Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Final action on the bill, which the chamber supported by a 129-15 vote, is expected Wednesday. It will then head to the Senate, where top lawmakers have signaled support for the concept.
"This proposal, I believe, is one of those moments in which we have a chance to make a clear declaration of our values," Rep. Chip Conquest (D-Wells River) said Tuesday while presenting the bill on the virtual House floor. "A belief that all Vermonters, regardless of their circumstances — whether we're talking about immigration status, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, or which town they live in — deserve to be treated equitably."
Tags: Vermont House , migrant workers , relief , stimulus checks , Web Only , Image
Monday, September 7, 2020
Vermonters hoping for a free $30 coupon redeemable at local businesses mobbed a state website Tuesday morning, leading to delays.
The #BuyLocalVermont website went live at 11 a.m., and more than 10,000 people sought access to the coupons in the first hour, said Lindsay Kurrle, secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
At Gov. Phil Scott’s press conference on Tuesday, Kurrle said “the system is working” but the verification codes needed to access the coupons were “still a little delayed” due to the high level of interest.
“We’re just asking for folks’ patience, and hopefully those codes will be coming your way very shortly,” Kurrle said.
The electronic coupons are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and there is enough money in the program for 14,166 Vermonters to receive them.
Tags: buy local , tourism , marketing , COVID-19 , economic development , Nift Networks , Web Only , Image
A last-ditch effort by Gov. Phil Scott to convince lawmakers not to give citizens the right to sue the state if it misses its greenhouse gas emissions targets appears to have failed.
That means the bill, H.688, would be sent to Scott’s desk for a signature that looks unlikely. Scott has said he supports the intent of the law but has also steadfastly opposed key provisions, including the right to sue. He reiterated several such concerns in a letter to legislative leaders on August 12.
Environmental Conservation Commissioner Peter Walke noted that the Senate never responded to the letter and House leaders merely replied to the administration that they weren’t interested in the governor’s points.
Tags: climate , greenhouse gas emissions , Phil Scott , veto , Web Only , Image
Friday, September 4, 2020
Two main points of contention remain between the two chambers. The House wants towns to get a share of the state's cannabis licensing fees, while the Senate wants municipalities that host cannabis businesses to receive a share of tax revenue — an amount equal to a 2 percent tax. Questions also remain over what land-use exemptions should apply to cannabis cultivators.
"It appears that we are probably extremely close on everything" except those issues, Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) said on Friday during a meeting between the House and Senate negotiating teams.
While bills have died over less, the conference committee's significant progress Friday suggests that the bill has a good chance of moving during this month's brief budget session.
Tags: retail marijuana , conference committee , pot , cannabis , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
The recount in Burlington wrapped up on Tuesday and Superior Court Judge Helen Toor confirmed the final results on Wednesday.
“I think it was worth it,” said Heston, a nonprofit consultant from Richmond in her first run for public office. “Everyone is now confident that the results are real.”
Tags: Sen. Chris Pearson , June Heston , Chittenden County , Senate , recount , Vermont , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
A recent study of how lawmakers might return for in-person legislating in January concludes that the Barre Auditorium is the only facility in central Vermont capable of safely hosting all 180 lawmakers at once.
The tradition of the governor addressing a joint session of each new general assembly, with all 150 members of the House and 30 members of the Senate present in the Statehouse, is simply not possible given the social distancing currently required, the study concludes.
“We very quickly understood there was no way there could be a full return to the Statehouse,” architect Jesse Beck, of Freeman French Freeman, told lawmakers Tuesday.
Tags: COVID-19 , lawmakers , legislature , Montpelier , Vermont , Statehouse , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
As a result, Gov. Phil Scott’s administration believes the state can survive the current fiscal year without raising taxes, cutting programs or depleting its reserves.
“Just like families are doing, we’re setting priorities — trying to do things smarter and better while making some difficult decisions,” Scott said at a press conference on Tuesday. “The bottom line is we’re not spending more than we’re taking in, and we’re living within our means.”
In a proposal submitted to the legislature later Tuesday, the Scott administration pitched a nearly $1.7 billion general fund budget for the 2021 fiscal year that, in some ways, mirrors the plan he laid out in January, before the pandemic reached Vermont.
"This budget represents a calm hand on the tiller, steering through turbulent water," Scott's finance commissioner, Adam Greshin, told reporters. "This is not the time for major changes."
Tags: Phil Scott , Susanne Young , Adam Greshin , Web Only , Image
Friday, August 14, 2020
So did the number of people who completely botched it.
Of the approximately 174,000 people who cast ballots in the August 11 primary, preliminary figures suggest that more than 6,000 screwed up the process badly enough that their votes weren't counted.
“It’s a concern that we had 6,000 votes that were not counted for one reason or another,” Secretary of State Jim Condos said Friday. “It would be wrong if I just sat back and said, 'That’s acceptable.'”
Tags: primary , ballots , defective , Jim Condos , secretary of state , Vermont , mail-in voting , absentee ballots , Web Only , Image
Scott issued an executive order clarifying that any local government — from college-rich Burlington to tiny hamlets with a single bar — has the power to issue such restrictions under the new order.
Evidence from other parts of the country suggests that “uncontrolled parties and crowded bars and clubs are a big part of the problem" in spreading the virus, Scott said.
“I believe giving our towns, especially the college towns, some additional mitigation measures to work with is the right thing to do,” Scott said.
Tags: COVID-19 , Gov. Phil Scott , Miro Weinberger , curfew , colleges , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
"I don't think there's ever been a forecast with greater uncertainty than we have right now," the legislature's chief economist, Tom Kavet, said Wednesday morning during a meeting of the Joint Fiscal Committee.
"We're really in a situation that's extremely fluid," echoed Jeff Carr, the administration's chief economist, during an afternoon meeting of the state's Emergency Board. "Things are changing weekly, even daily."
Kavet and Carr were making the rounds Wednesday after settling on a consensus revenue forecast for the current and coming fiscal years. Their latest estimates, which were formally adopted by the Emergency Board, will guide legislators as they reconvene this month for an unusual late-summer session to complete the state's 2021 budget.
Tags: Tom Kavet , Jeff Carr , Phil Scott , Adam Greshin , Dick Sears , Jane Kitchel , Web Only , Image