Current News

by Maggie Lenz and Nick Charyk on behalf of Atlas Government Affairs On Tuesday, a host of climate activists gathered in the Cedar Creek Room to raise the alarm about the state’s lack of action on climate change and to criticize Governor Phil Scott’s omnibus climate bill, recently released as H.289, which they dubbed the “rollback” bill. Members of the activist group Third Act, founded by Bill McKibben, were sporting shirts with the slogan “Our Time is Now” on the back. (Passersby could be pardoned for some confusion. Professional wrestler John Cena, who has long used that same tagline, was not, in fact, seen in the building.)

Vermont Business Magazine America’s fragile environment is in danger; her social fabric is unraveling. One man believes that Vermont offers the country a way to avoid catastrophe. Retired business executive Will Patten places the blame for our dire condition on the supply-side economics experiment that for 40+ years has encouraged a singular focus on maximizing corporate profits without considering the impacts on natural and human resources. In his book, Rescuing Capitalism, Vermont Shows a Way, Patten recounts that Vermont has never participated in the supply-side experiment. Instead, Vermont businesses have been thriving financially while innovating solutions to our social and environmental problems. He describes a democratic capitalism that still exists in Vermont, a fractious balance between public and private interests that existed in America before the advent of “Reaganomics.” 

by Rob Roper Vermont Democrats passed the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2020 over the veto of Governor Scott and the Republican legislative minority. That law mandates strict targets and timelines for greenhouse gas reduction set at 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. And, so the law allows, if Vermonters fail to achieve those targets, any individual or organization can sue the state at taxpayer expense. That was nearly five years ago. And since then, the party that passed those mandates has done pretty much nothing new to meet them. The 2025 deadline has come and gone, and Vermonters are currently being sued by the Conservation Law Foundation as a result. 2030 looms with no realistic proposals on the table to meet that even more challenging target either.

Vermont Business Magazine Skiers and snowboarders are reveling in this season’s abundant snowfall resulting in prime skiing and riding conditions across the state. Ski Vermont wants to remind snow sports enthusiasts to learn about and prioritize safety in deep snow. To help educate skiers and snowboarders, Ski Vermont has added deep snow safety information to its Mountain Safety page. Many snow sports enthusiasts have been taking advantage of consistent powder drops, but those accumulated snow depths and loose snow can create potential hazards like tree wells, which can increase immersion and suffocation risks.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont’s Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program has won the 2023-2024 General Douglas MacArthur Award for Leadership. This is the third time UVM ROTC has won the MacArthur Award in the last 10 years. The award is given to the best ROTC program in the Northeast region of the U.S. Army Cadet Command (USACC). USACC is comprised of 9 separate regions consisting of 275 host programs across the country. The Northeast consists of 42 host universities which include all Ivy League schools and other elite universities.

Vermont Business Magazine Rogers Sugar Inc (TSX: RSI) has issued an additional $15,000,000 aggregate principal amount of Eighth Series convertible unsecured subordinated debentures at a price of $1,000 per Additional Debenture, pursuant to the exercise in full of the over-allotment option granted by the Company in connection with its previously announced bought deal offering. The Additional Debentures were offered in each of the provinces of Canada pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated February 12, 2025, to the Company's final short form base shelf prospectus dated August 14, 2023. After taking into account the Over-Allotment Option, the Company will have raised aggregate gross proceeds of $115,000,000 under the Offering. Rogers Sugar intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to reduce amounts outstanding under the credit facility of Lantic Inc, a subsidiary of the Company, and for general corporate purposes. Lantic operates a subsidiary plant in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Earlier this month, statewide fuel sales data for the transportation and thermal (heating) sectors for calendar year 2024 were compiled by the Agency of Natural Resources’ Climate Action Office. Specifically, data from the Gasoline and Diesel Gallons Taxed Report from the Joint Fiscal Office and the Fuel Gross Receipts Report for propane, fuel oil, and kerosene from the Department of Taxes became available. Reported fossil fuel sales volume decreased in the thermal sector in 2024 compared to 2023; data regarding sales of natural gas in 2024 has not yet been reported. Sales of gasoline and diesel fuel for transportation increased. Taken together, preliminary analysis indicates no significant change in the combined year-over-year greenhouse gas emissions from these two sectors.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vermont) reintroduced the Peer Education and Emergency Response (PEER) Mental Health Act. This legislation would support peer mental health training for teachers, school personnel, parents, caregivers, and students. The United States is in the midst of a youth mental health crisis, with an alarming 76 percent of public schools reporting concerns about depression, anxiety, and trauma in students since the start of the COVID pandemic. As attacks on our education and health care systems continue nationally, it is important that we double down on efforts to support youth mental health. The PEER Mental Health Act allows for students, teachers, and others to participate in training that enables them to assist students in crisis by giving them the tools they need to respond safely.    

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) this week joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to introduce the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act, bipartisan legislation which would allow Americans to safely import prescription drugs from Canada, lowering costs, increasing access for consumers, and creating more competition in the pharmaceutical market. 

Vermont Business Magazine A Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) decision will enable University of Vermont Health Network to continue providing community-based dialysis services in St. Albans, Newport and Rutland. Since November 2024, the health system has been working with Northwestern Medical Center, North Country Hospital, Rutland Regional Medical Center and the GMCB to identify the best way to maintain care for patients who rely on dialysis at these sites. After exploring options that included transitioning operation of dialysis to other providers, it became clear that no other organization would be able to take on the services while providing high quality care without significant losses. Today, the GMCB voted to increase UVM Medical Center’s revenue cap to include revenue from community dialysis services and enable their continued operation so patients do not have to travel further for the lifesaving care they need. 

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine A former Lamoille County man may soon be facing the federal death penalty for a 2023 double homicide — and the woman involved in a fatal shootout with the U.S. Border Patrol in Orleans County last month also could be facing the same fate. New U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, among her recent directives, ordered the offices of U.S. Attorneys across the nation to revive the use of federal death penalty charges. She also wants the moratorium on federal executions lifted, according to a Feb. 5 directive obtained by Vermont News First. A new indictment filed against Theodore "Theo" Bland, 29, of Burlington late Thursday afternoon in Vermont adds two felony charges against him and opens the door for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. to review his case as a possible death penalty case.

by Noah Diedrich, Community News Service Artificial dyes found in processed and pre-packaged foods sold in schools are the target of a recent bill in the Vermont Senate. The bill, introduced by Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden-Southeast, is modeled after California’s 2024 School Food Safety Act. While California’s bill goes a bit farther, banning food items that exceed set amounts of sugar and fat from being sold in lunchrooms, both pieces of legislation set their sights on dyes added to food such as Red 40, Blue 1 and Yellow 5.  S. 26 would bar schools from serving food and beverages with any amount of the dyes. Recent research suggests the six manmade dyes covered in the bill may have unpalatable upshots, including inattention and hyperactivity in kids.