Wednesday, April 4, 2018
The Vermont Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee is demanding to know why Gov. Phil Scott's administration has missed deadlines and outright opposed planning efforts as the state works to meet federal water quality requirements.
Committee chair Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison) has called on Secretary of Administration Susanne Young to testify Thursday before his panel. The senator also sent a letter to Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore asking for five months of the agency's records.
The requests are part of the legislature’s efforts to spur the administration to lay the groundwork for new clean water efforts in Vermont. Bray also seeks answers about the administration’s outright opposition to even consider a plan for clean water funding.
Tags: Lake Champlain , Lake Carmi , TMDL , water quality , phosphorus , Phil Scott , Julie Moore , Chris Bray , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
After a court hearing on the investors' lawsuit against state officials, Barr told reporters he had evidence that one of the 10 defendants had been arrested on an EB-5 trip to China in "2013 or 2014" for "having sex with a minor" and was bailed out by another state official.
Barr said he would provide evidence of the incident in a memo he was scheduled to file with the court in two weeks. On Monday — the due date — Barr filed the memo. It made no mention of his allegation.
Tags: Russell Barr , Vermont , EB-5 , Attorney General's Office , Chandler Matson , Thomas Carlson , Image , Web Only
Friday, March 30, 2018
Sen. Claire Ayer (D-Addison), chair of the Health and Welfare Committee, outlined the idea in a Friday morning committee hearing, which also featured testimony on how the proceeds of a tax might best be used.
Ayer said that she and Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) happened upon the idea in Governing magazine, which examined how states are trying to fund substance abuse programs. According to legislative fiscal analyst Nolan Langweil, several other states have considered an opiate tax, but none has enacted one.
Tags: Ann Cummings , Bob Bick , Claire Ayer , opiate tax , Opioid Crisis , opioids , Phil Scott , Tim Ashe , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
The Senate will now take up the bill, S.55, which would mandate universal background checks, raise the purchasing age for guns to 21, and ban both bump stocks and high-capacity magazines. The magazine ban spurred the most discussion during Tuesday's debate, which lasted six hours and followed a 10-hour debate last Friday.
A last-minute lobbying effort to exempt Vermont gun manufacturers from the ban on magazines with more than 10 rounds was victorious.
Reps. Corey Parent (R-St. Albans) and Eileen Dickinson (R-St. Albans) argued that without such an exemption, the bill would jeopardize hundreds of jobs at Century International Arms, a global firearms dealer with a factory in Franklin County.
Tags: Vermont House , gun control , Phil Scott , Century International Arms , Brian Cina , Paul Poirier , Brian Savage , Corey Parent , Eileen Dickinson , Image , Web Only
Vermont State Police investigated an allegation in 2014 that a state employee had been arrested while on an EB-5-related trip in China and found no evidence to support the claim, Public Safety Commissioner Tom Anderson said Tuesday.
The unusual statement was the latest official response to an incendiary allegation levied by Stowe attorney Russell Barr. He has sued state officials on behalf of EB-5 investors who lost money in the Jay Peak scandal. After a court hearing on the investors' lawsuit last week, Barr told reporters he has evidence that one of the 10 defendants had been arrested on an EB-5 trip to China in "2013 or 2014" for "having sex with a minor" and was bailed out by another state official.
Anderson revealed that Vermont Republican Party vice chair Brady Toensing made a complaint to the Vermont State Police Internal Affairs Unit in October 2014, alleging that a state employee had been arrested on a trip in September 2013. Toensing did not provide the employee's name or the reason for the supposed arrest, but said that members of the Vermont State Police Executive Protection Unit who went to China "would have been aware of that arrest" and "should have reported the possible illegal conduct," according to Anderson.
Tags: EB-5 , Phil Scott , Brady Toensing , Thomas Anderson , Vermont State Police , Peter Shumlin , Jay Peak Resorts , Image , Web Only
Scott said at a press conference that he learned of her resignation late last week.
“Rebecca decided that it was time for her," the governor said. "This was her decision, and I value what she’s given to the state over the last four years — what she’s done for our cabinet. I’ve valued her as a team member."
Scott didn’t detail Holcombe's reasons for leaving.
“She just thought it was best for her to leave at this time,” he said. “Personal decision.”
Tags: Rebecca Holcombe , Agency of Education , secretary , Phil Scott , governor , resignation , Image , Web Only
Friday, March 23, 2018
The figure represents a 1.1 percent increase over last year's budget.
"Our growth rates are astounding if you like low growth rates," said House Appropriations chair Rep. Kitty Toll (D-Danville). "I don’t know how much lower I can go."
The 2019 budget, which passed by a 122-10 vote, relies on about $2.5 billion of state money, $1.6 billion of which would be allocated to the general fund to cover general government expenses. That's slightly more than the general fund proposed by Gov. Phil Scott.
Tags: Vermont House , 2019 budget , Phil Scott , Image , Web Only
The National Association for Gun Rights mailed postcards to Vermonters this week attacking Republican Gov. Phil Scott for embracing new gun control proposals. The Colorado-based group urged recipients to call the governor and ask him to veto S.55, a gun control bill that passed the Vermont Senate earlier this month.
The postcards feature a doctored photo of a childlike Scott sitting on the shoulders of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who stands beside Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) — both outspoken advocates of new guns laws.
"Is Vermont Governor Phil Scott Feinstein & Bloomberg's gun control lovechild?" it reads.
A lifelong proponent of gun rights, Scott changed course last month and embraced certain gun-control proposals following a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., and a foiled plot closer to home, in Fair Haven. But according to his spokeswoman, Rebecca Kelley, the NAGR postcard distorts the governor's views.
"It’s this type of misleading propaganda that’s so destructive to the work being done to better protect our kids and communities, and the governor will continue to exhibit bold leadership that keeps our kids safe without infringing on constitutional rights," she said in a written statement.
Tags: Phil Scott , National Association for Gun Rights , Michael Bloomberg , Diane Feinstein , Image , Web Only
“This law would put them out of business,” said Toensing, who also serves as vice chair of the Vermont Republican Party.
Tags: guns , Century Arms , Century International Arms , jobs , economy , Corey Parent , Brady Toensing , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 22, 2018
S.260 is one of 13 bills that Scott named in a letter to the legislature as “problematic,” mostly on the grounds that they would raise taxes or fees.
“My request is simple,” he wrote in the letter. “[L]et’s work together to find ways for many of these proposals to advance, while respecting the need to provide Vermonters with another year of relief that begins to moderate the burden of taxes and fees.”
Tags: environment , clean water , fee , tax , Phil Scott , Image , Web Only