Current News

Vermont Administration Secretary Neale Lunderville on Friday sent state worker union leaders a counter offer to his original proposal to cut wages of the more than 8,000 state employees. Lunderville said on March 10, 2009, that in order to avoid 320 layoffs, the state and union would have to find $17 million in sustainable wage reductions. The union had essentially rejected that proposal and offered their own, which included furloughs and cuts in raises instead of cuts in current wages. In the latest proposal, the Administration increased the floor for a 5% salary reduction from $30,000 in the original proposal to $38,000 in the current proposal; $38,000 is the average private sector salary. Also, the Administration is proposing to extend the salary reduction and medical premium increase items to all three branches in order to make the proposal equitable across state government and lessen the impact on only one branch.
Administration Counter Proposal dated April 3, 2009

Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz today announced the publication of Municipal Law Basics, an easy-to-read handbook designed to help citizens better understand the basic laws that apply to Vermont s municipalities. Markowitz said, If you have ever wondered who oversees local government, or whether you are allowed to tape meetings of your selectboard, or whether citizens may petition the school board to change a policy, then Municipal Law Basics is a publication for you.

Statewide student winners of a financial literacy poster contest will be recognized by State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding and Governor Jim Douglas on April 9, 2009, 11:30 a.m., State House, Montpelier, Cedar Creek Room. The theme of the national contest, sponsored by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, was I m going to be a millionaire because I ¦ The student winners and their parents will be at the State House event. Student winners will be announced in three grade divisions elementary, middle school, and high school. The student winners are from schools in Reading, South Ryegate and Williston. Legislators and State House visitors may view a display of student posters from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. that day. State winners receive a $100 savings bond and their schools a $100 cash award.

A Congressional Senate bill introduced late last week would enable the Vermont State Treasurer s Office to try and return millions of dollars in matured unredeemed savings bonds to Vermonters. Senate Bill 827, the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2009, would create a federal partnership with state unclaimed property programs across the country. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy is one of the co-sponsors of the bill.
The vast majority of microfilm records held by the U.S. Treasury are not indexed and are practically inaccessible, said Vermont State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding. As a result, nobody is actively searching for the owners of more than 40 million savings bonds. This needs to change.

Nearly $227,000 of new funding is being distributed to the Vermont State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) to help Medicare beneficiaries in Vermont get more information about their health care choices.
The funds are part of the $35.8 million being distributed to the 54 SHIPs that provide Medicare beneficiaries with local, personalized assistance on a wide variety of Medicare and health insurance topics.
The Vermont State Health Insurance Program serves an important role in providing information and support to people with Medicare all across Vermont, said CMS Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera. This new funding will help to ensure that the Vermont SHIP continues to work with local governments, community-based organizations and other partners in Vermont to help meet the needs of our Medicare beneficiaries.

Governor Jim Douglas will host a Summit on Pathways to Economic Stability at the State House on Monday, April 6. Governor Douglas will be joined by legislators, business leaders, community advocates, and others to develop recommended priorities and create pathways to economic stability for all Vermonters.
As the challenges facing our state become more and more urgent, it is vital that we harness existing public initiatives, private partnerships, and our communities to address the root causes of poverty and identify both short- and long-term solutions.
During these difficult fiscal times, it is more important than ever to ensure we are doing all we can to support low-income families. This summit will be a valuable tool to bring together state and community partners around our mission to eradicate poverty in Vermont and to ensure we emerge from this economic downturn stronger than ever, said Governor Douglas.

At its March 25, 2009 meeting, CSWD Board of Commissioners proposed an amendment to its Solid Waste Management Ordinance to increase the solid waste management fee from $17.61 to $22.06 effective July 1, 2009. The fee is charged on each ton of trash generated in Chittenden County that is landfilled. The proposal would also reduce the tipping fee for recyclables at the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) from $20 per ton to $10 per ton.
Members of the public and other interested parties are invited to attend a public hearing on the fee increase, scheduled for April 14 at 4 p.m. at CSWD's Administrative Offices (1021 Redmond Road, Williston). If you plan to attend the public hearing, please contact Jennifer Getty at 872-8100, x201 or [email protected] so that adequate space is provided. Please see below for information on submitting comments.
Click here for background information on the proposed fee increase.

In an awards ceremony Wednesday evening, NRG Systems of Hinesburg and BioTek of Winooski were the big winners at the 2009 Best Places to Work event hosted by Vermont Business Magazine, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and the Vermont Society of Human Resource Management. The event was held at the Main Street Landing Film House in Burlington. The companies were honored based on the results of surveys given to each company's employees. The awards honored five large companies (Over 150 employees) and 10 small & medium sized companies (15 to 149 employees). NRG was named the top company to work for in the small/medium sized category and BioTek was named the large company winner. Of the many companies whose employees were surveyed by Best Companies Group from Pennsylvania, only these 15 were named the Best Places to Work in Vermont.
The recipients of this year s awards were:

Customers, shareholders and several Vermont businesses have contributed to a banner year for CVPS Shareheat, raising a record amount of money to help Vermonters avert heating crises.
With donations continuing to come in, more than $375,000 has been raised for the 2008-2009 heating season, raising the program total to nearly $3.2 million since its inception in 1987. The previous record was less than $250,000 in one year.
With heating prices skyrocketing, CVPS began its annual campaign with an unprecedented July kickoff, and committed $100,000 in shareholder funds to the program. A host of Vermont businesses were recruited as partners, which donated to the matching pool to leverage customer donations.
Altogether, $182,000 was available in the Shareheat matching pool, and customers have donated $193,000. Hundreds of Vermont families benefited.

The Vermont Senate today passed the FY09 Budget Adjustment bill with a 26-1 vote. The passage of this bill will ensure that Vermont continues to maintain vital state services. The bill also allows the state to draw down millions of dollars made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In addition to balancing the state budget, these dollars will put Vermonters to work and repair our crumbling roads and bridges.

The University of Vermont has announced that three new legislative trustees, a gubernatorial appointee, and a new student trustee are joining its board of trustees. The new legislative trustees, elected by the Vermont General Assembly to six-year terms, are Carolyn Branagan, Christopher Bray, and David Potter. Governor Douglas has appointed Mark Young, who previously served as a legislative trustee from 2002-2007, to a six-year term. The new student trustee, Adam Roof, was selected to serve a two-year term by the Associate Directors for the Appointment of The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College Student Trustees, Inc.
Leaving the board are legislative trustees Edwin Amidon, James Leddy, and Martha Heath, gubernatorial appointed trustee Robert Young, and student trustee Beth Rice.
All of the new trustees will participate in the board meeting scheduled for May 14 through 16.

A new company called ASK-intTAG will begin to manufacture electronically enhanced identification cards at the IBM facility in Essex Junction as early as this summer. A joint venture of ASK SA from France and WS Packaging from Green Bay, WI, the new company will compete in the growing market for enhanced driver s licenses, passports and other secure forms of identification. ASK already produces such products for the US market in France. It uses imbedded computer chips and tiny antennas for the radio transmission technology. WS offers the new firm large scale manufacturing capabilities.