Vermont Business Magazine The House on Thursday evening gave preliminary approval to H.66, a bill that gives Vermonters up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave insurance with 90% pay and employment protection. The legislation provides leave for a variety of health conditions for both employees and their family, including but not limited to miscarriage, residential treatment for substance use disorder, childbirth, and child bonding. The House gave final approval Friday and sent it to the Senate. Governor Scott has put forth a voluntary family leave plan and voiced his opposition to H.66 as currently constructed. The second reading roll call vote, with several lawmakers absent, was 99-32, one vote shy of what would be needed for a veto override. Lawmakers passed a similar bill in January 2020, but ultimately failed to override Scott's subsequent veto.

The Vermont State Police was informed on Thursday March 23, 2023, that the Operator of Vehicle #1, Peter Nichols, 77, of New Haven, Vermont, succumbed at the University of Vermont Medical Center. The investigation into this crash is ongoing. On Thursday afternoon, Troopers with the Vermont State Police assigned to the New Haven barracks were advised of a two car motor vehicle crash on VT RT 125 in the Town of Ripton, Vermont. Upon arrival, Troopers observed two vehicles with heavy damage at a position of uncontrolled rest in the east and west bound lanes of travel on VT RT 125. Initial investigation revealed that Vehicle One (V1) which was operated by Peter Nichols (77)  was traveling eastbound, and Vehicle Two which was operated by Bruce Perlow (46) was traveling westbound. As Vehicle One was traveling eastbound, it had crossed the centerline, striking vehicle Two head one.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House of Representatives voted 108-36 Thursday to advance H.126, an act related to community resilience and biodiversity protection. The bill passed on a third reading Friday and now heads to the Senate for consideration. According to the US Forest Service, Vermont is losing approximately 12,000 acres of forestland per year to development, causing significant impacts to ecosystem health, habitat for wildlife species, the ecological viability of natural lands, and our working lands economy. H.126, referred to as the “30 x 30” bill, would elevate land conservation as a necessary strategy to promote healthy forests, habitat connectivity, biodiversity protection, outdoor recreation, sustainable forestry, public health and climate resilient communities. 

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont) on Thursday fought back against Republican attacks on students and families in her first Budget Committee hearing. Balint focused on education funding to ensure our schools and communities receive the funding they need to tackle our nation’s mental health crisis. She asked Director Shalanda Young what American families can expect in the President’s budget that will address how the federal government chooses to fund schools and support students. This follows the Republican Majority’s decision to advance a bill (HR5) that would insert the federal government between parents and schools and threatens trans youth.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Labor reported the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate had fallen one-tenth to 2.8% in February 2023. The rate has fallen the last two months, after the annual revision reset the 2022 data upwards. The revision in particular indicated more growth in the Labor Force than originally reported. The Labor Force is up 900 from January and up 5,090 from a year ago. The number of Employed also grew by 1,169 from January, while the number Unemployed fell by 269, indicating that all the major metrics showed improvement. The civilian labor force participation rate was 63.6 percent in February, an increase of two-tenths of one percentage point from the prior month. The comparable United States jobless rate was 3.6 percent, an increase of two-tenths of one percentage point from the revised January estimate. Vermont is tied for the 12th lowest rate in the nation. North and South Dakota are tied for the lowest at 2.1% and Nevada has the highest at 5.5%.