Current News

Governor Jim Douglas passed into law last week a program called Challenges for Change, which aims to find $38 million in savings in state government operations. Rather than making traditional budget cuts, the law urges state government agencies to find new, less expensive ways of implementing their services. The program is part of the effort of state lawmakers to close a $150 million budget gap.

(Source: The Burlington Free Press)

Legislation passed by the Vermont House last week would make it easier to recycle computers, televisions and other electronics, according to a story in the Burlington Free Press. The bill would require manufacturers to fund the disposal of their products, which would fund free drop-off sites for e-waste in every Vermont county. Electronics companies would be required to pay a $5,000 registration fee to sell their products in the state, followed by a fee of 25 to 35 cents per pound of electronics sold. Governor Jim Douglas is expected to sign the bill, which would make Vermont the 21st state to implement an e-recycling program. The program is scheduled to start running in July 2011.

The Vermont Senate has passed a bill which would use $8.6 million in federal economic stimulus money to help create more than 1000 new jobs around the state. The bill, which was drafted by the Senate Economic Development committee, will put $3 million dollars towards expanding high speed broadband internet service in rural areas of the state. $1 million will be used to provide equity capital to Vermont businesses, and an additional $1 million will help dairy farmers to refinance loans and consolidate debt. It also allocates $1 million for employment training programs. Another $800,000 will provide no interest loans to Addison County businesses that were affected by the closing of the Champlain Bridge. The bill still needs to be approved by the House.
(Source: Vermont Public Radio)

This February eLEI report brings a first possible glimpse of an upcoming double dip in the US economy. Following 10 consecutive months of increase, eLEI has gone down. Growth has pulled back from the previous highs reached and the recession probability has increased dramatically. It will be important to continue to watch the recession probabilities index to determine if the course reverses.

CVPS completed restoration efforts late Sunday night in the aftermath of last week’s two-pronged snow and wind storm that knocked out power to more than 1 million electric utility customers across the Northeast, finishing one day ahead of initial estimates.
“This was certainly one of the most trying yet productive work weeks in our company’s history, and it revealed the tremendous spirit of our employees and the people we serve,” President Bob Young said. “But this storm is not over for many in the New England. This morning we sent six crews to help Public Service of New Hampshire in their restoration efforts, which are ongoing.”
More than 91,000 CVPS customer outages occurred over the course of the storm, making it the largest in company history. CVPS staged an unparalleled restoration effort, which included more than 90 CVPS linemen, more than 90 two-person contract line crews, more than 20 two-person tree crews and hundreds of support staff.

Governor Jim Douglas today announced that workers compensation insurance would cost less for most Vermont employers when new rates approved by the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA) become effective on April 1, 2010. This is the fourth straight year Vermont rates have decreased.
I am pleased to announce another year of decreased workers compensation rates. This is excellent news, especially for the many Vermont small businesses that will benefit from this decrease, said Governor Douglas. Four consecutive years of decreased rates would not be possible without employers continued attention to the issue of workplace safety, and the work of state regulators who successfully maintain a positive business environment for insurers.

Tired utility crews are making steady progress today in the wake of a hard-hitting one-two-punch storm system that caused 88,000 Central Vermont Public Service customer outages. As of 5 p.m., 8,500 customer outages remained, but storm recovery is likely to extend through the weekend into Monday. Across the Northeast, nearly 750,000 customers lost service Thursday night and Friday morning as high winds tore through the region.
“This storm recovery will be remembered as one of the most complicated in our history,” spokeswoman Christine Rivers said. “We’ve had two back-to-back major storms in the span of a few days, and Albany National Weather Service forecasters have predicted additional snow in southern Vermont through Saturday night. Each wave would have been a challenge by itself. Together the first two waves caused more customer outages than any storm in our history.”

The state is making roughly $250,000 in grants available to communities across the state for municipal planning and other special projects. Officials at the Vermont Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development announced the Municipal Planning Grants of up to $15,000, which can be used for a variety of planning projects.
“While the budget crisis has curtailed the amount available, we are committed to funding the most urgent planning projects to maintain our commitment to smart growth,” said Tayt Brooks, Commissioner of the Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development.
Through a competitive process, towns can be awarded grants for such planning activities as updating town plans, maps and zoning bylaws; however, Brooks said priority will be given to the following types of projects this year:

Updating municipal bylaws for the purpose of bringing bylaws into conformance with the municipal plan by 2011 as required by law;

By Neale F Lunderville. On Town Meeting Day, many voters will be confounded by a riddle on their school budget ballot: how is it that we cut school spending, but our property tax bill went up anyway?
The answer is buried deep within the labyrinth of Act 60 and Act 68, the complex and impenetrable school funding laws that still confuse taxpayers many years after their enactment. This system – which Governor Douglas has called “fundamentally broken and beyond repair” – threatens another year with higher property taxes at a time when families and small businesses can least afford them. And it only gets worse as the problem compounds in years to come.
Since the passage of Act 60, school spending has grown dramatically with the true cost to taxpayers masked by a surging housing market and expanding subsidies. As home values climbed, lawmakers and school boards could lower the property tax rate and still collect more than enough for schools.

Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) Secretary David Dill and New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee today announced that the second ferry slips at the Lake Champlain Ferry between Crown Point, NY, and Addison, VT, have been completed and are open for service. Additionally, the states have lifted the temporary weight and axle vehicle restrictions imposed when the new temporary ferry opened earlier this month.
“Allowing heavy vehicles such as trucks to use the temporary ferry allows the flow of commerce between Vermont and New York to return to its normal patterns,” VTrans Secretary Dill said. “Truckers can now use the ferry in the same capacity they used the bridge, which means shipping companies no longer have to bare additional expenses to transport their goods.”

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) has given $10,000 to support the South Burlington School District’s Wellness and Resiliency Program.
The program, which includes approximately 100 teachers, addresses wellness and learning through stress management and mindfulness techniques. These techniques are brought into the classroom as part of the student’s regular curriculum.

As utility crews whittled tens of thousands of outages down to a several thousand late Thursday, the second hit from a two-punch storm knocked out service to thousands more customers. As of 8 a.m., about 23,600 CVPS customers were without power.
Widespread outages were scattered across the state, with Addison Bennington, Orange, Rutland, Windham and Windsor counties hardest hit.
“We took a long, hard hit from the first punch of this storm, and this wind certainly adds insult to injury, but we anticipated the damage and secured outside crews to assist us in hitting back,” CVPS spokeswoman Christine Rivers said. “Thus far, this storm has caused the highest number of customer outages in our history, outstripping the 2007 Nor’icane. Unlike 2007, this hit a much broader cross-section of our service territory.”