University of Vermont College of Medicine Dean Frederick C. Morin, M.D., has announced that following a national search, William B. Jeffries, Ph.D., has accepted the position of Senior Associate Dean for Education. Dr. Jeffries will assume this role on August 1, 2009, and will relocate to Vermont from Omaha, Nebraska, where he is the Associate Dean for Medical Education and Director of Academic Computing at Creighton University School of Medicine.

David Hale, a St. Johnsbury native, is one of the world’s leading economic consultants, with clients in the US, UK, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, and China, where he is chair of China OnLine. This is the sixth time that the Ethan Allen Institute has had the pleasure of presenting David Hale to the Vermont business and finance community and the general public, in what we hope will be the beginning of a series of such programs at the Sheraton Burlington.

The EPA is moving forward with modifications to part of the underwater cap at the Pine Street Canal Superfund Site in Burlington, Vermont. The portion of the cap that was installed several years ago will be repaired and improved.  In 2006, EPA performed a Five Year Review of work previously performed at the Burlington site and found that some portions of the cap were leaking oil and coal tar.  The EPA and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation will oversee the cap modification work.

In response to a $58 million drop in state revenue forecasts, Speaker of the House Shap Smith met with Governor Douglas, Lt. Governor Dubie, and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin on April 27 to craft a joint solution to address budgetary challenges. Economists Jeff Carr, representing the administration, and Tom Kavet, for the Legislature, estimated that the state could fall $250 million into deficit in the next few years.

On April 24, the Senate unanimously passed a $455 million Transportation bill that includes financial resources necessary to fix decaying transportation infrastructure around the state.  The bill includes a two percent tax on the wholesale price of gasoline and diesel, a provision that received broad bipartisan support.  Based on current fuel costs, this taxis expected to raise $12.8 million in FY10.