Thursday, January 10, 2019
The new chairs replace two members who chose not to seek reelection last year. Sen. Ginny Lyons (D-Chittenden) will replace former senator Claire Ayer, a Democrat, as chair of the Health and Welfare Committee. Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) will chair the Institutions Committee, a post formerly occupied by Republican Peg Flory.
Benning also replaces Flory as the only Republican committee chair. "Even with the diminished number of Republicans, we respect the minority's point of view and want to include them in leadership roles," said Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden). Only six of the Senate's 30 members are Republicans; the GOP lost one seat in last November's elections.
Senate committee seats are assigned by a three-member panel called the Committee on Committees. Its members are Ashe, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle).
Tags: Tim Ashe , Becca Balint , Chris Pearson , Andrew Perchlik , Joe Benning , Ginny Lyons , Claire Ayer , Peg Flory , Anthony Pollina , Image , Web Only
As he began his second term Thursday, Gov. Phil Scott warned lawmakers that Vermont faces a demographic crisis that could cripple state government and diminish Vermonters’ way of life.
The state’s stagnant population and shrinking labor force, he said in his inaugural address, are “threatening every service we deliver, every program we administer and every investment we hope to make.” Without a different approach, he continued, “our current revenues won’t support our obligations, our wants or even our needs.”
Scott delivered his remarks to a joint assembly of the Vermont House and Senate after he and the state’s five other statewide officers swore their oaths of office. The 60-year-old Berlin Republican, a former state senator and lieutenant governor, won his second two-year term last fall.
After outlining the challenges he said the state faced, Scott spent much of his 32-minute address outlining his approach to solving them, focusing mostly on health, education, business and housing. Though he was light on specifics — as most governors are in their inaugural and state of the state addresses — he provided plenty of hints of agenda items to come.
Tags: Phil Scott , Vermont , governor , inauguration , Tim Ashe , Mitzi Johnson , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
The day of ceremony featured the reelection of the legislature's top leaders — House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) and Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) — and an overhaul of the House committee leadership.
Following a wave of retirements last year, Johnson appointed new chairs to seven of the House's 14 standing committees, including those with jurisdiction over education, energy, natural resources, commerce and housing.
In addition to filling five vacant chairmanships, the speaker replaced two returning chairs. Rep. Curt McCormack (D-Burlington) will take over the House Transportation Committee from Rep. Patrick Brennan (R-Colchester), while Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford) will succeed Rep. Maida Townsend (D-South Burlington) atop the House Government Operations Committee.
"I'm disappointed but looking forward to the new challenge," said Brennan, whose consolation prize is a seat on the influential House Ways and Means Committee.
Tags: Mitzi Johnson , Michael Marcotte , Kate Webb , Tim Briglin , Tom Stevens , Amy Sheldon , Patricia McCoy , Curt McCormack , Patrick Brennan , Sarah Copeland Hanzas , minimum wage , Image , Web Only
About 50 members of No Carbon Tax Vermont, a new group opposed to carbon pricing as a way of combating climate change, gathered in the Statehouse for a rally featuring multiple speakers. Participants wore bright yellow safety vests, a visual echo of the orange-vested gun-rights supporters who were so prevalent during the 2018 gun legislation debate.
In fact, many leaders of that movement are now active in No Carbon Tax Vermont — such as the rally's emcee, J.T. Dodge of Newbury, who is also cochair of the pro-gun Vermont Citizens Defense League. Dodge said the group's get-up wasn't inspired by protesters in France, who have also donned yellow vests.
Participants first gathered on the Statehouse steps but moved the rally indoors because of the wet, snowy weather. Dodge opened the proceedings by insisting that the group is nonpartisan — "It's not about parties or politicians. It's about us!" he said. But most of the speakers represented conservative interests and often criticized the left-leaning legislative majority. Dodge said that an unnamed Democratic lawmaker had been invited to speak but had declined.
"The carbon tax is a corrupt stew of bad politics and bad policy," said Rob Roper, president of the conservative Ethan Allen Institute. "Despite that, it seems to come back every year."
Tags: J.T. Dodge , Rob Roper , Orielle Koliba , Hope Petraro , Max Sabo , Emilie Kornheiser , Nader Hashim , Andrew Perchlik , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
As the Queen City pol was looking to outfit her new capital digs for the winter, she issued an unusual request of her constituents. Did anyone, she inquired recently on the neighborhood listserv Front Porch Forum, have a toaster they could lend her for the upcoming session?
Sullivan and two other reps, seeking to sidestep the daily drudgery of a commute to the capital, scored a sweet short-term rental near the Statehouse. “Going back and forth in the winter is really difficult, especially since some of the committee meetings can go late,” she said.
