Wednesday, November 4, 2020
In unofficial results for the two-seat Grand Isle-Chittenden district, Johnson found herself in third place behind incumbent Rep. Leland Morgan (R-Milton) and his Republican nephew, Michael Morgan.
Results earlier in the night suggested that Johnson and fellow Democrat Andy Julow were enjoying a modest lead. But that advantage evaporated in late returns and Johnson ended up 18 votes behind the competition. Rep. Morgan earned 2,768 votes while his nephew, Michael, won 2,619. Johnson trailed with 2,601 votes.
“It’s not uncommon for Vermont House elections to be extremely close,” Johnson said in a 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. If the preliminary vote totals have been reported correctly, we will proceed with a recount.”
Tags: Mitzi Johnson , Vermont , House Speaker , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
The senator said she was driving alone from Huntington to Starksboro around 11 a.m. when she lost control of her Honda Civic on a downhill section of Hinesburg Hollow Road. The car slid into a ditch and flipped onto its roof.
Central Vermont received several inches of snow overnight in its first significant snowfall of the season, and Hardy hadn’t yet get gotten her snow tires put on.
“Now my car is totaled, so I won’t need snow tires on it,” Hardy said from her home in East Middlebury, where she was recuperating Tuesday evening.
The first-term senator said she was shaken by the experience but otherwise fine.
“My shoulders and neck and body are sore, and I have a headache,” Hardy told Seven Days. “But I took a nap and that helped.”
Tags: Sen. Ruth Hardy , election day , crash , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Scott revealed his decision Wednesday night, writing in a letter to lawmakers that he hopes they will take more testimony from “all impacted communities” and improve the bill before it goes into effect on July 1, 2021.
This year has served as a reminder that systemic racism is “deeply rooted in our nation’s institutions," Scott wrote, adding that although Vermont has recently passed other police reform measures, it is not immune from instances of racial discrimination and disproportionate use of force witnessed around the country.
“We must do more,” Scott wrote.
Tags: Election 2020 , Governor's Race , law enforcement , police reform , Vermont , Web Only , Image
Scott, who has long been reluctant to support the creation of a legalized cannabis market, wrote in a letter to lawmakers that he believes they made “substantial progress” addressing his concerns. But, he noted, “there is still more work to be done” on issues of road safety, misuse prevention and racial equity, the Republican governor urged lawmakers to revisit the law next session.
“I believe we are at a pivotal moment in our nation's history which requires us to address systemic racism in our governmental institutions,” Scott wrote. “We must take additional steps to ensure equity is a foundational principle in a new market.”
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabis , retail market , S.54 , Vermont , Phil Scott , marijuana , legal sales , Web Only , Recommended Reading , Image
Monday, October 5, 2020
Gov. Phil Scott on Monday evening vetoed a bill he said failed to deliver on the legislature’s long-promised makeover of the state’s signature land-use law.
Instead, he issued an executive order suspending certain reviews of trail networks under Act 250 until an alternate program for assessing impacts of trail construction can be established.
“Nothing in this bill modernizes or improves the Act 250 process — something that is widely agreed to be necessary after fifty years of existence,” Scott wrote in his veto message to lawmakers.
Tags: trails , Act 250 , forests , Gov. Phil Scott , Brian Shupe , Web Only , Image
Friday, September 25, 2020
The day capped an unprecedented session that forced lawmakers to scramble in March to figure out how to work remotely when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the state.
They pivoted quickly to spend more than $1.25 billion in federal relief funds to support people who lost their jobs, boost pay for frontline workers, shelter the homeless, prop up struggling businesses and bail out the floundering state college system.
Members of the Senate were the first to sign off, in midafternoon, having approved the budget bill and sent it back to the House.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott warmly praised legislators' work.
“I was proud of the way both the House and Senate regrouped, reorganized and found a way to conduct the work of the people outside the walls of the Statehouse,” Scott told senators before offering similar remarks on Friday evening to House members.
In a normal year, the governor would have been escorted into the Vermont General Assembly at the Statehouse and greeted with applause before addressing lawmakers.
Tags: budget , covid-19 , legislature , Web Only , Image
Squaring off for the final time were the chairs of the chambers’ two appropriations committees: Rep. Kitty Toll (D-Danville), who is retiring, and Sen. Jane Kitchel (D-Caledonia). The two are sisters.
Beginning at 7 a.m. on Thursday, the committee of conference established to hash out differences between the two budget bills met repeatedly before striking a compromise at 10 p.m.
Both legislative chambers signed off on the agreement Friday.
Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P -Chittenden) served on the committee and said Kitchel remained “firm” despite her affection for her adversary.
Tags: state budget , Patrick Leahy , David Zuckerman , Kitty Toll , Jane Kitchel , Web Only , Image
Thursday, September 24, 2020
The Senate on Thursday advanced the bill, H.99, on a vote of 25-5, virtually ensuring that it would receive final passage on Friday before heading to the governor's desk. The House passed the bill last week.
The vote followed a vigorous debate that pitted lawmakers who want Vermont to join 11 other states with bans against senators who feel the bill is an overreach that would do little to save the species it seeks to protect.
“This bill is about supply and demand,” Sen. Alison Clarkson (D-Windsor) told her colleagues. “By reducing demand for items made of endangered species parts, Vermont will play a small but significant part in helping many endangered species survive.”
Tags: endangered species , ivory ban , poaching , elephants , Vermont , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Following the votes, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) issued a statement saying the bills were needed to ensure that people of "all races, genders and identities" felt welcome in Vermont.
“In order to build a truly just and equitable society, we must be committed to breaking down structural racism,” Johnson said. “It is incumbent upon all of us to recognize it, name it, fight it, and right the centuries of wrong.”
The broadest bill, S.124, addresses changes to policing policies and training. It would require law enforcement agencies that are considering hiring an officer from another department to request their performance reviews.
Tags: racism , racial justice , deadly force , corrections , Web Only , Image
The Senate voted 22-8 to override Gov. Phil Scott’ veto of H.688, the Global Warming Solutions Act, enough to win the two-thirds approval needed in the chamber. The House did the same last week with a 103-47 vote.
Unlike House members, however, senators chose not to debate the merits of the override, instead moving straight to a vote without comment.
The vote is the second successful veto override of the extended legislative session. The first was when the legislature overturned Scott's veto of an increase in the minimum wage in February.
Tags: climate change , Global Warming Solutions Act , Gov. Phil Scott , veto , Web Only , Image