Current News

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) voted early this morning to keep the government open and advance nearly $13 million of Congressionally Directed Spending for eight Vermont-based projects nominated by the Senator. This is in addition to nearly $30 million in federal funds passed in early March as part of the first tranche of government funding, which will support 19 Vermont projects nominated by Sen. Welch. The Congressionally Directed Spending was included in a bipartisan agreement that included appropriations for Defense; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. 

Leonine Public Affairs As the House Appropriations Committee works to wrap up the FY2025 budget, all eyes are on the House Ways and Means Committee as they churn out new tax proposals. As a reminder, some new taxes that have been on the table for years - sugar-sweetened beverages, candy, and software - are still on the table. But this week, the House Ways and Means Committee brought out three new tax increases. The committee approved proposals to double the property transfer tax on homes over $600,000 ($17.5 million), increase the top marginal income tax rate to 11.75 percent (a three percent increase that would raise $74.9 million), and increase corporate taxes from 8.5 to 10 percent and add back currently deductible Subpart F corporate income ($33 million). If approved, Vermont would have the highest corporate tax rate in the country.

Vermont Business Magazine GlobalFoundries gets $1.5 billion for Malta, NY, plant, Vermont to benefit; Keurig Dr Pepper will close Williston plant, consolidate in Essex Jct; Scott signs education financing bill H.850, no pay hike for lawmakers; Dr Levine takes heat from ACLU, Baruth over open meeting ‘violation’ in opioid funds; UnitedHealthcare agrees to contract with UVM Health Network; Scott to expedite over $100M in available mitigation project funding to communities impacted by flooding; State Medicaid pharmacy claims contractor experiences cyber attack and outages.

Vermont Business Magazine Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation has been named the American Tree Farm System’s 2024 National Tree Farm Inspector of the Year. The American Tree Farm System comprises a nationwide alliance of 74,000 family forest landowners dedicated to the sustainable management of 19 million acres. In Vermont, the Tree Farm System is sponsored by the Vermont Woodlands Association with 440 landowners and over 133,000 acres enrolled in the program. These landowners, known as "Tree Farmers," commit to managing their forests to prioritizes wildlife habitat, clean water, and recreation, while sustainably producing forest products.

Vermont Business Magazine Special Olympics Vermont (SOVT) hosted the 2024 Winter Games on Friday, March 15th at The Hermitage Club in Wilmington, Vermont. Over 125 delegates, including athletes and coaches from eight local programs trained and competed in alpine skiing and snowboarding. This was Special Olympics Vermont’s largest Winter Games since 2019. The delegations that competed included Addison, Central Vermont, Chittenden, Adaptive Sports at Mount Snow, Northshire, Randolph, Rutland and Smugglers’ Notch Adaptive. 

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine A leading public defender, a law school professor and a longtime federal prosecutor are in the running to become the next U.S. District Court Judge in Vermont. The names of Assistant Federal Defender Steven L. Barth, Vermont Law School Professor Jessica C. Brown and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher were on the approved list compiled by a special screening committee, according to two sources familiar with the process, but not authorized to speak publicly. All three candidates declined public comment when reached by Vermont News First about filling the post. A screening panel, after completing interviews in January, sent the three names to U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and Peter Welch, D-Vt.

Public Assets Institute Those who keep a close eye on the State House know that this week is “money crossover”—the deadline for bills requiring significant financial appropriations to move from one chamber to the other. Any bills that don’t cross over by close of business Friday are on hold until next year. We’ve been watching to see whether the Fair Share for Vermont proposal, championed by Public Assets and the other members of the Fund Vermont's Future coalition, to add a 3 percent surcharge on annual incomes above $500,000 moves on to the Senate. The revenue proposal was added to a housing bill (H. 829), and was voted out of both House Ways and Means and House Appropriations yesterday, so it officially made crossover.

Vermont Business Magazine This week the House voted to approve two bills that will significantly increase access to cancer screening for Vermonters. House bills, H.621 and H.741, expand health insurance coverage for diagnostic breast imaging and colorectal cancer screening respectively. Under current Vermont law and the Affordable Care Act, access to preventative screening mammography is available, however when results from these screening are inconclusive further imaging and follow-ups are required, which are not covered by current law. H.621 aims to broaden the scope of follow-up screenings mandated by insurers, providing more comprehensive coverage to Vermonters.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Regulation ordered Sigue Corp. to cease engaging in money transmission activities in Vermont as the company can no longer responsibly serve customers due to its declining financial position. Thirty-nine states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia coordinated to issue this consent order. Sigue is a state-regulated money transmission company licensed in Vermont and 48 other states (NMLS ID 915912). Over the past several months, Sigue experienced significant financial deterioration. The company failed to complete multiple money orders and transmissions and to maintain adequate net worth and permissible investments to cover outstanding liabilities, both violations of state money transmission law. Many customers are still waiting for their funds.

Department of Economic Development In less than three weeks, the 2024 Great American Eclipse will throw northern Vermont into total darkness. Depending on where you are in Vermont, the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 will last up to 3 minutes 26 seconds. There will be a partial eclipse before and after the total eclipse. Vermont is expecting tens of thousands of people and possibly up to 145,000 visitors to join us to watch the moon block out the sun. Read on for how you can be best prepared.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Labor reported today that the February 2024 seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for February was 2.3 percent. This reflects no change from January's revised estimate. Vermont has the third lowest rate in the nation, behind North (2.0%) and South (2.1%) Dakota. California (5.3%) has the highest rate. The comparable United States rate in February was 3.9 percent, an increase of two-tenths of one percentage point from the revised January estimate. The seasonally adjusted Vermont data for February show a modest improvement from January. The Vermont civilian labor force increased by 730 from the prior month’s revised estimate. The number of employed persons increased by 741 and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 11.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of Zoie Saunders to serve as Vermont’s next education secretary. Saunders is an accomplished education leader with broad strategic and operational experience driving school improvement, increasing student outcomes and enrollment, closing service gaps, and optimizing school support services. Currently, Saunders works as the chief strategy and innovation officer for Broward County (Florida) Public Schools, the sixth largest school district in the country. In this role, she is responsible for aligning resources, maximizing facility usage, strengthening partnerships, and enhancing support services for 230 schools serving over 200,000 students. Using a collaborative approach, Saunders has led discussions with community stakeholders to develop the goals and criteria for redefining the future of education in the county from an equity lens. Saunders will assume the role effective April 15.