Vermont Business Magazine The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 1 office and the US Department of Energy (DOE) are honoring 11 New England companies and organizations, including Efficiency Vermont, as ENERGY STAR partners for their outstanding leadership in promoting energy efficiency and tackling climate change. Efficiency Vermont (Winooski, Vermont), a state energy efficiency utility, increased incentives for low- and moderate-income households in the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program and rolled out a social media campaign that increased subscribers and Facebook followers. Efficiency Vermont has been a Sustained Excellence winner for 8 years.

Vermont Business Magazine Dozens of VBSR CEOs and business leaders gathered in Montpelier on Thursday, March 16, to deliver a decisive call for climate action. The group advocated for the passage of key legislation this session, including the Renewable Energy Standard (H.320) – more commonly referred to as the “RES” bill – S.5, the Affordable Heat Act, and H.101, the Transportation Affordability Act. Through it all, they emphasized the need for a bold, comprehensive plan not just this session, but in every successive year. With the Golden Dome standing tall as the backdrop, VBSR business leaders used their community profiles to speak directly to the press about why the climate and the economy are inseparable.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington School District (BSD) announced today that "following three years of hard work and a renewed focus on training in Hazing, Harassment, and Bullying (HHB) procedures," the District has been released from its 2019 settlement agreement with the United States Department of Justice. In a letter to the District, the DOJ noted, “We also recognized the efforts of the District's leadership to prioritize equity work and appreciate the District's commitment to continue its work in this area. In particular, we have observed that District employees' compliance with your policies and procedures regarding harassment has increased tremendously since our initial investigation.”

Vermont Business Magazine At his weekly press conference today, Governor Phil Scott and his Cabinet commented on the proposed House budget. Scott maintains that the proposed budget over-spends by tens of millions of dollars, eliminates most of his priorities and counts on surplus state funds continuing into the future, despite Vermont economists' warnings that tax revenues are likely to slow sooner rather than later. The budget coming out of House Appropriations cuts or removes almost every single initiative I just talked about. Not only that, but they also increased the State General Fund budget over last year by 12 percent. "Three initiatives alone could add a half a billion dollars in costs on Vermonters every single year."

Vermont Business Magazine State Auditor Doug Hoffer released a new audit today examining the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living’s performance inspecting long-term care homes housing vulnerable older Vermonters. The audit found that across seven years DAIL, as the department is called, was not performing annual facility inspections as required by law and rarely used enforcement tools to address the problems they found. Hoffer said: “To put it plainly, DAIL’s efforts to ensure Vermonters living in assisted living and residential care facilities are safe have not been good enough. Inspections may have been interrupted during the height of COVID, but our review found systemic problems going back years before that.”