Thursday, April 19, 2018
Scott vetoed the bill, S.103, on Monday due to his concerns that the legislation would make the state less business-friendly without substantially improving public health. He specifically objected to a section of the bill that would give the commissioner of the Department of Health — a gubernatorial appointee — expanded power to require labeling or even ban the sale of products determined likely to expose children to harmful toxins.
Tags: toxics , consumer protection , Tim Ashe , Phil Scott , veto , Image , Web Only
A large coalition of Vermont nonprofits are concerned that a proposal currently under consideration in the state legislature would discourage large charitable donations.
The tax bill, which passed the House and is now under review in the Senate, includes a provision that would eliminate the tax deduction for charitable donations at the state level and replace it with a 5 percent tax credit, which would apply to contributions of $10,000 or less.
The University of Vermont, the Vermont State Colleges, Vermont Public Radio, the Vermont Foodbank and a number of other nonprofits wrote in a strongly worded letter to Gov. Phil Scott and the legislature that the change would send a message to potential donors that “Vermont does not encourage or welcome large, transformational gifts.”
“It is clear that deconstructing charitable giving in Vermont will have a detrimental effect on the state’s nonprofits, and most importantly, the people we serve,” the letter reads. “Attempting to raise revenue on the backs of the charitable sector is irresponsible and will hurt our communities.”
Tags: University of Vermont , Phil Scott , charitable deduction , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
The Vermont Supreme Court ruled last Wednesday that there was insufficient evidence to hold the accused teenager, Jack Sawyer, without bail. Sawyer purchased a shotgun, wrote in a journal and texted a friend about his plan to carry out a mass shooting at Fair Haven Union High School. But the justices concluded that those actions didn’t qualify as an attempt to commit murder.
Two days after the ruling, Gov. Phil Scott called on legislators to change state law. “I believe that anyone who takes so many specific steps to prepare to commit a horrific crime, and then confesses he is working to carry it out, needs to be held fully accountable,” he said in a press release.
The Fair Haven case prompted Scott and the legislature to pass an unprecedented package of gun legislation earlier this month.
On Tuesday, House and Senate committees began discussing substantial changes to a definition of "attempt" that’s prevailed for 112 years. Under current law, the perpetrator needs to make an "overt act" to be convicted of an attempted crime.
Tags: Vermont legislature , Fair Haven , Jack Sawyer , Phil Scott , Image , Web Only
The legislation, S.103, would have given the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health expanded power to enter products into a state-run database if they contain toxins that may harm children. It also would have made that database publicly searchable by products’ bar codes.
In a statement announcing his decision Monday, Scott said he opposes the bill because it wouldn’t improve Vermont’s already high consumer safety laws, which were last updated in 2014, as well as put a harmful burden on businesses and manufacturers.
“These [proposed] changes, in my opinion, have no practical impact to how my Administration regulates these chemicals,” he said.
Tags: Tim Ashe , Phil Scott , toxic , toys , consumer protection , S.103 , Brian Campion , Bennington , Image , Web Only
Friday, April 13, 2018
Gov. Phil Scott on Friday announced a series of steps to protect the Fair Haven Union High School community from a teenager who allegedly threatened a school massacre — but may soon be freed from prison.
The news came amid a flurry of developments in the case involving 18-year-old Jack Sawyer.
Earlier in the day, Sawyer’s attorney confirmed that her client had been served with an order, sought by Rutland County State’s Attorney Rosemary Kennedy, requiring him to not possess or buy any weapons after his release.
The "extreme risk protection order" was granted Thursday, one day after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that there's not enough evidence to justify holding Jack Sawyer without bail. The ruling also indicates that the charges against him could be dismissed.
Tags: Jack Sawyer , Fair Haven Union High School , Kelly Green , Rosemary Kennedy , Phil Scott , Vermont Supreme Court , gun control , Image , Web Only
Thursday, April 12, 2018
The Clean Energy Development Fund is a state-administered initiative within the Department of Public Service that offers financial incentives for homes, businesses and other institutions to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.
