Current News

Jim Douglas, Governor of Vermont and Chair of the National Governors Association will speak at a National Press Club luncheon on September 17, 2009, to discuss his yearlong NGA initiative, Rx for Health Reform: Affordable, Accessible, Accountable which looks at opportunities for states to contribute to the success of national health care reform.
Douglas announced on August 27 of this year, that he would not seek re-election as Governor in 2010.
As Governor, he has made health care reform a top priority in Vermont so its citizens have access to high-quality, affordable health care. Less than a year after taking office, the Governor launched The Blueprint for Health to transform Vermont's health care system and help all Vermonters lead healthier lives and reduce health care costs, and in 2006 signed a comprehensive package of health reforms to expand access to coverage, improve the quality and performance of the health care system and contain costs.

Three Vermont counties were awarded economic stimulus funding for energy efficiency and conservation projects through a block grant program created in legislation sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Vermont’s first county-specific block grants include $128,900 for Caledonia County; $115,200 for Orleans County; and $195,600 for Franklin County. Sanders said he expects most Vermont counties will receive funding under an Energy Department program created by legislation he sponsored.
Sanders, chairman of the Senate environment committee’s Green Jobs and New Economy Subcommittee, authored legislation that established the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. The State of Vermont and its cities and towns have already been awarded $10.3 million in funds through this program. Sanders estimated that more than $1 million more will go to Vermont counties.

FairPoint Communications CEO David Hauser today delivered the following remarks to a joint meeting of New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont utility regulators in Derry, New Hampshire.
“Good afternoon. I’m David Hauser, CEO of FairPoint Communications. Today I’m marking a little more than two months on the job and it’s been a very interesting two months indeed. During this time I’ve talked to employees, customers, reporters, elected officials, and regulators. I’ve been listening, learning, and acting on the things that need to happen in order to make this a more vibrant company providing the needed services for the communities in northern New England.
I believe I was brought to FairPoint, not for my technical expertise, but rather to provide leadership. As CEO of FairPoint, it is my responsibility to set the strategy, organize for success and to demonstrate through my actions a company culture of high integrity, customer service, and community involvement.

The Douglas Administration is reminding people who may want to apply for an Act 250 permit that they can reduce the risk and upfront costs associated with the process by seeking to have the most problematic aspects of a project reviewed first. Rule 21 of Act 250, which allows a District Commission to conduct a review of less than all of a project's Act 250 criteria in exchange for a minimum filing fee, has been on the books a long time, but is rarely used, officials said.
“The economy is showing some signs of recovery, but in these uncertain times nobody wants to unnecessarily invest scarce capital without knowing the magnitude of risk involved in obtaining a reasonable return,” said Tayt Brooks, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development.

The owner of the Jay Peak Resort is using a little-known federal visa program to finance an ambitious expansion project that's expected to generate hundreds of jobs in the Northeast Kingdom. Bill Stenger, who purchased the resort last year, persuaded 35 citizens of other countries to put up a total of $17.5 million toward the cost of a 57-suite hotel scheduled to open early next year. The incentive for the investors is the prospect of gaining the right to live and work in the United States indefinitely. Known as the EB-5 program, this initiative also covers the immediate families of those who invest at least $500,000 in a job-creating venture in designated parts of the US with chronically high unemployment.

Northern Power Systems, Inc. (www.northernpower.com), of Barre, Vermont, a next-generation wind turbine company and leading manufacturer of community wind turbines, today announced its expanded presence in Canada. The unique permanent magnet direct drive (PMDD) design of the Northwind 100 ensures higher energy capture, grid-friendly power quality, low noise, low maintenance operation and is ideally suited to support the fast-growing Canadian market.

Amtrak Office of Security Strategy and Special Operations (OSSSO), Amtrak Police, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel and officers from approximately 100 commuter rail, state, and local police agencies mobilized today for the largest joint, simultaneous Northeast rail security operation of its kind, involving 150 railway stations between Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Essex Junction, Vermont.
The morning rush-hour multi-force security deployment was NOT in response to any particular threat or incident, but rather a demonstration of an ongoing collaborative effort to expand counter-terrorism and incident response capabilities up and down the Northeast Corridor railway system. Approximately 750,000 rail passengers ride along the Northeast Corridor and other rail systems integrated with the Corridor each day.

Following an extensive national search, the Board of Directors of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) is pleased to announce that Richard Smith of East Montpelier, Vermont has been selected as the new President of the Association. He takes over from Molly Lambert., who has led the VCIA since 2002.
Mr. Smith is currently the Deputy Commissioner of the State of Vermont's Public Service Department. His extensive experience in state government, including his previous roles as Deputy Commissioner of Economic Development and policy analyst in the Office of the Governor, was crucial to the search committee's decision. After being notified of his selection, Mr. Smith stated, "I am honored and excited about this opportunity to work with an outstanding organization that represents such an important sector of the financial services industry. VCIA remains an essential institution for captive insurance as well as an integral pillar of Vermont's economy."

Governor Jim Douglas has announced that $500,000 in Clear & Clear grants is available for ecosystem restoration projects. The Center for Clean and Clear is accepting one-page project pre-proposals until September 30. Through a competitive process, Vermont municipalities, local or regional governmental agencies, nonprofits and citizen groups can apply for the grants.
The Center is particularly interested in projects that: improve stream stability; incorporate the science of fluvial geomorphology in river corridor management decisions; protect against flood hazards and improve in-stream and riparian habitat; mitigate the effects of hydrologic modification associated with either agricultural operations or urban development; protect and restore riparian wetlands; re-establish lake shoreline native vegetation and related shoreline erosion corrections; and enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of agricultural lands.

Executives from FairPoint Communications Inc. will meet with the utility regulatory boards from Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire tomorrow all at the same time. In a highly irregular development, all three states will hold a joint conference with the troubled telecommunications company as part of an ongoing effort to learn how the company plans to stabilize itself.
FairPoint bought the landline telephone and internet business in the three northern New England states for $2.3 billion in 2008. Following the purchase, the company was almost immediately struck by failures in billing, customer service, order fulfillment and other problems and has been struggling to right itself ever since. FairPoint has also suffered from a number of serious financial setbacks, which resulted this summer in the need for the company to restructure its debt.

Vermont's hospitals have finishing filing their budget requests with state officials and are asking for $1.8 billion, an increase of approximately 6.6 percent from this year. 13 hospitals in total submitted their requests, which come to a combined amount of $1,804105,066, about $122 million more than the current hospital budgets.
The budget requests were made earlier this month to the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities, and Health Care Administration. BISHCA is scheduled to approve the budgets and the rate increase requests by September 15, although there will likely be some downgrades for certain hospitals.

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation has approved three new applications for maple sugaring licenses on state lands. The sugaring sites are located in the Town of Groton on Groton State Forest, in the Town of Stowe on Mt. Mansfield State Forest, and in the Town of Mt. Holly on Okemo State Forest.
In May of this year, the department announced that eight new sugaring sites were being made available on state forest and state park land to interested sugar makers. The department received a total of six applications for three of the eight sites by the July 10th deadline.