Current News

The Vermont Retail Association and the Vermont Grocers Association have been working intensively with the Vermont legislature to draft and enact into law a new bill that will prohibit current abusive practices by credit card companies. The opponents call the proposed legislation, among other things, unworkable, a "sweetheart deal" for so-called big box stores, require consumers to always carry cash while opening them up to bait-and-switch schemes.
Key elements of the new bill:
· Prohibit the card companies (Visa & MasterCard) from centrally fixing the prices of interchange fees.
· Prohibit card companies from fining or penalizing merchants for their pricing displays.
· End the “honor-all-cards” rule which requires merchants to accept every type of card the companies issue, regardless of the cost to the merchant.
· Allow merchants to set minimum and/or maximum transaction amounts without being fined or penalized by the companies.

State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding announced today that Vermont successfully sold $20 million of Vermont Citizen bonds and another $38.83 million of general obligation refunding bonds on February 25. The sale was planned as a two-day process; however, the bonds sold out entirely by the middle of the first day.
“We are extremely pleased by the response to our bond offering,” said State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding. “We received approximately $90 million of orders for the almost $60 million in bonds that were available. The strong response indicates Vermont investors and brokers are eager to invest in the State and support badly needed capital projects.”

On March 10, 2010, the Vermont Department of Education released the list of Vermont s ten persistently low-achieving schools as required by the US Department of Education (USED). Due to a calculation error at the Vermont department, that list was incorrect. Two schools that were classified have been removed, and two schools that were not on the March 10 list have now been added.
A federal regulation from USED requires states to rank all schools identified for not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) who received Title I funds in 2008 and all secondary schools eligible for but not receiving Title I funds in 2008. Once ranked, the lowest-achieving five schools in each category are eligible to receive federal funding as part of the Statewide Fiscal Stabilization Fund allocations under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The Vermont Public Service Board has reversed its ruling from 2005 that required SuperMedia LLC to separate the FairPoint Yellow Pages and the FairPoint White Pages directories in Vermont. The directories will be combined into a single telephone directory beginning with distribution of new books in May.
“Consumers have been asking us to switch back for years,” said Todd Sanislow, regional vice president at SuperMedia. “It has long been our position that requiring us to publish separate White Pages and Yellow Pages directories was not the best solution, as it is less environmentally friendly and also put us at an unfair disadvantage with our competition. We are pleased to provide the convenience of having both Yellow Pages and White Pages listings in the same directory once again, and the additional enhancements of the SuperGuarantee program and a larger font size.”

The Ethan Allen Institute presents Sheraton Economic Series 2010 lecture, "Regulating the Banks: Lessons from the Recent Crisis" featuring Dr Meir G Kohn, Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College. The event will be held at the Sheraton Burlington Emerald Ballroom, Thursday, March 18, 5-7 pm.
An internationally known expert in finance, markets, banking and regulation, Prof. Kohn will autopsy the bodies left from the Crash of 2008 and answer questions from the audience. His presentation is part of the ongoing Sheraton Economic Series.
Prof. Kohn will also address the regulatory proposals currently before Congress, and look ahead to what those changes are likely to mean for financial markets, banks, brokerages, and the economy as a whole.

Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee recently joined his counterparts in the Northeast to write USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack encouraging him to consider the benefits of reinstating the federal support price for cheddar block and barrel cheese and non-fat dry milk back to the levels established by USDA last August. The action was coordinated by New York Commissioner of Agriculture Pat Hooker.
“We are writing to add our voice to those you have heard in saying that the current pricing system is outdated, broken and needs to be addressed,” said Secretary Allbee. “In fact the current system devalues fresh, locally produced milk, potentially impacting our food safety.”

The February 2010 Mortgage Monitor report, released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of mortgage performance data and analytics, shows that while delinquency rates in the U.S. have risen to historic highs, the pace of deterioration has slowed. However, the nation's housing market remains far from a full recovery.

Average retail gasoline prices in Vermont have risen 4.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.85/g today. This compares with the national average that has increased 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.78/g, according to gasoline price website VermontGasPrices.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Vermont during the past week, prices today are 93.0 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 8.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 16.6 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 88.1 cents per gallon higher than this day a year ago.

Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE: CV) reported consolidated earnings of $20.4 million, or $1.74 per diluted share of common stock, for the 12 months of 2009, compared to $16 million, or $1.52 per diluted share of common stock, for the same period in 2008.
CV reported fourth-quarter 2009 consolidated earnings of $2.1 million, or 18 cents per diluted share of common stock, compared to a loss of $0.1 million, or 1 cent per diluted share of common stock, for the same period last year.
"Perhaps most significant, Moody's Investors Service rated the company at investment grade in the fourth quarter, markedly improving our borrowing capability," President Bob Young said. "These ratings will allow CVPS to borrow short-term capital at lower rates than we could otherwise expect to receive, and will reduce or eliminate collateral requirements in many power purchase and power sales contracts, so this expands our options as we look to secure new power supply in the future.

Governor Jim Douglas received the National Order of Québec (l Ordre national du Québec) yesterday at a ceremony in the Québec National Assembly, becoming only the 4th American and first American public official to receive the honor. Québec Premier Jean Charest cited Governor Douglas work in strengthening the historic Québec -Vermont relationship throughout his career in public service during the investiture ceremony held yesterday.
Governor s remarks:
Merci, Monsieur le Premier Ministre. Et je remercie aussi le peuple du Québec pour ce grand honneur. [Thank you Premier Charest. I thank you and the people of Quebec for this tremendous honor.]

The Senate Institutions Committee on Friday approved on a 5-0 vote legislation to authorize the sale or lease of the Brighton State Airport to either the Town Brighton or Vermont Renewable Energy Co. The details of the sale or lease will be left up to the Agency of Transportation to negotiate. The property will be sold at fair market value. The legislation next goes to the full Senate for review and consideration.

"This legislation, if ultimately approved by the 2010 General Assembly, will help pave the way for much needed jobs in the Northeast Kingdom and create a new market for wood in the region. It is estimated that 34 new jobs will be created at the plant and approximately 150 jobs will be either created or impacted in a positive way in the region," Sen. Vince Illuzzi, Chair

On March 10, NBT Bank held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally open its Burlington Office. This office, located at 150 Bank Street, is the bank s first retail branch in Vermont. The bank s Vermont regional office is located in the same building.
On hand for the ceremony were NBT Bank executives and employees, local public officials, area business leaders and invited guests. NBT Bank Regional President Matt Durkee said: Establishing our presence in Vermont has been a great experience for us. People have been very responsive to our community banking approach, and we look forward to continued growth here.