms to identify and implement steps to enhance profitable dairy production.’
DairyVision Vermont has secured a group of nationally recognized service providers, hired administrative staff and secured funding to launch the program. ‘

The Kelly Brush Foundation has awarded more than $135,000 in grants to both better the quality of life for those with spinal cord injury (SCI) and improve ski racing safety, foundation president Charlie Brush announced. Grants were awarded to individuals for adaptive sports gear and participation and to ski racing clubs and organizations for safety equipment.

The total amount granted, $135,853, represents the most support, in funds and number of grants awarded, since the foundation's inception eight years ago.

The Vermont Chamber of Commerce has unveiled its 2014 legislative priorities with support for sustained funding for tourism promotion and workforce training. In addition to these important investments in Vermont’s economy, the statewide business organization advocates policies that create a healthy business climate, better integration of regulations, and fewer state mandates.
‘As businesses plan for greater job growth and capital investment, they look for certainty and predictability from government in tax policy, regulation and other areas that impact their costs,’ said Betsy Bishop, President of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. ‘Our five-person lobbying team will work with policy makers to ensure support for our key business issues to increase opportunities and prosperity for all Vermonters.’