Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued an executive order to extend eligibility for families with children and medically vulnerable individuals scheduled to exit the General Assistance program on April 1. These individuals will remain housed in the program through June 30, 2025. This action will allow children to remain sheltered, so they are not uprooted in the middle of the school year and allow those who are the most medically vulnerable to remain housed while the Department for Children and Families works with them to plan for the future. This aligns with the compromise proposal Governor Scott offered, which the Legislature declined to include in the Budget Adjustment Act. Legislative leadership wanted to extend the program for everyone currently enrolled through June, which is the end of the fiscal year.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Today, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth issued the following statement after Senate Republicans blocked an attempt to pass the revised House Budget Adjustment Act bill that retained language to extend the Hotel/Motel program for the homeless through June, for a program that is scheduled to end in April. Senate Republicans also issued a statement on why they supported Governor Scott's position on retaining the program on a limited basis. Scott had vetoed the first iteration of the $163 million BAA. The governor then this afternoon signed an executive order extending the Hotel/Motel program for families with children and medically vulnerable individuals who were scheduled to exit the General Assistance program on April 1. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor today reported that the seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for February was 2.6 percent. This reflects no change from the prior month’s revised estimate. The three major indices were slightly worse from last month, as the Labor Force and Employed fell and Unemployed increased. Vermont is still tied for the second lowest jobless rate in the nation with North Dakota. South Dakota is lowest at 1.9%. Nevada is highest at 5.8%. The Vermont civilian labor force participation rate was 65.5 percent in February, no change from the prior month’s revised estimate. The comparable United States rate in February was 4.1 percent, an increase of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised January estimate. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of Workforce Strategy and Development announced today the members of Vermont’s new State Workforce Development Board (SWDB), which includes business owners, workforce experts, municipal officials, and representatives from state government. Together with the new Office of Workforce Strategy and Development, the Board will enhance the coordination of Vermont’s workforce system in order to better address Vermont’s workforce crisis. Act 146 of 2024 created the Office of Workforce Strategy and Development and restructured the State Workforce Development Board. Given Vermont’s constrained labor market, it also highlighted the importance of aligning education, training, and workforce development efforts across state government, as well as among community partners and employers.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that Tyler Kenneth George Leavine, 34, of Dannemora, New York, and Jody Lynn McGuire, 52, of Plattsburgh, New York, have been charged by criminal complaint with illegally transporting Sandeep Chawla, 34, Jay Sisodiya Kumar, 27, and Chintan Patel, 29, all citizens of India, within the United States. Chawla, Kumar, and Patel were also charged with illegally entering the United States at a place not designated by immigration officers. On March 26, 2025, Leavine and McGuire appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Jerome J. Neidermeier, who ordered them to be detained during the pendency of their prosecution. During their initial court appearances yesterday before United States Magistrate Judge Neidermeier in Burlington, Chawla, Kumar and Patel all pleaded guilty and were sentenced to time-served. Chawla, Kumar and Patel had faced up to 6 months in prison. 

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont announced that James Mailhiot, Jr., 56, of Rutland, was sentenced Thursday in United States District Court in Rutland to four years of probation following his guilty plea to a charge of federal income tax evasion. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Lanthier ordered that Mailhiot perform 200 hours of community service during his probationary term, pay restitution totaling $296,618, and an additional fine of $25,000. At today’s hearing, counsel represented to the court that Mailhiot was prepared to pay his restitution obligation in full immediately after sentencing.

Vermont Business Magazine Chestnut Carbon, a nature-based carbon project developer, today announced that since its inception, it has enrolled over 160,000 acres in its Improved Forest Management (IFM) membership program branded as "Forest Carbon Works." The program is one of the largest in the U.S. providing private landowners access to income-generating carbon markets while preserving the integrity and legacy of their forest land. The program currently has members enrolled from 36 states. This includes Three Peaks Maple in Newark, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Evernorth closed Housing New England, Fund VI on March 19, 2025. ​ This fund will provide equity to finance affordable housing in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. ​Sixteen investors committed a total of $64,250,000 in equity making Housing New England, Fund VI (HNE Fund VI) a significant financial resource for the region's critical affordable housing needs. ​ HNE Fund VI's investors include community, regional, and national banks as well as one of the nation's largest mortgage banking organizations. ​Evernorth raises equity by syndicating federal Low-Income Housing and Historic tax credits as well as various state, historic, and affordable housing credits. 

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, this week took to the Senate Floor to speak out against President Trump’s efforts to help corporations and Big Oil pollute our air and water. In his remarks, Senator Welch highlighted the Trump Administration’s rollback of more than 30 regulations that set limits on mercury pollution, toxic wastewater, soot emissions, and more. “I am absolutely and adamantly opposed to giving polluters free rein to profit at the expense and welfare of the people that I represent, and we all represent.” 

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after Elon Musk and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced they would gut the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by recklessly firing 10,000 employees who work to improve the health of American families: "Let’s be clear: Arbitrarily firing over 10,000 workers at the Department of Health and Human Services will not make Americans healthier. It will make Americans sicker and less secure."

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued the below statement on the need to act on education reform this session. Scott said at his press conference Wednesday that in order to implement education reform by the beginning of the school year in 2027, the process needs to begin this session. “Vermonters sent a very clear message last November; they wanted us to do something about the rising cost of living in our state. Property taxes were one of their biggest concerns, so my team delivered and put forward a bold and detailed plan to transform and strengthen our public education system."

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont House Democrats outlined core parts of a major education reform package today aimed at strengthening student opportunities and stabilizing long-term education costs. The legislation proposes consolidating Vermont’s districts to a minimum of 4,000 students each, improving efficiency and opportunity while maintaining community-focused classrooms. The bill is expected to advance to the House Ways and Means Committee by the end of the week.