Current News

by David Coates & Mark Crow Just a year ago, we wrote that the recommendations by the Vermont Pension Benefits, Design and Funding Task Force to fix the retirement systems for state workers and teachers (later included in the pension reform legislation enacted in 2022) did not go far enough. A good start, but not far enough to make the systemic solutions needed for the systems’ sustainability. As we wrote, one measure to help make the systems sustainable is to conduct more frequent reviews of the systems’ actuarial assumptions. The 2022 legislation, however, extended the actuarial assumptions established in 2019 to 2023. We stressed, at that time and now, that the actuarial assumptions should be reviewed at least every three years.

Vermont Business Magazine Forbes Advisor analyzed 2022 figures from the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC), to find the rates of common parasites and diseases among cats and dogs in each state. This included the rate of positive tests for common pet problems such as heartworms, intestinal parasites, tick-borne diseases and viruses. Vermont was found to have the second highest rate of infection for cats and dogs on average, with 6.17% of all tests proving positive for disease or parasites. The Mountain State was found to have 29,752 positive cases of disease and parasites out of a total of 482,041 tests. The most common issues among dogs are the tick-borne diseases anaplasmosis and Lyme disease, at rates of 21.06% and 12.63% respectively, while roundworm was most common in cats at a rate of 5.58%.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement: “In my Inaugural Address, I asked legislators to join me to make the most of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity we have as a result of historic federal funds and state surpluses. I believe we do that by revitalizing our county economic centers and their surrounding communities that have been left behind for far too long. Because the fact is, the real majority in the Legislature is not about political parties. It comes from the more than 100 lawmakers who represent small communities that need our help. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of my team and many legislators from these small towns, initiatives that would help communities and families are being sidelined and sacrificed in order to satisfy political agendas and appease special interest groups."

Vermont Business Magazine While 41 Senate Republicans recently introduced legislation to permanently repeal the estate tax – which would provide a $1.8 trillion tax giveaway to billionaires in America and would only provide relief to the top one-tenth of one percent – Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, today introduced a progressive estate tax bill that would make sure that the wealthiest people in America "pay their fair share." The For the 99.5 Percent Act establishes a new progressive estate tax rate structure on the top 0.5 percent of Americans who inherit over $3.5 million in wealth. It also imposes a 45 percent tax rate on estates worth $3.5 million and a 65 percent tax rate on the value of an estate worth over $1 billion. This is not a radical idea. In fact, from 1941-1976, the top estate tax rate was 77 percent on estates worth more than $50 million.

Vermont Business Magazine USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will send the 2023 Maple Syrup Inquiry to approximately 1,600 Northeastern producers on April 28. Maple syrup producers, processors and commodity markets rely on the data from this survey to make informed business decisions and help promote the industry. Return deadline is May 8. There are changes to this 2023 survey. Last year, the International Maple Syrup Institute created a working group from their membership and brought the industry’s concerns to NASS’s attention. As a result, this year’s survey is shorter with new questions on acreage, sales, and unprocessed sap. The Northeastern Region produced 4.40 million gallons of maple syrup in 2022. Vermont was the top Maple Syrup state with 51% of the United States’ maple syrup.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont) on Monday introduced the Peer Education and Emergency Response (PEER) for Mental Health Act. This legislation would establish a grant program that supports training for teachers, school personnel, parents, caregivers, and students in mental health first aid. Increased isolation following the pandemic, greater academic and social pressures, and social media have all contributed to a significant mental health crisis among school aged children and adolescents. Forty-two percent of high school students report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and twenty-two percent say they seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021, according to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Vermont Business Magazine Faculty from the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CNHS) and State University of New York (SUNY) Plattsburgh are training a team of students to help New Americans and refugees with chronic health conditions access critical healthcare services. UVM Exercise Science Program Director Susan Kasser, Ph.D., and Julie Richards, Ph.D., of SUNY Plattsburgh, an advisory board member for the Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV), developed the Interprofessional Collaborative Health Access and Care Management Pilot Project to support immigrants and refugees facing barriers to the U.S. healthcare system.

by Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, VAHHS Last week provided a moment of reprieve as the fire alarm went off during the morning and we were all forced outside to enjoy the sun. Rep. Mari Cordes set up a badminton set—a great reminder to take the occasional moment of fun and levity as we hit the grindstone in the weeks ahead. In preparation for work in the Senate Appropriations Committee on the budget, the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee is looking at the workforce development programs in the House-passed FY 24 budget. The committee has a total of $40 million in one-time funds allocated to workforce development across the state.

The Vermont State Police is investigating the death of a man who had been jailed at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. The man, a 46-year-old resident of Springfield, was found unresponsive in his cell during a check at 9:27 a.m. Monday, April 17, 2023. Corrections staff provided emergency medical care and called first responders to the prison. Lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful, and the inmate was pronounced dead at Southern State at 10:10 a.m. The inmate who died is identified as David Mitchell. He had been in custody since November 2022, when he was detained on a charge of violating probation related to an underlying charge of larceny from a person. He also was being held on a charge of misdemeanor retail theft.

Vermont Business Magazine Workers at the Burlington Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop have formed a union organizing committee and petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for an election. The workers, who are known as “Scoopers,” have named their organization “Scoopers United”; they have the backing of Workers United Upstate New York & Vermont, the same union that launched the Starbucks Workers United organizing campaign, which became the first Starbucks to unionize in Rochester, NY, in April 2022. In their letter to management, the workers detailed how their unionizing dovetails with Ben & Jerry’s mission. Meanwhile, the iconic Vermont ice cream brand said it will support the union drive.