Current News

by Anne Galloway, www.vtdigger.org April 26, 2011 The spirit of order and compromise was upon them. The Vermont Senate passed the universal health care reform bill in a 21-8, largely along party lines on Monday, after just five hours in the Green Room. (Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, voted aye; Bobby Starr, D-North Troy, voted nay. The senators will take up the bill for third reading on Tuesday.)
The Dems evinced no intra-party dissension on the controversial legislation on second reading. Most of the naysayers, this time, were of the GOP persuasion. And except for an unanticipated, hour-long oratory from freshman Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, (reminiscent of declamations from his Republican colleague in the House, Rep. Duncan Kilmartin, R-Newport) the Senate floor work seemed to go off without a hitch.

The National Popular Vote bill, which passed the Vermont House of Representatives last week, was signed into law by Governor Peter Shumlin today. The National Popular Vote plan seeks to guarantee the presidency to the winner of the National Popular Vote in all 50 states.
Last year, the National Popular Vote passed the New York Senate with 22 of 27 Republicans and 30 of 32 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. In 2008, candidates spent 98% of their money and campaign visits on just 15 states. Vermont has long been considered a ‘safe’ state, largely ignored by presidential candidates of both parties.’In enacting this bill, Vermont is taking back its voice in the national election’ said Tom Golisano, national spokesperson for National Popular Vote. ‘12 of the 13 smallest states in the union received essentially no attention from either candidate in 2008.’

Thousands of readers have made their choice and selected the ‘Top 125 Golf Resorts’ from around the world, in the 15th Annual Conde Nast Traveler Reader’s Poll. From St Andrews to Scottsdale the regional winners are in and Stowe Mountain Resort was named #1 Golf Resort in the Northern United States.

by Anne Galloway, www.vtdigger.org April 23, 2011 A new draft report shows that the state of Vermont could save hundreds of millions of dollars if it adopts the recommendations outlined by H.202, the health care reform bill as passed by the Vermont House of Representatives. (The bill was altered somewhat by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee last week and the legislation, and a number of amendments, was schduled to be taken up by the full Senate at 2 pm on Monday.)

Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that he has made the following appointments to Vermont boards and commissions.
APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS & COMMISSIONS
Vermont Enhanced 911 Board
APPOINTED: Tom Bodett from Putney
New England Board of Higher Education
APPOINTED: Thomas Green from Montpelier
Community High School of Vermont
APPOINTED: George Cross from Winooski
APPOINTED: Holly Tippett from Middlebury
Vermont Commission on National and Community Service
APPOINTED: Peter Hayward from Brattleboro
APPOINTED: Meredith Whitney from Waterbury
Dept. of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living Advisory Board
APPOINTED: Steven Pouliot from South Burlington
Dept of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living State Rehabilitation Council

The Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing is extending its fuel-themed tourism promotion to encourage visitors and Vermonters to explore the Green Mountain State during the spring and summer months.
‘Vermont Fuels Your Vacation’ offers a $100 gas card giveaway every week. Vermont residents and non-residents can register to win at www.VermontVacation.com/fuel and gas cards may be used at participating gas stations in Vermont.
‘Historically speaking, there is not a strong correlation between gas prices and a consumer’s decision to travel to Vermont for leisure,’ said Tourism and Marketing Commissioner Megan Smith. ‘Still, the ‘Vermont Fuels Your Vacation’ promotion provides a positive twist on this issue and encourages Vermonters and visitors to explore our wonderful state.’
The promotion kicked off in February and has received more than 3,000 entries from the United States and Canada.

The 2011 Hemmings Motor News Great Race which is coming to Vermont for the fist time in its long history has scheduled stops at Cooperstown, NY and Stratton Mountain’s Base Lodge where racers will ride the gondola up to the top of the mountain.
The total race course from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Bennington, Vermont is about 1575 miles through the Appalachian Mountains for a beautiful experience.
Teams from all over the country will be competing with their vintage vehicles. Contact www.greatrace.com to register or find out more information about this event.
Source: Bennington Area Chamber Of Commerce

Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) directors will consider a twenty-year power offer from Entergy to purchase electricity produced at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant at below market prices. One consideration of the proposed agreement with Entergy would require state regulatory approval for the continued operation of the plant in Vermont.
At a regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, April 26, 2011, at noon at VEC headquarters in Johnson, the 12-member VEC board of directors will hear from nuclear industry experts following an overview of the proposed contract by VEC staff. Arnie Gundersen, an independent nuclear engineering and safety expert from Fairewinds Associates, and officials from Entergy will present their respective views and answer questions from the board. The board is expected to vote on the proposal at the meeting.

by Anne Galloway, www.vtdigger.org, April 22, 2011 House Republicans say a proposed mechanism for financing the Clean Energy Development Fund will give a solar developer who contributed large sums to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s campaign an unfair advantage.
A new provision in the energy bill (which is expected to go before Senate Finance) makes developers who have been approved for tax credits now eligible for grants. Instead of receiving a tax credit over a five-year period, they will, instead, get a grant up front for 50 percent of the value of the tax credit in this tax year. The program would be modeled on a federal tax incentive program for solar power. The proposal could save the state about $2.7 million.
Solar developer David Blittersdorf, a former member of the Clean Energy Development Fund, suggested the proposal to Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding several weeks ago.

by Anne Galloway, www.vtdigger.org, April 22, 2011 Senate discipline broke down last night. Instead of voting out a final version of the miscellaneous tax bill out and reading through the health care bill as planned, members engaged in a polite floor fight and went home early.
After three hours of hemming and hawing in committee and private meetings over a controversial hike in the cigarette tax, the Senate gathered on the floor and went through the parliamentary motions to begin what was supposed to culminate in a debate and vote on a new cigarette tax proposal. But within the space of 20 minutes, that plan went up in smoke, along with the introduction of Sen. Anthony Pollina’s surtax on wealthy Vermonters and the second reading of the health care reform bill.

William T Cleary, an early leader in developing Apple Computer’s marketing programs and a pioneer in Internet-based brand development, will deliver the Commencement Address when his son Ian and the rest of St. Johnsbury Academy’s Class of 2011 graduate Monday, June 6.
Cleary, a former teacher, joined Apple at its Cupertino, Cal. headquarters as the company’s Senior Marketing Manager in 1981, leading Apple’s sales promotional efforts, advertising, and merchandising until 1985.
In 1987, he founded the CKS Group, also based in California, a marketing and advertising firm that created innovative digital-media-marketing strategies and campaigns for some of the largest brands associated with the worldwide Web, including eBay, Amazon.com, Disney, AdForce, Yahoo, and Excite.
After leaving CKS in 1998, Cleary served as Chairman of the Board for Matchmaker.com, a highly innovative and fast-emerging new company, which was later sold to Lycos.

The Sustainable Energy Partnership, led by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), has been selected by the District Department of the Environment to create and operate the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) in Washington, DC. The SEU will help families, businesses, and institutions in the nation’s capital save money and energy, and support local job creation and economic development, by offering programs that spur investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
With funding of approximately $7 million in fiscal year 2011, the SEU will operate under a seven-year performance-based contract with aggressive goals in job creation, energy savings, renewable energy deployment, and a significant level of targeted spending for low-income housing. Funding comes from the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund, established by the Council of the District of Columbia as part of the Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008.