Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Rising hospital and pharmaceutical costs are causing an increase in premiums for Vermonters. For 2024, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is proposing rate increases of 15.5% for individual health plans and 14.5% for the small group health plans. The primary driver behind these rates – 10.1% and 9.4% of the total – are attributed to hospital budgets and the higher prices for inpatient and outpatient services and pharmaceutical prices. Additional cost factors account for the remainder of the impact, including the cost of care for COVID-19, Blue Cross said in a statement today.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Legislature today gave its final approval to H.165, the Universal School Meals bill, in a 122-25 vote — sending it to Governor Phil Scott’s desk for enactment. This is 22 more votes than needed to override a veto, should Governor Phil Scott choose to exercise such authority. Permanent Universal School Meals will ensure that all students in Vermont have continued access to healthy and nutritious meals while at school, regardless of their families’ income level. JFO estimates this bill will cost $29 million from the Education Fund in fiscal year 2024. Absent any other changes in policy, the base homestead yield and/or base non-homestead tax rate will need to be adjusted to account for the anticipated cost of this program. As passed by the Senate with proposal of amendment, the bill appropriates $29 million in fiscal year 2024 from the Education Fund to the Agency of Education for the funding of the universal meals supplement (the reimbursement amount paid to school districts by the State).

Vermont Business Magazine On May 9, 2023, the Vermont Warden Service responded to a report of two dogs running at large, one of which had been shot, in Fairfield. The investigation is ongoing. Game wardens located a dog suffering from a gunshot wound in the hind quarters, near Pond Road and Sheldon Woods Road. Wardens rushed the wounded dog to Burlington Emergency Veterinary Hospital for treatment and it is currently stable. The Vermont Warden Service is currently seeking to identify the owner or owners of both dogs. Neither dog was chipped or wearing tags. Both dogs are described as medium size golden dogs, possibly golden retriever mixes.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, today led the committee in a hearing titled “The Need to Make Insulin Affordable for All Americans,” which heard testimony from the CEOs of major insulin manufacturers Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, and top executives from the major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) of CVS Health, Express Scripts, and OptumRX.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont) introduced the Invasive Species Prevention and Forest Restoration Act on Wednesday. The bill would expand access to the US Department of Agriculture emergency funding to combat the threat of non-native species to our forests. “I, like so many Vermonters, am concerned about the future of our natural resources and ecosystems. To protect our forests and the health of native species, it’s clear we need to take federal action. I’m proud to partner with Senator Welch to preserve our environment in the face of invasive species,” said Balint.

by Mike Smith As I was leaving the Johnson campus last week, just a few days into my role as Interim President of Vermont State University, I passed a prospective student visiting with their parents. We chatted and they said that they were from Hardwick and remembered me as the Hardwick town manager some forty years ago. They told me they were glad to have the opportunity for their daughter to attend Vermont State University this fall and wished me well in my new role. There are few things more “Vermont” than the small-town connections we make, and the way our paths can cross over and over, no matter how long or short of a time that we have lived here. The gravity of this role struck me in that moment—and the tremendous opportunity we have to support students on their journey to build a strong future for themselves and their communities.

Vermont Business Magazine The following is a statement from Aly Richards, CEO of Let’s Grow Kids, in response to the news today that House and Senate leaders are at an impasse on the funding source for the 2023 child care bill, S.56, An act relating to child care and early childhood education: “A supermajority of lawmakers agree that child care is a top priority for this year. And for good reason. Our child care system is in full blown crisis. Over 100 programs could close in the next year if we do not act. We have a bill in the legislature right now that makes significant progress towards addressing the child care crisis. Lawmakers have done great work to get to this point and we thank them for that. Now, we need leaders to put differences aside and agree to a funding source, and fast. We are running out of time this session and our parents, businesses, early childhood educators, and our state’s economy literally cannot afford for lawmakers to fail now. It is simply not an acceptable outcome.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and the Congressional delegation announced that Vermont has been awarded $6.2 million through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help address homelessness across the state. Vermont has the second highest rate of homelessness in the nation, according to the 2022 HUD Annual Homelessness Assessment Report. Awarded through HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Program, this funding was competitively distributed throughout the country to quickly rehouse and support individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused by homelessness. Almost 50 percent, or $2.9 million, of the overall funding awarded to Vermont will go to the Vermont State Housing Authority for rental vouchers and support services for those experiencing homelessness; while $986,552 will go to Washington County Youth Service Bureau.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today signed the following bills into law: H.89, An act relating to civil and criminal procedures concerning legally protected health care activity; S.37, An act relating to access to legally protected health care activity and regulation of health care providers. When signing the bills, Governor Scott issued the following statement: “Today, we reaffirm once again that Vermont stands on the side of privacy, personal autonomy and reproductive liberty, and that providers are free to practice without fear.”

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced today that Vermont will receive more than $3 million from the National Housing Trust Fund. Sanders first introduced legislation to create the National Housing Trust Fund in 2001, based on the success of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust Fund. Sanders succeeded in establishing the program nationwide in 2008. This year’s more than $3 million award is the second largest for Vermont in the fund’s history. The purpose of the fund is to build, preserve, rehabilitate, and operate affordable housing for low-income people in Vermont and across the country.

by Aubrey Weaver, Community News Service Essex resident Brianna Yarnell is mother, sports fanatic and celebrated blogger for the parenting website Vermont Moms. She is also a survivor of domestic and sexual violence and, this legislative session, has used her story to advocate for a new survivor protection bill in the Statehouse. H.45 proposes a specific protection many might not be familiar with: protection from abusive litigation. That’s when someone filing a suit against another person has been convicted of stalking, abusing or sexually assaulting the other party. The same applies to members of the plaintiff’s household or family. H.45 allows for lawsuits to be dismissed if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a party is engaging in abusive litigation as characterized by the plaintiff’s history of abuse against the defendant.

Vermont Business Magazine VT Dry & Cure Technologies, the makers of Cannatrol, a Vermont-based provider of innovative cannabis drying, curing and storage technology, has announced a $1.5 million seed funding round led by the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) and The Dudley Fund. Cannatrol’s patented Vaportrol Technology enables its dry, cure and storage systems to maximize potency, preserve terpenes, increase yields and produce superior cannabis buds, while also helping cultivators reduce labor. Much focus has been placed on genetics, strains and cultivation methods while discussing cannabis flower, but Cannatrol understands that effective drying, curing and storage are key to producing high quality products and driving profitability. Leading brands such as In Good Health, Elevate Missouri, and Nimbus Cannabis already leverage Cannatrol to gain full control of the post-harvest process.