Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Governor’s Office today issued the following statement: “Today’s decision from the Vermont Labor Relations Board makes it clear the Labor Relations Board is broken, and a fair, unbiased process is impossible with the present Board makeup. “The facts of the case, the precedent, the existing – union-negotiated – telework policy, state statute and the constitution are clear the State acted appropriately in setting a minimum in-office standard for state employees. No one could thoughtfully and objectively review the facts and documentation the State presented – alongside the convoluted and changing arguments the Union presented – and come to this conclusion.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of Kumulia Long of Milton to fill the vacant Chittenden-Franklin seat in the House of Representatives. Long is a real estate broker, combat veteran, and former Chair of the Milton School Board. A resident of Chittenden County, he has spent more than a decade combining military service, civic leadership, and professional experience in Vermont’s housing market.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department for Children and Families joins communities nationwide in recognizing National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. This month highlights the work of families, communities, and service providers who help keep children safe. It is not only a time to recognize these efforts, but to strengthen them—together. Child abuse is a serious issue affecting communities nationwide, including here in Vermont. Since 2025, there were 45 cases of serious physical injury to children, including child fatalities, investigated in Vermont. Acknowledging this is an important step to keep children and families safe, stable, and together. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office on Monday announced that Maxx Rheaume, 27, of Salisbury, Vermont, was arraigned on one felony count of Sexual Assault- No Consent and one misdemeanor count of Distribution of Cannabis to a person under the age of 21. The charges against Rheaume are the result of an investigation conducted by the Vermont State Police, New Haven Barracks. Rheaume pleaded not guilty at the arraignment in Vermont Superior Court, Addison Criminal Division.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark joined a coalition of 21 states and local governments in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s repeal of the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) Rule and reversion to outdated standards that harm the environment and public health. The MATS Rule implements nationwide standards that limit emissions of toxic air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants, including mercury, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals, in addition to acid gases, such as hydrogen chloride and formaldehyde. In 2024, following significant developments in the technologies used to control pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated the standards for emissions of these hazardous air pollutants from power plants.

Vermont Business Magazine The former Director of the U.S. Census Bureau – a career-long statistician and data scientist – will speak at Saint Michael’s College as part of an annual endowed lecture series. The Honorable Robert L. Santos, the first Latino and person of color to serve as the Senate-confirmed director of the Census, will explore how considering culture and values in data have made him a better statistician and leader. Santos’ talk is part of the Sutherland Lecture Series, which brings leading thinkers and scholars to campus to speak about issues in the liberal arts and sciences.

by Sam Lincoln I’ve had the honor of being a Vermonter who made a career working the land in agricultural and timber harvesting enterprises and my family has owned land in Vermont for generations. I also served as Deputy Commissioner of Forests, Parks, and Recreation under Governor Scott, where I worked on efforts to reform Act 250 to both protect forests and make the law work for rural Vermont. Vermont’s forest economy businesses must compete, innovate, and grow, just to stay viable. But too often, our regulatory system makes that harder instead of easier. It should not take three years to get a permit to make bark mulch on land a town has already zoned for industrial use.

by Rep. Laura Sibilia Vermont has a responsibility to address climate change and protect our communities and the natural systems that support us. We have seen firsthand the damage a changing climate is doing across our state, from flooding that damages homes and roads to increasing wildfire risk and the growing threat to species we depend on. In that context, Act 181 of 2024 is a large and complex update to our land use laws that changes how decisions about land are made and adds new protections for land and water that support us. Advocates have rightly emphasized the importance of protecting biodiversity as part of this work.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorneys presented arguments today in federal court in the first legal challenge in the nation to a climate superfund law, which requires certain large fossil fuel companies to pay their "fair share" for the necessary changes communities must make to prepare for and bolster themselves against more severe weather and climate impacts. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) defended Vermont’s groundbreaking climate superfund law during the hearing at the U.S. District Court in Rutland. The law is being challenged by the United States, the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a coalition of 24 Republican-led states’ attorneys general.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, today joined U.S. Senators Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in introducing the Fostering the Availability in Rural Markets of (FARM) Home Loans Act of 2026, bipartisan, bicameral legislation to spur rural economic growth by helping more homebuyers qualify for rural housing assistance. The Senators’ legislation would modernize housing assistance eligibility requirements and help nearly 30 million homebuyers—including almost 100,000 Vermonters—access rural housing assistance for the first time. 

Vermont Business Magazine On March 28, hundreds of University of Vermont students, faculty, and community members danced the night away to raise funds and awareness for Golisano Children’s Hospital at University of Vermont Health. RALLYTHON, UVM’s Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon, raised $101,383.85 by midnight during their 12-hour Dance Marathon. On Tuesday, April 21, RALLYTHON’s student leadership team will present a check to Lewis First, MD, chief of Pediatrics at Golisano Children’s Hospital. Now in its eleventh year, RALLYTHON has raised a total of $1,138,505.53 for Golisano Children’s Hospital at UVM Health. The event is part of a movement of more than 300 colleges and universities across the country that come together to raise money for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported last week that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen to a very low level, similar to the negligible level seen last summer. There were no measles cases after one reported in Vermont in February in Washington County and the rate nationally is low. While there was no measles virus detected recently, COVID-19, RSV and Norovirus remained elevated at all the Vermont wastewater testing sites. Outbreaks increased slightly from mid-summer and have recently subsided, especially in residential care facilities. School outbreaks in recent months have been rare. Overall, there have not been any outbreaks since the March 2, 2026, report.