Thursday, June 18, 2020
The House signed off on a $300 million spending package largely focused on supporting the state's health care system. The Senate, meanwhile, gave preliminary approval to a short-term state budget that would distribute an additional $116 million in federal aid.
Lawmakers have been working frenetically in recent days to determine how to spend the state's roughly $1 billion in remaining federal funds. In addition to the bills on the floor Wednesday, the two chambers have been finalizing major spending packages focused on business, agriculture, housing and broadband. Legislators hope to send all of those bills to Gov. Phil Scott by June 26, and then adjourn until late August when they expect to finalize a longer-term state budget.
The House-passed legislation, H.965, would provide the Agency of Human Services $251 million to distribute to health care providers financially damaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Hospitals, independent doctors, dentists, mental health providers, home health agencies and long-term care facilities would all be eligible for the funding, which would be allocated based on need through an application process.
Tags: Phil Scott , David Yacovone , Selene Colburn , Jane Kitchel , Web Only , Image
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Gov. Phil Scott issued a statement denouncing the defacement as an "effort to fuel hate and division."
"This act of vandalism only reinforces that we’re not immune to racism, divisiveness and hate in Vermont," Scott said in a written statement. "We must redouble our efforts to dismantle systemic racism and bigotry, and stay united as Vermonters."
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) had joined the volunteers who painted the message.
"While it is easy to be disgusted and angered by the vandalism of these anonymous cowards, for me their actions reinforce the need to address head-on the racism and white supremacy right here in our communities," she said in a statement.
Tags: Black Lives Matter , Statehouse , Montpelier , vandalism , Web Only , Image
Thursday, June 11, 2020
To date, the state has spent about $13 million to house and feed homeless people in local lodgings since shelters were forced to close in March as the coronavirus pandemic spread in Vermont.
Homeless advocates have worried that the program would soon end, forcing many to return to shelters or other unsafe living situations.
But officials in Gov. Phil Scott's administration said on Thursday that they think their plan can eliminate homelessness for families in Vermont while making great strides to find permanent housing for single people, as well.
“There is a push here to effectively end family homeless,” Geoffrey Pippenger, program director for the state's General & Emergency Services Program, told lawmakers. “We see this as an opportunity to actually get at that population in a more supportive and permanent way.”
Tags: homelessness , Vermont , legislature , Geoffrey Pippenger , CARES Act , federal funds , motels , vouchers , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
State lawmakers are scrambling before the session winds down to assemble a package of bills that could change how police use force, how agencies report race data and more. A key senator also said he plans a push to include funding for body cameras in the Vermont State Police budget, calling it long overdue.
"We must do it now," Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) said Monday from the virtual Senate floor, referring to the body cams.
Tags: Vermont legislature , police reform , police use of force , deadly force , lethal force , H.808 , Dick Sears , Debbie Ingram , Anne Donahue , Tim Ashe , Mitzi Johnson , Vermont State Police , body cameras , race data , Web Only , Image
Sunday, June 7, 2020
University of Vermont student Noel Riby-Williams, 20, and recent Montpelier High School graduates MaryAnn Songhurst and Mandy Abu Aziz, both 18, organized the event. They set out to honor George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were both killed by police this year, along with others killed by law enforcement officers over the years.
Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest. Taylor was shot eight times by police who burst into her apartment in Louisville, Ky.
Protests have sprung up across the country since Floyd’s death, including many in Vermont. On May 30, protesters gathered in front of the Burlington Police Department. This past week, events have been held in Winooski, South Royalton, Newport, Milton, Springfield, St. Albans, Rutland, Essex Junction, Waitsfield, Bellows Falls, Morrisville, Colchester and other municipalities.
Tags: black lives matter , protest , george floyd , breonna taylor , montpelier , noel riby-williams , Web Only , Image , Slideshow
Saturday, June 6, 2020
In testimony to the House Energy and Technology Committee, the leaders of Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS asked lawmakers for a piece of the state's $1.25 billion in federal Coronavirus Relief Fund money. They argued that their news and educational programming had become essential to Vermonters during the pandemic, and they expressed concern that declining revenue and aging infrastructure could imperil their networks.
"We are seeing the strains that you are in your communities with our underwriters, with our members," VPR president and CEO Scott Finn told committee members. "We don't know what the future holds, but we're concerned about decreases in our revenue, and so this funding would allow us to be confident that we'd be able to continue this service through the end of the year."
According to Finn and Vermont PBS president and CEO Holly Groschner, committee members approached them to gauge their interest in the relief money, which must be spent by the end of this calendar year on expenses directly related to the pandemic. In written proposals to the committee, the organizations sought funding to compensate them for programming, curriculum development and transmission tower upgrades.
Tags: Vermont Public Radio , Vermont PBS , Scott Finn , Holly Groschner , Avram Patt , Web Only , Image
Friday, June 5, 2020
The three-month spending plan, which would take effect in July, level-funds much of state government — reversing cuts proposed by Gov. Phil Scott's administration. Scott's budget writers had suggested to lawmakers that they trim spending in many agencies and departments during the first quarter of the next fiscal year by an annualized rate of 8 percent.
But Rep. Kitty Toll (D-Danville), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, told colleagues on Friday that doing so without an accurate revenue forecast and without input from the general public would be irresponsible. She said her committee was prepared to make tough decisions at the end of the summer when it returned to finish the state's annual spending plan.
"This budget is intentionally far from complete, as this difficult work will happen in August when our fiscal picture is clearer and decisions can be made based on facts and fully understanding the needs of Vermonters," Toll said during a remote meeting of the House.
Tags: Kitty Toll , Phil Scott , Cynthia Browning , Anne Donahue , Randall Szott , Web Only , Image
Thursday, June 4, 2020
In a presentation to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said the administration had already doled out $42 million in emergency funding to health care providers during the coronavirus pandemic and hoped to give the industry $333 million more.
"Vermont has a goal of a health care system that is financially viable," he said.
Scott and Smith have been hinting for weeks that they were working on a plan to inject more than $300 million into the industry. During a press conference on Wednesday, Smith indicated that the number could be as high as $375 million. "[It's] going to be quite expensive," he said. "Our health care system suffered quite a body blow during this."
Tags: Coronavirus , COVID-19 , Phil Scott , Mike Smith , Ginny Lyons , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
"I think change is good — both for me personally and for the department," Schatz said in an interview.
"Ken has been a compassionate and balanced leader of DCF, and we wish him the very best in his retirement," Scott said in a written statement, adding that Schatz "leaves big shoes to fill."
The 66-year-old South Burlington resident has spent much of his career working in juvenile, mental health and disability law. He served for two decades in Burlington's Office of the City Attorney, including six years as the Queen City's top lawyer. After a short stint as general counsel in the state's Agency of Human Services, he was appointed DCF commissioner by then-governor Peter Shumlin in September 2014.
"I've really learned a lot from the people that I've worked with, families I've come into contact with and other professionals," Schatz said. "And I feel very good about the work we've done together to support children and families in Vermont."
Tags: Ken Schatz , Phil Scott , Sean Brown , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
After months of devastating losses wrought by the pandemic shutdown, they said, many of their industries, which took decades to grow, could be decimated virtually overnight if state lawmakers and the governor don’t act quickly enough to get emergency relief funds into the hands of small businesses.
Gov. Phil Scott has proposed $400 million in stimulus funding in the form of loans and grants. But representatives from various business sectors called on lawmakers to quickly approve the aid, and to give businesses “maximum flexibility” in how those funds are used.
Tags: Vermont business , federal stimulus funding , government , coronavirus , COVID-19 , pandemic , Image , Web Only