Thursday, November 19, 2020
Roughly 35,600 frontline workers in Vermont will get hazard pay for filling essential roles during the pandemic, Finance Commissioner Mike Pieciak said Wednesday evening, hours after the extended deadline for companies to apply for a final round of grants passed.
Legislators allocated the aid from federal CARES Act funds, saying that people who put themselves at risk while others hunkered down at home deserve the money.
An initial round of grants targeted health care workers; a more expansive round that concluded Wednesday included businesses such as retailers, childcare facilities and pharmacies.
Tags: hazard pay , Tim Ashe , Mike Pieciak , Dollar General , Vermont , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford) has exited the race for speaker of the Vermont House, likely clearing the path for Rep. Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) to lead the chamber in January.
Days after Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) lost her House seat this month, Copeland Hanzas became the first candidate to declare her interest in the speakership and began lobbying colleagues for support.
"Through those conversations it became clear to me that Jill Krowinski is very well respected and that many members of the House see her ascendancy to the speakership as a logical next step," Copeland Hanzas said. "I'm quite certain she will be a fine speaker, and I'm happy to support her."
In addition to Krowinski, at least one other candidate remains in the running. Rep. Charlie Kimbell (D-Woodstock), a two-term moderate from the Upper Valley, said he's continuing to seek support for his candidacy, but he acknowledged that he was unlikely to prevail. "It's still possible, but the odds are long," he said.
Tags: Sarah Copeland Hanzas , Jill Krowinski , Charlie Kimbell , Mitzi Johnson , Web Only , Image
Monday, November 16, 2020
Restaurants, bars and lodging businesses were already among the businesses eligible for grants of up to $300,000 under a $76 million economic recovery program that the legislature approved over the summer.
But officials feared the hospitality industry, as it faces new restrictions and an uncertain holiday season, needed an additional lifeline, said Joan Goldstein, commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development.
“It’s really going to be hard for them to get through the winter, and we just thought this was the best way to help them survive,” Goldstein said Monday.
Tags: hospitality , COVID-19 , aid , Web Only , Image
Thursday, November 12, 2020
The state's Frontline Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program provides up to $2,000 to those who worked in certain fields during a two-month period from March to May and earned less than $25 an hour. In order for employees to qualify for the program, however, employers must apply and identify them.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday afternoon outside a CVS Pharmacy in downtown Burlington, Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) criticized businesses that had yet to do so. "There have been some employers who have not stepped up," he said.
Ashe, who was joined by Sen. Chris Pearson (P/D-Chittenden) and Sen. Michael Sirotkin (D-Chittenden), called out eight businesses in particular that he said had not yet applied. Thousands of Vermonters could miss out on payments, Ashe said, "because someone somewhere in a far-off office is unwilling to take literally a few minutes of administrative time to verify which employees are eligible."
Tags: Tim Ashe , Chris Pearson , Michael Sirotkin , Michael Pieciak , Erin Sigrist , Web Only , Image
Monday, November 9, 2020
Rep. Charlie Kimbell (D-Woodstock) said Monday that he's running in order to "bring a rural voice" to the office. A second-term moderate from the Upper Valley, he characterized himself as a more unifying — and less partisan — figure than two other declared candidates: Rep. Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) and Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford), respectively the current and former House majority leaders.
"The speaker's role is different than that of majority leader," Kimbell said. "The speaker's role is to be representative of all members of the House and to build consensus and coalitions with all the people who are there."
The speaker's job is up for grabs following Johnson's unexpected defeat last week. Though Johnson has requested a recount, Copeland Hanzas and Krowinski both expressed their interest in the job last Friday. The Democratic caucus is expected to nominate a candidate for speaker the first weekend of December; the full House is likely to formally approve the choice when the legislature convenes in January.
Tags: Charlie Kimbell , Cynthia Browning , Jill Krowinski , Sarah Copeland Hanzas , Mitzi Johnson , Web Only , Image
Friday, November 6, 2020
Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford) on Friday became the first member of the Vermont House to publicly express interest in succeeding House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) as leader of the chamber. Shortly thereafter, Rep. Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington), followed suit.
Johnson, who served two terms as speaker, lost her reelection race by 18 votes on Tuesday. She has requested a recount.
In a statement to reporters Friday morning, Copeland Hanzas said she supported Johnson’s decision to seek a recount. "If, after the recount, we need to elect a new Speaker of the House, I will likely step forward to run for Speaker," she added.
