Current News

From meager beginnings, to national prominence to global awareness the two kids who met in Junior High School and took the American dream of developing their own successful business had thought they’d seen it all. More than thirty years after they opened their first ice cream scoop shop in a dilapidated gas station in one of the coldest states, Vermont, Cofounders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield found themselves humbled and honored this weekend as they accepted The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center Annual Salute to Greatness Award.

This report is the fifth ‘Pulse of Vermont: Quality of Life Survey’ conducted since 1990. Each has used the same methodology of conducting 20 to 30 minute phone-based interviews with a statewide random sample of adult Vermonters. The interviews addressed questions about personal well-being and perceptions of various issues related to ‘quality of life.’ Many of the questions also focused on issues related to life in Vermont, such as confidence in Vermont-based institutions, trust in other Vermonters, aspects of life that seem to be ‘under threat,’ and public priorities. Each of the studies was conducted by the Center for Social Science Research at Saint Michael’s College under the sponsorship of the Vermont Business Roundtable. Since the first study was conducted in 1990, more than 2,000 people have been interviewed, allowing analysts to document various longitudinal trends.

Trends and Historical Context
The interviews were conducted in the spring of 2010,

As the new administration takes office, Governor Shumlin and his team of economic advisers are dealing with upwards of a $150 million budget deficit. Twice a year, a panel known as the Emergency Board, comprised of the governor and key lawmakers, is notified about the state’s tax revenue projections. In recent years, Vermont tax collections and state finances have been affected by a troubled economy, but economists say there may be signs of improvement.
Both Jeff Carr, for the administration, and Tom Kavet, for the Legisalture, said last Thursday that modest gains can be seen in economic indicators, including in tax receipts. However, these gains will have only a slight positive effect on the state’s deficit in the near future.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has confirmed that Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates will continue funding for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) F136 competitive engine, by releasing $56 million in funds provided by Congress in a short-term budget bill in December, which runs to March 4.
David Carle, Leahy’s spokesman, said, ‘Senator Leahy has been assured by Secretary Gates that the Defense Department will carry out the will of Congress in funding the competitive engine without interruption. As Senator Leahy had asked, the department is following both the letter and the spirit of the law that he and his allies had written. This averts problems that would have been caused by a letup in work in the project, and this lays the foundation for Senator Leahy’s efforts to seek continued funding of the alternate engine program in the year ahead.’ Leahy is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which handled the bill.

Governor Peter Shumlin and key lawmakers today unveiled a comprehensive plan, involving both the executive branch and the Vermont Legislature, to ensure that access to government documents remains open and available to the public.
Among the significant provisions, the legislation would give the public records law more ‘teeth’ by designating a state office to enforce the law, and make it easier for those wrongly denied public records to recover attorney fees if they have to go to court to get access.
Government transparency has been a priority issue for the Governor on the campaign, and even during his tenure in the state Senate. Governor Shumlin has been working with lawmakers in recent days to find ways to strengthen the public records law and improve public agency compliance with those laws.

With her 20th anniversary as the Executive Director of the United Way of Chittenden County (UWCC) just six months away, Gretchen Morse today announced that she plans to retire by the end of June 2011. In a letter to the Board of Directors of United Way, she said, ‘It is with a strong sense of humility and gratitude that I announce my retirement from the United Way of Chittenden County. I am fortunate to work with an amazing board and staff who are faithful stewards of United Way’s mission. There is an exceptional network of member agencies and community partners, as well as thousands of volunteers who exemplify the true meaning of service to community. I am, therefore, confident in a bright future for United Way and know that this is the time for me to move on with other aspects of my life.’

Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that Vermont will receive approximately $136,000 as part of a settlement with pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) of allegations that the company manufactured and sold defective drugs. According to the terms of the settlement, GSK will pay the states and federal government $600 million in civil damages and penalties, and a GSK subsidiary, SB Pharmaco of Puerto Rico, where the adulterated drugs were produced, will plead guilty to a felony violation of misbranding, and pay $150 million in criminal fines and forfeitures.
The settlement resolves allegations that arose out of a whistleblower complaint that, at different times between 2001 and 2005, GSK knowingly manufactured, distributed, and sold four products whose strength, purity and/or quality fell below standards required by the FDA:

Attorney General William H Sorrell announced today that Vermont will receive approximately $74,000 as part of a national settlement totaling $600 million based on whistleblower complaints that pharmaceutical manufacturer Allergan, Inc., and Allergan USA, Inc. illegally marketed the drug Botox for uses not approved by the FDA.
Specifically, the complaints alleged that Allergan engaged in a nation-wide off-label marketing campaign to get physicians to prescribe Botox for headache, pain, overactive bladder, and spasticity. The marketing campaign included funding continuing medical education programs at which Botox was promoted off-label, and providing physicians with ‘free’ reimbursement services at which they were coached to use improper billing codes.

The Vermont Blue Ribbon Tax Commission issued its final report this afternoon. The commission, formed in 2009, offered several profound and subtle changes to Vermont's tax code. Most noticeably, the sales tax on clothes would be restored. The commission suggested levying the general sales tax on all consumer-purchased services with limited exception on food and prescription drugs and for certain health and education services and business-to-business transactions. However, soda would now be taxed under this proposal. All this would allow the sales tax to go down to 4.5 percent. The commission urged the state to work with other states to include the sales tax on all Internet purchases.
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The US Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $3,100,000 in grants to Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to conduct a wide range of activities intended to protect children and families from potentially dangerous lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards in Vermont.
Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $127 million. The grant funding announced today will clean up lead and other health hazards in more than 11,000 homes, train workers in lead safety methods, and increase public awareness about childhood lead poisoning. Lead is a known toxin that can impair children’s development and have effects lasting into adulthood. Other materials in the home can trigger allergic responses and asthma.

The Commission that conducts the review process for the recognition of Native American tribes in Vermont has made its first two recommendations after receiving three applications in November of 2010 for State Recognition. The decision to recommend the Nulhegan Abenaki of the Northeast Kingdom and the Elnu Abenaki in the southeast is now being passed along to Vermont's General Assembly for final review.
Tribes are required to meet a series of criteria outlined in Senate Bill S.222 that was signed into law in the spring of 2010; now Act No. 107. The new law created a process by which tribes may present applications to the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs for review. The current assessments incorporated the findings of expert review panelists and public testimony at hearings in December. Based upon this assessment, the Commission found that the Nulhegan and Elnu tribes successfully met the nine criteria.

Vermont utilities’ new contract with Hydro-Québec will begin in 2012 at rates below the existing contract, which phases out over the next five years. Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE-CV) and Green Mountain Power today filed information with the Vermont Public Service Board that shows a starting price of $58.07 per megawatt-hour. The PSB will hold technical hearings on the proposed contract beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011.
‘We are extremely pleased with the deal we negotiated and with the starting price we will pay,’ CVPS President Bob Young and GMP President Mary Powell said in a joint statement. ‘We pride ourselves on providing a low-carbon, high-renewable power supply at affordable rates, and this contract will help us retain a competitive position in the region while helping control the air impacts of our supply.’