The lawmaker recalled buying crampons a couple years back to help her scale the slippery slopes to her previous attic apartment in the capital. This year's pad, on Bailey Avenue, couldn’t be better — just steps from the Statehouse — but it lacked some basic creature comforts.
Thursday, December 27, 2018
That's when Bissonnette announced, again, that he would not serve in the legislature because he is moving to Guildhall. The longtime Winooski pol, a Democrat, posted on Front Porch Forum on Monday that he is relocating soon to the small town where his wife grew up.
Meanwhile, Winooski City Councilor Hal Colston, who had sought the seat as a write-in candidate in November, announced on Wednesday that he hopes Gov. Phil Scott will appoint him to the seat.
Tags: Winooski , legislature , politics , Vermont , Clem Bissonnette , Hal Colston , Image , Web Only
Monday, December 17, 2018
While both say the decision was mutual, they disagree about what precipitated it. Leven blamed a disagreement over the panel's power, accusing its members of overstepping their authority. Motta alleged that the director wasn't performing his duties adequately.
Vermont Law School professor Larry Novins has replaced Leven as executive director, according to Motta. VTDigger.org first reported the dispute Monday.
Leven, a Stowe lawyer who previously served as deputy secretary of state, said his differences with the commission date back to August, when the body issued an advisory opinion concluding that Gov. Phil Scott had violated the state ethics code by personally financing the sale of his company, DuBois Construction. The high-profile decision was spurred by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, which had requested the opinion. Scott later slammed the five-member commission for failing to give him the opportunity to present his case.
The commission, created by a 2017 law, is charged with reviewing and referring allegations of governmental misconduct, but it has no investigative or enforcement powers.
Tags: Vermont State Ethics Commission , Phil Scott , Vermont Public Interest Research Group , Madeline Motta , Brian Leven , Larry Novins , Image , Web Only
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Gov. Phil Scott on Thursday brushed off allegations that the Vermont National Guard is plagued by a culture of sexual impropriety and alcohol abuse, referring to recently reported incidents as the actions of “an occasional bad apple.”
During a press conference at the Guard’s Colchester headquarters, Scott expressed full support for the organization and its leader, Maj. Gen. Steven Cray. Though the governor admitted that reporting by VTDigger.org had brought new allegations to light, he said he saw “no reason to go through an independent review.”
“I want to be very clear,” Scott said, as Cray stood behind him. “My faith and confidence in the women and men of the Vermont National Guard is unwavering.”
The two men, joined by dozens of Guard members, spent roughly 45 minutes addressing allegations raised in a seven-part series VTDigger published last week. The stories described a hard-partying, misogynistic organization that failed to address alleged sexual misconduct and retaliated against a whistleblower.
According to Cray, that portrait was flawed. “I vehemently disagree with and dispute the negative characterizations of our members and our culture in recent media coverage,” the adjutant general said.
Tags: Vermont National Guard , Steven Cray , Phil Scott , VTDigger , Image , Web Only
Thursday, November 15, 2018
The 88-page report, created by the taxation and regulation subcommittee of the Governor's Marijuana Advisory Commission, recommends a 20 percent excise tax on all retail cannabis sales, in addition to the state’s 6 percent sales tax. Towns could also choose to levy a 1 percent local option tax. The panel recommends that the tax revenue be distributed to cities and towns statewide; it would also pay for the administrative costs of regulating the new market.
Consumers in Massachusetts, which has legalized retail sales, pay 17 to 20 percent in taxes.
Deputy Tax Commissioner Craig Bolio noted that the recommendations are only in draft form and may change before the governor’s commission issues its final recommendations in December.
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana , cannabis , pot , legalization , tax and regulate , retail , Vermont , Sam Young , Dave Silberman , Craig Bolio , Phil Scott , governor , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Official results from last week's election showed Joseph's fellow incumbent Democrat, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero), placing first with 2,100 votes and Republican challenger Leland Morgan coming in second with 1,984.
Morgan's nephew, Michael Morgan, finished third, with 1,952 votes, while Joseph claimed 1,926.
A candidate is eligible to request a recount if the margin between winner and loser is less than 5 percent of the total votes cast, "divided by the number of persons to be elected," according to Vermont statute.
Judge Robert Mello scheduled the recount for 9 a.m. on November 28 at the Grand Isle County Courthouse in North Hero, according to Joseph.
Tags: Vermont House , Ben Joseph , Leland Morgan , Michael Morgan , Mitzi Johnson , recount , elections , Grand Isle , Image , Web Only