Krowinski had previously declined to comment on her intentions, citing ongoing uncertainty around Johnson’s electoral fate. But reached by phone later Friday morning, she confirmed that she, too, would seek the speakership if the recount did not reverse the results.
“First, I want to reiterate that I am fully behind the speaker in helping her through the recount and hope the results change,” Krowinski said. “If the results do stay the same, I will be the contingency candidate to run for speaker, and I look forward to talking with the Democratic caucus members and members of the [House] about what their goals and priorities are.”
Tags: Sarah Copeland Hanzas , Jill Krowinski , Mitzi Johnson , Tim Briglin , Web Only , Image
Thursday, November 5, 2020
But Matt Dickinson, a professor of political science at Middlebury College, heard that Johnson was in trouble shortly before the election. Her loss, he said, was not as surprising as it may appear.
A prominent Republican official described to Dickinson Michael Morgan’s campaign to unseat Johnson, noting that the retired Air National Guard colonel from Milton seemed to be making significant inroads.
"The sense he got was this guy had been spending two years working the district, and she had lost touch and was vulnerable and didn’t realize it,” Dickinson said.
Johnson said she’s keenly aware that she has prevailed by narrow margins in recent years. First elected to the House in 2002, she won by just 31 votes in 2014, 103 in 2016 and 148 in 2018.
But in 2018, her Democratic running mate, Ben Joseph, lost to Michael Morgan’s uncle, Leland Morgan (R- Milton), who won the district's other seat, a clear sign of trouble on the home front for Johnson.
Tags: Mitzi Johnson , election , recount , Michael Morgan , Leland Morgan , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
At the current rate, the counting of presidential ballots from Pennsylvania to Georgia may never end. But here in Vermont, Election Day came and went without incident. The results of most races — with the exception of a recount or two — were apparent by late Tuesday night.
So now that the dust has settled, what should we make of it all? To help answer that question, Seven Days came up with seven takeaways from the 2020 election.
Scott Absolutely Crushed It
The Berlin Republican won 248,353 votes, or 67 percent of those cast, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State's Office. That's more than two and a half times the 99,200 votes his Progressive/Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, received. And, amazingly, it's 5,469 more than even Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked up in true-blue Vermont.
Tags: Vermont , election , legislature , Phil Scott , Mitzi Johnson , Web Only , Image
Among the apparent casualties was House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero), who trailed her nearest opponent by 18 votes. She was expected to request a recount.
Democrats and Progressives will still dominate the Senate, with a combined 23 of 30 seats. But in the House, they will no longer hold the supermajority required to overturn gubernatorial vetoes — two-thirds of the 150-member chamber — assuming the current results stand.
For the past two years, Democrats and Progressives have controlled 102 seats in the House, while Republicans have had 43 and independents five. In the next biennium, Democrats and Progressives are expected to control 99 seats, with Republicans taking 46 and independents holding steady at five.
"That's Vermonters showing they want the governor to have more support in the legislature," said Paul Dame, political director of the Vermont Republican Party.
Tags: Vermont House , Vermont Senate , Web Only , Image
Republican Gov. Phil Scott waltzed to a third term on Tuesday, while Democratic newcomer Molly Gray was elected Vermont’s fourth female lieutenant governor.
And in the upset of the evening, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) appeared headed for defeat. Unofficial results showed Rep. Leland Morgan (R-Milton) and his nephew, fellow Milton Republican Michael Morgan, ahead in the two-seat House district — with Johnson trailing 18 votes behind the latter. Given the narrow margin, Johnson declined to concede on Tuesday night and said she would seek a recount.
“It’s not uncommon for Vermont House elections to be extremely close,” she said in a written statement. “Over the years, we’ve seen tight races and recounts in this district. I want to ensure every vote is counted and that we have clarity on the outcome of this election.”
The 2020 election saw the highest voter turnout in state history. With 97 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday morning, more than 353,000 ballots had been counted, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Vermont’s previous record, set in 2008, was 326,822.
Though the outcome of the presidential election remained unclear early Wednesday, the preference of Vermonters was readily apparent. Preliminary results showed Democratic former vice president Joe Biden leading Republican President Donald Trump 66 to 30 percent. That’s a wider margin than in 2016, when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton led Trump 56 to 30 percent, with 6 percent writing in Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Tags: Phil Scott , David Zuckerman , Molly Gray , Scott Milne , Mitzi Johnson , Peter Welch , Jim Condos , Doug Hoffer , Beth Pearce , T.J. Donovan , Carolyn Branagan , Web Only , Image