Current News

Vermont business leaders and organizations today voiced concern over the advancement of H.202 the Health Care Reform bill, and the uncertainty it is causing many businesses.
While businesses recognize and agree with Governor Shumlin and other legislative leaders that the rising cost of health care is unsustainable, the legislation as currently structured does nothing to alleviate fears that costs will be contained under the new system.

Governor Peter Shumlin today announced his support for the reappointment of Public Service Board Chair Jim Volz for a six-year term.
‘Chair Volz has been a judicious Chair for the past six years,’ Gov. Shumlin said. ‘Vermont would be well served by his reappointment.’
By law, the Judicial Nominating Board is required to solicit and screen applications for the position, and the Governor may appoint a Chair from the list of qualified candidates provided by the Board. Governor Shumlin has asked the Judicial Nominating Board to begin that process.
‘I am honored to be given the opportunity to serve Vermont for another term and I thank the Governor for his confidence in me,’ Volz said.

After a strong 2010 with the licensing of its 900th captive insurance company, the State of Vermont is proposing changes to the Captive Insurance law in the Legislature as part of its annual enhancements to its captive statute, according to the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA).
‘It is critical that we are responsive to the industry,’ said Governor Peter Shumlin. ‘Since 1981, when Vermont became a domicile, Governors and Legislatures have united in keeping us the gold standard for regulation of this industry and these proposals are in keeping with that tradition,’ he added.

The Vermont congressional delegation has called on the Army and National Guard to continue funding an essential outreach program for Vermont veterans returning from deployments in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The Vermont Guard’s first-of-its-kind outreach program was funded since 2006 by federal grants secured by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. With a 2010 grant of $2.4 million about to run out, a congressional budget logjam threatens continued funding for the important program.
The Army and National Guard may continue funding this program if Pentagon leaders direct them to do so.
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sanders and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) asked Army Secretary John M. McHugh and Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, to designate funds to continue the program’s operation this year and to develop a plan to continue the program in the future.

Jan Blittersdorf, CEO/Owner of NRG Systems (www.nrgsystems.com), was recently named chair of the American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI) (http://www.awwi.org/). As a first order of business, Jan attended a meeting in February with top White House officials to discuss new wind energy siting guidelines issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
â ¢ The development, with the Nature Conservancy, of a unique landscape assessment tool designed to identify sensitive wildlife habitat and areas that are likely to have low wildlife risk where wind energy development could be prioritized;
â ¢ Launch of pilot study to build a comprehensive research information system, gathering existing wind-wildlife data to support critical scientific research and analysis;

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, announced today that it completed the refinancing of its existing senior secured credit facility with an amended and restated senior secured credit facility (the "Senior Secured Credit Facility") consisting of a $227.5 million revolving credit and letter of credit facility (the "Revolver Facility").
Highlights of the new Senior Secured Credit Facility include:

Tom Evslin, inventor, entrepreneur, and former Vermont Chief Technology Officer, will be the featured speaker at the Ethan Allen Institute’s second Sheraton Economic Series program of 2011. Evslin's topic will be ‘The Economics of Abundance: Why Doesn’t It Apply to Everything?’ The program will be held in the University Amphitheatre of the Sheraton Burlington Conference Center at 7:00pm on Wednesday, March 30, 2011.
In his talk, Evslin will ask why computer component prices decline by half every eighteen months, while prices continue to rise in many other areas not yet reached by the technology revolution. As the computer and internet dynamic spreads out to more and more sectors of the economy, Evslin prophesies that cheap and abundant computing and communications resources will work profound changes through universal broadband, electrical smart grid, e-health and e-education.

Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) has passed a major milestone: The Agency has issued more than $3 billion in bonds to finance homeownership and rental opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters.
Over its nearly-37-year history, VHFA has put that money to use helping approximately 27,000 Vermont households to buy a home and financing the development of approximately 8,400 affordable rental units.
Like other non-profit housing finance agencies across the country, VHFA builds capital by selling tax-exempt bonds, then loans that money at slightly higher interest rates to income-eligible homebuyers and developers creating multifamily projects that offer affordable rents. This self-sustaining model means the agency does not rely on state funding.

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the approval of State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) applications from Connecticut, Missouri, and Vermont. The planned use of SSBCI funds by these states will help create new jobs and is expected to spur more than $534 million in additional small business lending. The SSBCI program, which supports state-level small business lending programs, is an important component of the Small Business Jobs Act that President Obama signed into law last fall.

‘These critical funds will help small businesses access the capital they need to expand their operations, create new jobs, and continue supporting our nation’s economic recovery,’ said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. ‘Public-private lending partnerships, such as the State Small Business Credit Initiative, have a proven track record of success, and I’m pleased that this funding is on its way to support economic growth in these states.’

In a letter dated March 21, 2011, US Nuclear Regulatory Senior Project Manager Robert Kuntz notified Michael Colomb, Entergy Vermont Yankee Site Vice President, that the nuclear power plant in Vernon had been issued a renewed operating license for another 20 years.
This action was expected after the last official objection before the commission had been rejected March 10. However, the official approval had been put off as the NRC dealt with issues concerning the nuclear power plant in Japan, which was severely damaged by the tsunami on March 11.
The local reaction to the license renewal was also expected.

by Anne Galloway www.vtdigger.org March 20, 2011 There’s a reason why it’s called the ‘miscellaneous’ tax bill. How else to describe the House Ways and Means Committee’s laundry list of changes to the tax code?
The litany of slight alterations in percentage points, penny charges and statutory phrasing can seem arcane, but that hodgepodge of small and large changes can add up to big tax bucks, and so it tends to garner a lot of opposition from the business community. This year is no different. Members of the committee heard from accountants, CEOs, business associations, hospitals and dentists ‘ all of whom wanted to make sure their businesses or clients don’t get hit with a tax increase.

by Anne Galloway www.vtdigger.org March 19, 2011 Representative Martha Heath, D-Westford, has performed the budget-balancing miracle for the fourth year running ‘ this time without the benefit of federal stimulus funds.
Heath, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, worked with the 10 lawmakers on her committee to resolve the final cuts on Friday. The committee took four weeks of testimony and then spent three weeks ‘marking up,’ or rewriting, Gov. Peter Shumlin’s budget proposal.
Download the House Appropriations Committee spreadsheet, 3/19/11
The House Appropriations Committee gave preliminary approval to the budget early Friday evening. The spending bill, which includes about $80 million in cuts to human services, resolves the state’s $173 million budget gap for fiscal year 2012. Committee members will vote on the budget bill on Monday afternoon, and the Democrats hope to pass ‘the big bill’ next week.