Andy Perchlik, the fund's manager, said that it has focused primarily on “advanced wood heating” in recent years. Unlike old-fashioned wood stoves and early pellet stoves, according to Perchlik, such systems have the convenience and technological sophistication of fossil fuel-powered heating systems but run on wood fuel that can be purchased locally.
The Scott administration’s proposal to remove $500,000 from the fund would effectively end that work, Perchlik said.
Tags: renewable energy , wood heat , heating oil , climate change , Phil Scott , Adam Greshin , Andy Perchlik , Department of Public Service , budget , Clean Energy Development Fund , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
The state GOP urged supporters in an email Wednesday to “MAKE VERMONT GREAT AGAIN!" — a riff on President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Sent several hours before Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, signed a package of gun reform bills, the email evoked the language of gun rights supporters, many of whom are furious with Scott. The message also used a color scheme associated with the pro-gun contingent — hunter orange and green.
“In recent years,” the email read, “our state has been co-opted by the liberal elite. Out-of-touch politicians have been hell bent on stripping away every right and freedom that Vermonters hold dear.”
But, it continued, "Now is not the time to surrender ... 2018 is a critical year for conservatism in Vermont. If we are ever going to return Vermont back to its former glory, we need to band together to toss out every last liberal elitist politician in Montpelier."
Tags: Vermont Republican Party , Donald Trump , Phil Scott , Don Turner , Heidi Scheuermann , Image , Web Only
Gun rights supporters shouted down Vermont’s Republican governor Wednesday as he signed a trio of gun-control bills into law, transforming the state from one of the most gun-friendly in the nation to one of the least.
Standing on the steps of the Statehouse, Gov. Phil Scott told a crowd of hundreds that it was incumbent upon the state to combat the epidemic of mass shootings that has swept the country in recent years.
“That’s why today we choose action over inaction — doing something over doing nothing — knowing there will always be more work to do,” he said. “But today we choose to try.”
Scott assured his audience that the legislation would not infringe upon Vermonters’ right to bear arms. “What it does not do is take away your guns,” he said. “Period.”
Tags: guns , high-capacity magazines , universal background checks , Phil Scott , Image , Slideshow , Web Only
Thursday, April 5, 2018
The chief author of Vermont S.260, a waterways cleanup bill, has accused Gov. Phil Scott’s administration of failing to communicate its concerns with the constitutionality of the measure. In response, administration officials assert that they are merely observing protocol.
Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison) is chair of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, which crafted the legislation. It would establish a path toward a federally mandated cleanup of state waterways. In a March 20 letter to lawmakers, Scott objected to the bill on two grounds: that it creates a new tax or fee — which it does not — and that it violates the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches.
The latter point has mystified lawmakers, and Bray sought an expert opinion from legislative attorneys. Counsel Michael O'Grady found no basis for Scott's separation of powers claim, according to Bray. "There are many instances where this happens, where the legislature directs the administration to do something," Bray said, paraphrasing O'Grady. "It's the normal course of things."
Tags: Phil Scott , Chris Bray , Susanne Young , S.260 , waterways cleanup , Brian Campion , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
CoverageCo provides 2G wireless service along 150 miles of rural highway and in 26 small communities, but it's been losing money on basic operations and is carrying an unknown amount of debt. Vermont Public Service Commissioner June Tierney told a House committee last week that CoverageCo would effectively cease operations this past weekend.
It did not, thanks to the intervention of Richard Biby, a former CoverageCo executive and telecommunications engineer who has been hired by the company's investors to lead the firm through what he hopes will be a successful recovery effort.
Biby, who lives in Virginia, has been in Montpelier since Monday, meeting with Gov. Phil Scott, administration officials and key lawmakers, pitching a plan to keep CoverageCo in service while a long-term recovery plan is worked out.
Tags: Richard Biby , CoverageCo , Randy Brock , June Tierney , E-911 , Image , Web Only